What’s up in the GetHiking! and GetExploring! worlds this week and beyond
GetHiking! Greenway PowerWalk
GetHiking! Charlotte
When: Tuesday, July 5, 6:30 p.m.
Where: Cherry Berry, 1100 Metropolitan Ave., Charlotte
Wonder how you trail for those big weekend hikes? With a midweek PowerWalk! This one will last a little over an hour.
Hike leader: Lisa
More info here
GetHiking! Fitness Hike
GetHiking! Charlotte
When: Saturday, July 9, and Sunday, July 10, 8:30 a.m.
Where: Crowders Mountain State Park, 522 Park Office Lane, Kings Mountain
Got a summer vacation hike you need to train for? Our summertime fitness hikes are designed for all fitness levels; hike at your own pace, cover as much distance as you like. “Whether your goal is to become stronger, fitter, faster, or simply to get in a mile or two before lunchtime, you will enjoy these hikes!” promises hike leader Lisa.
This hike repeats on July 24 and Aug. 6.
Hike leader: Lisa
More info here
GetExploring! Hike at Medoc Mountain
GetExploring! Greenville
When: Sunday, July 10, 11 a.m.
Where: Medoc Mountain State Park, Hollister
We’ll return to a crowd favorite this week: Medoc Mountain State Park! This time, we’ll head out of the picnic area on the Stream Loop Trail, pick up the Discovery Loop Trail, then cross the bridge to the Summit Loop Trail and the Dam Site Trail before heading back.
This loop is about 6 miles, and features both the summit of Medoc Mountain and ruins of a historic dam.
Bring sunscreen, bugspray and plenty of water.
Hike leader: Andrew and Lindsey
More info here
On the horizon:
- Full Moon Paddle, Tuesday, July 19, 7:30 p.m., Tar River, Greenville
- Greenway Bike and Brew, Thursday, July 28, 6 p.m., Five Points, Greenville
View from Standing Indian Mountain
GetHiking! Southeast’s Classic Hikes: Standing Indian Area
GetHiking!
When: Saturday, July 8 thru Sunday, July 9
Where: Standing Indian Recreation Area, Nantahala National Forest
Our third Classic Hikes weekend trip takes us to the Standing Indian area west of Franklin for two days of hiking. Saturday, from the group campground, we’ll hike up the Kimsey Creek Trail to Deep Gap and go north on the Appalachian Trail. Views abound, especially from Standing Indian Mountain overlooking the Coweeta Hydrologic Laboratory, one of the biggest expanses of undeveloped forest in the Southeast. We return down Lower Ridge Trail, for a total distance of 11 miles.
Sunday, we will do a loop in the Sassafras Ridge area of about 5 miles.
This hike is part of our 2016 GetHiking! The Southeast’s Classic Hikes series, sequel to 2015’s inaugural GetHiking! North Carolina’s Classic Hikes series. This is a fee program.
For more information and to sign up, go here.
GetHiking! Trading Boots for Boats
GetHiking! Triangle
When: Saturday, July 23, 9 a.m.
Where: Beaverdam Recreation Area of Falls Lake, Wake Forest
Every once in a while we need a change of pace. Ironically, while we will be trading hiking boots for paddling boats, the pace remains about the same — 2 to 3 miles per hour. Anyway …
We’re partnering with the folks at Frog Hollow Outdoors for a morning on the water at Falls Lake. Got your own boat? Swell, bring it. No boat, we’ve arranged for you to rent one through Frog Hollow.
We’ll be paddling a remote wetland area of the lake, an area verbotten to power boats.
Trip leader: Anne
More info here
GetHiking! Southeast’s Classic Hikes: A Smokies Weekend
GetHiking!
When: Friday, Aug. 19 – Sunday, Aug. 21
Where: Smokemont area of Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Our August Classic Hike takes us to a nationally recognized Classic: The Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Saturday, we’ll have two hikes: a 15-mile lollipop loop probing deep into the Smokies, and a 10-mile out-and-back along much of the same trail. Sunday, we’ll hike 5.5 miles on the Smokemont Loop Trail.
This hike is part of our 2016 GetHiking! The Southeast’s Classic Hikes series, sequel to 2015’s inaugural GetHiking! North Carolina’s Classic Hikes series
Hike leaders: Joe Miller, Anne Triebert
More info here
GetHiking! Southeast’s Classic Hikes: Mount Rogers National Recreation Area (Virginia) Weekend
GetHiking!
When: Friday, Sept. 23 – Sunday, Sept. 25
Where: Beartree Campground, Mount Rogers
Partial as we are to North Carolina’s mountains, you can’t have a Southeast Classic Hike Series without including the Mount Rogers National Recreation Area of southwest Virginia. Basecamp for the weekend is the Beartree Group Camp on the north flank of the Mount Rogers massif in the George Washington National Forest.
Saturday, we will hike on the Appalachian Trail from Elk Garden north (east) past Mount Rogers to Rhododendron Gap. From there, we head south and pick up equestrian/hiking trail to return to Elk Garden. This hike will be in the 15-mile range; a shorter option of around 10 miles will also be available. The terrain is some of the most exposed in the southeast, with open meadows and rock outcrops dominating. It’s a slice of the western U.S. in Appalachia.
Sunday, we will break camp and drive to Scales for about 5 miles of hiking in similar terrain.
