I’m turning my attention to some of the trails I’ve hiked in the last year since moving to North Carolina. The first three:

• Summit Trails at Pilot Mountain State Park. Revisits the route of my first North Carolina hike. This area’s very popular and gets quite crowded on the weekends (in good weather anyway) but it’s still a fine place to hike — well-maintained, clearly-marked trails, lots of great views, even some wildlife if you watch closely.
• Waterfall Tour of Hanging Rock State Park. The Blue Ridge Mountains are awash with waterfalls, but they’re something of a surprise this far east. Not spectacular, but pretty fine for around here.
• Blue Ridge Parkway to the Grandfather Mountain Summit. This peak most reminds me of Mission Peak in the Bay Area. When I first started hiking I knew I’d never be satisfied till I scratched the itch to hike to the top of it. Luck is much more of a factor at Grandfather Mountain: on good days you might see 100-mile views from the summit; on bad ones you might get caught in an electrical storm.

Plenty more where those came from (let’s hope anyway). I’ll post updates as I finish more.