This is a great combo if you’re into contrasts: start out with a sane, scenic hike to the Mile High Swinging Bridge, then move on to the utterly crazy ridge route to Macc Peak. There’s a certain sanity to the…
North Carolina
Hikes in North Carolina
First look: South Mountains State Park
by tom • May 16, 2010 • 8 Comments
It took me 30 years to rediscover how much I liked walking in the woods, so I guess it’s an improvement that it took a mere nine months to discover a park that suits me almost perfectly. South Mountains State…
Walking and racing at Tanglewood Park
by tom • May 9, 2010 • 1 Comment
I had to run a few errands this weekend so there was no time for a long drive to the mountains. Had to make do with a few hours in Tanglewood Park, a mostly flat and only mildly interesting hiking…
Summit bagged: Calloway Peak at Grandfather Mountain
by tom • May 2, 2010 • 10 Comments
I knew this climb would not be a picnic — three miles of trail and 2,000 feet of ascent separate Calloway Peak from the Boone Fork trailhead at mile 299.5 on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Don’t let the short distance…
Two-in-one trek at Julian Price Memorial Park
by tom • April 10, 2010 • 4 Comments
Got back to the mountains this weekend to check out a couple trails near a tourist-heavy stretch of the Blue Ridge Parkway. Where I ended up: Julian Price Memorial Park, just up the road from Grandfather Mountain. The Parkway splits…
River Sections, Pilot Mountain State Park
by tom • March 28, 2010 • 2 Comments
I hiked to this section of Pilot Mountain State Park a few weeks back, but the 13 miles of getting there and returning didn’t leave much energy for exploration. This time I just drove up to the River Sections and…
Grandfather Mountain 2, Me 0
by tom • March 21, 2010 • 6 Comments
I want you to know, all 14 of my devoted readers, that at the first sign of spring I darted west to the Real Mountains to do some Real Hiking — no more of this flat-land fakery for me, by…
Corridor Trail at Pilot Mountain State Park
by tom • March 15, 2010 • 1 Comment
The whole point of this hike was to stroll down the 6-mile Corridor Trail connecting the upper and lower sections of Pilot Mountain State Park and check out the Yadkin River at the far southern end. I knew I was…
Sauratown Trail, Sections 1-3
by tom • February 28, 2010 • 0 Comments
So it’s back to real hiking this week: up-and-down slogs, feet slipping into creeks, sticks poking me in the face. The first three sections of the Sauratown Trail run west out of Hanging Rock State Park — notable for its…