Okay, it is now that time of year to stop lamenting about not getting a chance to go snowboarding this past winter, and start getting psyched about just visiting the mountains. The areas that are available for a snowboarding trip are limited, especially if it would just be a weekend trip. But there are so many really cool places just a short distance away that are great for a road trip through the mountains, or, one of my most favorite things to do when the weather gets nice, hitting the trails. I absolutely love to go hiking, but I also really dig mountain biking. Realistically, this summer, I'm just hoping to get in a few day hikes (because of that stupid liver thing and the complications surrounding it). But I can definitely get in to a couple of those!
I just spent the last hour looking at one of the kick-ass National Geographic trail maps that I have, mapping out a couple of routes that are going to be great for whenever there's an opportunity. Both of the routes I traced out start only a few miles, maybe 30 – 45 minutes northeast of Murphy, NC where the Bartram Trail crosses Highway 19. North along the trail takes you to the Appalachian Trail and then east along the AT brings you back to the highway. Probably a good route to take if there are 2 cars available and one can be parked at the exit. But to go south on Bartram, even though it would mean a little backtracking, looks like it would be way more intense. Not necessarily the difficulty of the hike, but the scenery, views and photo ops. There is a great network of trails that branch off of Bartram, and it looks like there could be several different loops to take. So I think that that will be the plan. C’mon! who’s ready to go? Murphy is only about a 4 hour drive away, so now is the time to DO IT!!
No comments:
Post a Comment