Advertise on podcast: GetHiking! Southeast

The first 6 miles of trail in a project to eventually add 42 miles in the Old Fort area of North Carolina's Pisgah National Forest have opened. That and more national forest news, from Virginia and Tennessee, in this week's report. For more information on the trail opening and the Old Fort project, start here. For more information on the reopening of the High Knob Recreation Area in the George Washington and Jefferson National Forest, go here.

Come summer, we head to the high country of the Southern Appalachians to escape the  sizzling heat at lower elevations. Today, we talk about 7 of our favorite high country hikes for summer, hikes that meet one of two criteria for summer exploring: they either need elevation to escape the heat, or they must have access to water. Better still, both. You can find more information on these hikes and other great mountain hikes in this GetHiking! guide, 7 Mountain Hikes for a Sizzling Summer. In the News In our news report, we cover the closure of the Carden Bluffs Campground in the Watauga District of Tennessee’s Cherokee National Forest due to campers being careless with food and trash. How can you keep from having your favorite campground shuttered by nutty bears? By following the advice offered by bearwise.org, which you can find here. Explore with Us! Join us for an upcoming hike, trip or class by visiting our GetGoingNC.com site and clicking on Explore with Us!

Today, we share 10 bits of advice primarily for folks 50 and older who are interested in getting into into hiking, as well as for established older hikers who want to continue hiking late into life. It’s taken from a Lunch with GetHiking! Zoom session on June 2. (Lunch with GetHiking! is an every other Thursday event done via Zoom, in which we discuss a variety of hiking topics.  Find out when our next event is by joining our GetHiking! Meetup page here.) In the News For more on the opening of the country's longest rubber-bearing multiuser trail, in Tennessee's T.O. Fuller State Park, go here. For more on closures in Virginia's George Washington and Jefferson National Forests, including at Peters Mountain and Whitetop Mountain, go here. Explore with Us! Join us for an upcoming hike, trip or class by visiting our GetGoingNC.com site and clicking on Explore with Us!

Since 1993, the first Saturday of June has been observed as National Trails Day. Administered by the American Hiking Society, it's a day when we celebrate our trails, either by hiking (or, in the case of "blue" trails, paddling) them, or by rolling up our sleeves to do trail maintenance or blaze a new trail. Today, we talk a little about the history of National Trails Day as well as what's going on this year. To learn more about National Trails Day, visit the American Hiking Society web site here. In the news For more information on the reopening of portions of the Occoee National Whitewater Center in Tennessee's Cherokee National Forest, go here. To find what facilities are now open along the Blue Ridge Parkway ion North Carolina and Virginia, go here. Explore with Us! To learn more about our GetHiking! and GetBackpacking! adventures, visit GetGoingNC.com, click on Explore with Us!

Camping has grown in popularity, especially over the past couple of years. Time was it wasn't hard to score a campsite at the last minute. That's changed, even at less popular campsites. Today we look at how to book a site during the camping boom. In the news Check on forest fire levels and on scheduled prescribed burns at these National Forest websites: Georgia North Carolina Virginia Tennessee South Carolina West Virginia Explore with Us! For information on our GetHiking! and GetBackpacking! trips, visit GetGoingNC.com and click on Explore with Us! 

Imagine approaching 70 and wondering how many years of hiking you have left? Five, 10, maybe 15? Now imagine you’ve only reached the midpoint in your hiking career, that you could easily have another 70 years — or more — of hiking in you. Jerry Kroll has long been a cutting-edge kind of guy, dating back to his sustainable clothing venture in the late 1980s to his ElectraMeccanica Vehicles Corporation, which has produced a single-occupant electric car — with three wheels no less. Now, Jerry is a year into his most far-sighted venture yet, Jevitty Life Science, which is creating an app — now in the beta stage — that could help you take advantage of existing and emerging technology to live to be 200 years old — or older. Today, in one of our GetHiking! 50+ episodes, Jerry, who is 62 and an avid marathon runner, talks about Jevitty and how Mel Brooks’ 2000-year-old man may be a stretch, but a 200-year-old human may not be so far-fetched in the near future. To learn more about the Jevitty app, go here. In the News Ocoee Whitewater Center fire. To learn more about the 1996 Summer Olympics whitewater events site, which was destroyed by fire April 26, go here.Barnett Branch Fire in North Carolina. For the latest on this wildfire along the Blue Ridge Parkway near the Pisgah Inn, go here.Morrow Mountain State Park renovations. Head here for more details on the year-long renovation of facilities and trail.Mother's Day feast at Tennessee State Parks. Learn more about the Mother's Day meals, including the menus, at four Tennessee State Parks, go here.Explore with Us! Learn more about the trips mentioned in today's podcast and other trips and classes coming up in our GetHiking! and GetBackpacking! universes by going here.