This hike is part of our 2016 GetHiking! The Southeast’s Classic Hikes series, sequel to 2015’s inaugural GetHiking! North Carolina’s Classic Hikes series
Hike leaders: Joe Miller, Anne Triebert
More info here
GetHiking! Southeast’s Classic Hikes: Appalachian Trail at Hot Springs Weekend
GetHiking!
When: Friday, Nov. 11 – Monday, Nov. 14
Where: Laughing Heart Lodge (basecamp), Hot Springs, NC
Love to hike, but not camp? You’ll be cheered to hear that our last weekend hike of the 2016 Southeast’s Classic Hikes series will be based out of the Laughing Heart Lodge in Hot Springs. We’ve blocked out the lodge for Veterans Day Weekend, for Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights. First, about Laughing Heart …
You will need to make your own reservations. The main lodge has 7 guest rooms, all with private baths. There’s a cabin with kitchen, and, for the budget minded, there is a hostel with rates starting at $20 per night. Learn more about Laughing Heart, which is on the Appalachian Trail, and make reservations starting here. Mention you are with GetHiking! when making your reservation. Laughing Heat can accommodate about 30 people.
Now, the hiking:
Saturday, we will have two hikes. The longer hike, 14 miles, will begin at Max Patch and head north on the AT to Garenflo Gap. The shorter hike will begin at Lemon Gap and head north on the AT to Garenflo Gap. The Max Patch hike starts atop an impressive bald, meanders downhill and along creeks for 5 miles before a climb up Walter Mountain and a longer climb up Bluff Mountain, from there it’s a 4-mile descent to Garenflo Gap. The shorter hike follows the same path from Lemon Gap to Garenflo Gap.
Sunday, we also have two hikes. The longer, 13 miles, heads north on the AT from Hot Springs up Lovers Leap Ridge (great views of the French Broad River and Hot Springs below), to Rich Mountain, then returns on the Roundtop Ridge Trail. The shorter hike, 6 miles, follows the same AT route up Lovers Leap Ridge and ends at Tanyard Gap, on US 25.
Monday, we will catch a shuttle up to Garenflo Gap on the AT and continue heading north for 7 miles back to the Laughing Heart Lodge.
This hike is part of our 2016 GetHiking! The Southeast’s Classic Hikes series, sequel to 2015’s inaugural GetHiking! North Carolina’s Classic Hikes series.
Hike leaders: Joe Miller, Anne Triebert
More info here
Backpacking
GetBackpacking! Intro to Backpacking (Triangle)
GetHiking! Triangle
When: Four-week session starts Wednesday, Aug. 3, 6 p.m..
Where: Training is at Umstead and Eno River state parks, and the Mountains-to-Sea Trail at Falls Lake
Our Intro to Backpacking course consists of three training sessions focusing on a key skill each week. Week 1: Gear and packing; Week 2: Setting up (and breaking down) camp; Week 3: Rustlin’ up a meal. Each session includes a training hike of increasing length: 2, 4.5 and 6 miles. Then, in Week Four, we take a two-night graduation trip to South Mountains State Park.
Learn more about this fee program here.
GetBackpacking! Intro to Backpacking (Triad)
GetHiking! Triad
When: Four-week session starts Wednesday, Sept. 7, 6 p.m..
Where: Training is at three locations, tbd, in the Triad
Our Intro to Backpacking course consists of three training sessions focusing on a key skill each week. Week 1: Gear and packing; Week 2: Setting up (and breaking down) camp; Week 3: Rustlin’ up a meal. Each session includes a training hike of increasing length: 2, 4.5 and 6 miles. Then, in Week Four, we take a two-night graduation trip to South Mountains State Park.
Learn more about this fee program here.
Gear, Tips, Resources
Gear: Sawyer Mini Water Filter
On a mountain hike you should never, ever have to worry about not having enough water. Not when the Sawyer Mini Water Filter is available.
The Mini employs a hollow-fiber filter that removes 99.99999 percent of all bacteria, such as salmonella, cholera and E.coli; and removes 99.9999 percent of all protozoa, such as giardia and cryptosporidium. It’s small, lightweight, easy to use. Put it in a ziplock, toss it in your daypack and when you come to a cool mountain stream you can drink to your heart’s content. (Also screws onto most water bottles you can purchase in stores.)
Learn more about the mini here.
Tip: You’ve got a friend in clouds
We poke our head out the window the morning of a hike, we see clouds, we are disappointed.
In fact, this time of year, we should be ecstatic.
For a summer outing, those clouds mean cooler temperatures. How much cooler depends on a number of factors; however, expect to reap maximum heat savings if when you went to bed the sky was clear (thus allowing the accumulated daytime heat to escape at nightfall), but it’s cloudy when you awake (and the sun’s heat is partially blocked).
Clouds: embrace them (emotionally, that is, because, after all, they are vapor).
Resource: AT Distance Calculator
Contemplating a hike on the Appalachian Trail but unclear about the distance from Point A to Point B? Check out the AT Distance Calculator. Let’s say your Point A is Albert Mountain in the Standing Indian area of the Nantahala National Forest (where our GetHiking! Southeast’s Classic Hikes crew will be Sunday) and your Point B is Deep Gap: push a button and mystery solved: it’s 14.7 miles.
Do your own AT math here.