This weekend, GetHiking! at Morrow Mountain, South Mountains and more

GetHiking! Morrow Mountain State Park
GetHiking! Triangle
When: Sunday, May 22, 10 a.m.
Where: Morrow Mountain State Park, Albemarle.

Morrow Mountain sits on 4,742 acres on the western edge of the Uwharrie Mountains, an unlikely relict mountain chain in the heart of the Piedmont. Morrow Mountain tops out below 1,000 feet, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t some good climbs. This hike will cover two trails — Morrow Mountain and Sugarloaf — for a total of just over 8 miles.

Hike leader: Anne Triebert
More info here

GetHiking! Mountains-to-Sea Trail Coastal Crescent route
GetHiking! Triangle
When: Saturdays, May 14, 21 and 28; June 3. The second hike in this series is Saturday at 10 a.m.
Where: Coastal Crescent route of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail through the Holly Shelter Game Lands near Hamstead, which is pretty close to Sloop Point, which is just across the sound from Topsail Beach.

You’ve probably hiked the MST in the mountains; more likely you’ve hiked it in the Piedmont. But the coast? Until last year, the route of the projected 1,150-mile statewide trail from Smithfield to the coast had been stalled, in part because of the lack of public land along the originally intended route, along the Neuse River. In 2015, however, the Friends of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail and N.C. State Parks announced a new route taking advantage of an arc of public lands and conservation areas swinging through the coastal plain on a more southerly route. The new route was deemed the Coastal Crescent, and it’s the subject of four hikes celebrating Mountains-to-Sea Trail Month, in May.

Each hike has been posted on the GetHiking! Triangle Meetup page. You’ll be able to learn details about each hike soon, on the Great Outdoor Provision Co. web site.

Hike leader: Joe Miller
More info here

Uwharrie Trail Thru-Hike, Day Hike and Celebration
GetHiking! Triad
When: Thursday, May 19 – Sunday, May 22
Where: Uwharrie National Recreation Trail

Every May (this being the fourth), The LandTrust for Central North Carolina celebrates the Uwharrie National Recreation Trail by hiking it’s entire 40-mile length. Now, if you’re thinking “That’s one long day hike,” you would be correct. You would be incorrect, however, in assuming that the hike is done in one day. Rather, this is a 4-day Uwharrie Trail Thru Hike and Celebration open to both thru-hiking backpackers and folks who prefer to sit in for a day of hiking on Saturday, May 21.

The thru-hike begins on Thursday, May 19, and ends on Sunday, May 22. Perhaps the biggest lure of the hike is that the logistics of a tricky thru-hike are handled for you: for the $40 sign-up fee, you get shuttled to the trailhead, water and support each evening, a cookout Saturday night, a commemorative t-shirt and a one-year membership to The LandTrust. (Saturday’s hike is $5 and includes a shuttle.)

Hike leader: The LandTrust for Central North Carolina
More info here

GetHiking! Charlotte Cookout Social + Hiking!
GetHiking! Charlotte
When: Sunday, May 22, 10 a.m.
Where: South Mountains State Park

It’s no mystery that eating and hiking go hand-in-hand. The mystery is why we don’t place more emphasis on the “eating” part.
That’s not the case this Sunday, when our GetHiking! Charlotte crew holds a potluck at South Mountains State Park, working in a hike to the park’s nearby (a mile or so waddle) 80-foot falls.
Hike leader: Lisa
More info here

GetExploring! Greenville
When: Thursday, May 26, 3-7 p.m.
Where: Town of Williamston
Ever drive through Williamston and wonder what outdoor opportunities lurk nearby? Wonder no more, not after attending this festival showcase groups in the area that focus on outdoor recreation and environmental education, including the U.S. Fish & Wildlife
Commission, N.C. Forest Service, Sierra Club and more.

Hike leaders: Andrew and Lindsey
More info here

Backpacking

GetBackpacking! Intro to Backpacking
GetHiking! Triangle
When: Four-week session starts Wednesday, June 8, 6 p.m..
Where: Umstead State Park, Raleigh

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.
This is a fee course: $85 for the session; Great Outdoor Provision Co. offers incentives, including a $35 gift card. Because of the longer daylight ours of summer, the training sessions for this class will meet Wednesdays at 6 p.m., on June 8, 15 and 22, with the graduation trip June 24-26.

Learn more about the program here.

Skills

GetHiking! Finding Your Way
GetHiking! Triangle
When: Sunday, May 22, 1 p.m.
Where: Umstead State Park, Raleigh

Note: Two spots remain
Love the trail but uncertain about your wayfinding skills? This three-hour session goes over basic map and compass skills, then hits the trail to offer key tips on how to follow and stay on the trail, how to find it again if you stray, and how to explore off trail. We’ll start with a 30-minute map-and-compass introduction, then use that map and compass — and some Daniel Boone skills — to find our way in the woods. We’ll also do some off-trail exploring, with the goal of purposefully venturing off the trail, then rejoining it again. Our goal is to make you confident hiking alone or taking a novice friend on the trail. Course fee of $35 includes a compass.

Hike leader: Joe Miller
More info here

Gear, Tips, Resources

Gear: Smartwool PhD Run Light Elite Low Cut Socks

We like summer hiking because we don’t mind working up a good sweat. Except, that is, on our feet.
Hot sweaty feet are bad for several reasons. Your feet get and stay hot, it tends to make the rest of you feel even hotter. Sweaty feet are much more likely to blister. And, in the end, hot sweaty feet tend to smell like … well, hot sweaty feet.
So when hot weather hits, we take our beloved mid-weight wool hiking socks out of the rotation and replace them with Smartwool PhD Run Light Elite Low Cut Socks. They keep the padding where you need it — on the balls and heels of your feet — and employ a tight, weave construction to both adhere to your foot (and thus avoid the movement that leads to blisters) and let your dogs breath. They don’t work with hiking boots (the “low-cut” thing), but they play especially well with hiking shoes.
Learn more here.

Tip and Resource: American Hiking Society

Sometimes I feet guilty for supporting a good cause, then getting something a goody or two in return. Renewing my membership to the American Hiking Society, for instance. The AHS is the nation’s biggest advocate for trail development and protection. That alone is worth the $40 annual membership fee; that’s the least expensive option, earning you hiker level status. Yet even at Hiker Level, that $40 also gets you a year’s subscription to Backpacker magazine, a subscription to the quarterly American Hiker newsletter and a slew of discounts. I believe there’s a bumper sticker in there was well.

So, this week’s Tip? Join the AHS. And reap the benefits of the multitude of resources to come, starting with someone who’s goal is to make sure you have a place to hike.