The U.S. Forest Service will close the Catawba Falls Trails on May 2 to make a number of trail improvements to make access to its popular namesake falls safer. But can they possibly make it safe enough. This week, a short rant about the need not necessarily for fool-proof trails, but for awareness and a little common sense. Resources You can learn more about  our "Let's GetHiking: A Quick and Comprehensive Guide for the Aspiring Hiker,"  and order a copy, here. Find basic resource for hiking at the American Hiking Society website, here. Explore with us! Learn more about the trips our GetHiking! and GetBackpacking! groups are taking at GetGoingNC.com, click on Explore with us!

Hiking at night offers rewards not offered in daylight. This type of hiking calls for a different level of concentration: your world is defined by the sphere of light cast by your  headlamp. You tune in the sounds of the night, which are not the same as the sounds of daytime: more owls than warblers, more raccoons than squirrels. Pause in a clearing, snuff your light and you can see the glories of the vast night sky. It’s a special place, the night world, and it is one well worth exploring. Today we offer  tips on how to take a safe and successful evening-into-night hike. Night Hike Tips: For the GetHiking! Rule the Night tips sheet on hiking into the night, go here. In the news For more on the Schoolhouse Ridge Trail reopening, go here. Explore with us! To learn more about our GetHiking! and GetBackpacking! hikes, trips and classes, go here.

The trails have long been crowded come spring and fall. In the last two years, they've become even more so as an increasing number of people have discovered hiking as a safe way to recreate. So what's a long-time hiker to do, hibernate in the best two hiking seasons of the year and wait out the masses? Not hardly, especially if you know how to beat the crowds. In today's episode, we share some tips on how to find the solitude you crave on the trail, even during the active spring hiking season. In the News 14-day camping limit imposed. To learn more about the 14-day camping limit imposed in the Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest, go here.Ramps gathering in Tennessee. To learn more about the permits being issued to collect ramps in the Tellico Ranger District of the Cherokee National Forest, go here or call 423.397.8455.Forest fire danger. To check on the danger of forest fires throughout the Southeast, visit the State Climate Office of North Carolina's Fire Weather Intelligence Portal here.

Seasonal closures don't always end when they're supposed to: it pays to double check before heading out, especially this time of year.  Also, spring break is coming: do you know where you'll be spending it? For more on Seasonal closures (and reopenings) in National Forests, check  the appropriate National Forest Service website and look under "Events & News"/"Alerts & Notices". GeorgiaNorth CarolinaVirginiaTennesseeSouth CarolinaWest VirginiaInterested in taking the family outdoors for spring break? See what your local State Park has anything happening by checking here: GeorgiaVirginiaNorth CarolinaSouth Carolina TennesseeWest Virginia

This past Sunday, March 13, marked the return of Daylight Saving Time throughout the land, and whether you think it a devious contrivance designed entirely to benefit the vast Barbecue Industrial Complex — I know, we’re in the South, I should call it the vast Grilling industrial Complex — or think Daylight Saving doesn’t go far enough, that we should have 24 hours of daylight, Daylight Saving Time is here and we should make the most of it. In today's episode we discuss how to do just that. In the News For information on the Sliding Rock Recreation Area in the Pisgah National Forest, go here. For information on the opening of nearly 50- developed recreation sites in the Monongahela National Forest, go  here For  information on seasonal openings in Virginia's George Washington and Thomas Jefferson national forests, go here. To find a hike in Tennessee State Parks' Spring Hike Series, go here. Explore with Us! For information on our GetHiking! and GetBackpacking! trips, visit GetGoingNC.com and click on Explore with Us! 

We love winter, but when mid-February rolls around we can't help but be on the lookout for signs of spring. What are the harbingers of the season and where do we search for them? That's the topic of today's podcast. Download our Spring Wildflowers tip sheet, here, for more info on what spring wildflowers to look for at the beginning of the season, and where to search for them. Find it here. In the News For a rundown of cliff faces in western North Carolina National Forests closed through Aug. 15 for peregrine falcon nesting season, go here. To reserve a space to hike Old Rag in Virginia's Shenandoah National Park, go here. Explore with Us! To learn more about the GetHiking! and GetBackpacking! trips mentioned in today's podcast, visit GetGoingNC.com, clock on Explore with Us!