It has been SO LONG since my last Sunday Stroll post! No joke, it’s been almost a year since my last Sunday Stroll post on Adams Tract in Carrboro, eek!! And while I’ve been hiking and running, that’s a fair representation of how long it’s been since I went on a Sunday Stroll with my dad. We’ve only ever been on one other Sunday Stroll since then at Clemmons forest, and I just haven’t posted about that. (Also my bad.) But I’d been talking a big game about reviving our Sunday Stroll tradition, and I even texted my dad to check his availability for a recent Sunday morning, only I never actually followed up with him on when or where or how far.
So fast forward to Sunday morning. I’m lying in bed being a lazy bum, and my doorbell rings. It’s my dad. Asking, “Hey, where are we going hiking this morning?”
😳😳😳😳😳😳😳😳😳😳😳😳
27 acre woodland preserve in Carrboro offers natural trail hiking along Bolin Creek
I ran my longest distance ever this past weekend - 14 miles on Saturday morning - so on Sunday I needed a nice and easy warm-up hike with my dad before my trail run with Kelly at Carolina North. I was doing my usual scrounging around looking for green patches on Google Maps when I remembered that on the last long run in Carrboro we passed by a park sign on N Greensboro St and someone mentioned there were some trails back there. I pulled it up and sure enough: there was a little patch of green and a dotted line suggesting trails.
A trail on campus at UNC-Chapel Hill offers lots of route options for hiking or trail running.
This past Sunday Kelly and I kicked off our trail running adventures (which I will affectionately call "runventures") with Battle Branch Trail. This particular trail starts at the Chapel Hill Community Center and connects to Battle Park, a 93 acre park on campus at UNC Chapel Hill. Battle Branch Trail connects Battle Park and the Chapel Hill Community Center, and you can loop various trails together in Battle Park for a range of mileage for a great hike! Great for running or hiking, it's a great addition to the Sunday Stroll series!
New park in Wendell offers hiking, picnicking, and a retreat in nature
I know, I know, everyone's still obsessed with snow right now (can you believe we got well over 8 inches in Durham?!) but today's a little bit of a throwback. Final photos for the Wake County Parks project were delivered and I am just itching to show you all the last round of images! I got to do a ton of fun things for the Wake County Parks photography project, from photographing mountain bikers and stand-up paddleboarders to exploring hiking trails to meeting up with equestrians to doing some fun interactive lessons with kids - but it also gave me the opportunity to do something I'd never be able to do otherwise (well, not legally at least): explore a park that hadn't been opened yet!
Tall bluffs create montane environment in Cary, NC area
Swift Creek Bluffs Nature Preserve is a Triangle Land Conservancy property that nestles up against Hemlock Bluffs Nature Preserve. Swift Creek runs along both parks and is protected by tall bluffs which create a montane environment with flora and fauna commonly found at higher elevations. In January very little is showing off its alpine blossoms, but with the trees bare you can easily spy the creek along the entire trail.
Scenic 2-mile loop around Bass Lake offers hiking and water recreation in Holly Springs, NC
On Sunday morning when I woke up to go on a Sunday Stroll it was four degrees Fahrenheit outside. Four degrees! I couldn't remember ever witnessing such cold conditions; even the winter break of my freshman year that I spent in Wisconsin racing sled dogs only showed me temperatures as low as 8°F. Regardless I had promised my dad that cold or no cold we were hiking that morning at Bass Lake in Holly Springs, so I bundled up with my merino wool long johns, my quilted coat, and my snowboarding jacket and I headed out.
North Raleigh park offers easy hiking on primitive trails with lake views
I was going through the backlog of hikes I planned on posting on the blog, and I was shocked to discover that I did this Durant Nature Preserve hike in September! I am seriously that behind on posts, and I'm also amazed at how quickly this fall has disappeared.I met my dad early one morning in September for a Sunday stroll in Durant Nature Preserve in north Raleigh. I'd seen signs for it off Capital Boulevard every time I went to to the WRAL soccer park complex, and finally curiosity got the best of me and I decided to check it out.
Some solitude and reflection on the American Tobacco Trail
It was the summer solstice and I was waiting for a group of cyclists to come down the American Tobacco Trail. I was hoping for a few photos of cyclists on the trail and had tentative plans to meet a group somewhere along the Wake County section, but with no firm confirmation and the sky darkening with clouds I found a scenic bridge and settled down to wait.
