A Wilderness Nearby

I enjoy heading into the wilderness, any wilderness.

The Birkhead Mountain Wilderness is part of the Uwharrie National Forest. It is about an hour down highway 64 from Raleigh-Durham. Until recently, I had never been to this part of the Uwharrie. So the week before Thanksgiving, I took a break from work & headed to check it out. My friend Keith called in “well” and went with me.

We selected hike #217 out of the trail guide we had. It was about 7.2 miles with fairly easy elevation change. The weather was overcast, but the rain held off until we finished the hike. This area of the Birkhead Mountain Wilderness is primarily a southern hardwood forest. By late November all of the leaves were down except where we encountered groves of beech trees still holding on to their dead leaves. The hike was surprisingly easy & we finished in under 3 hours. Here is the topo that we used with a few waypoints marked at trail junctions.

It was a peaceful walk.

At The Trailhead

During the past 10-15 years I have spent a considerable amount of time in outdoor activities & pursuits. I am an avid mountain biker, paddler, hiker & camper. I am also a middle aged father, husband & entrepreneur who believes in a somewhat balanced life, so I don’t spend as much time outside as I could…but that is okay.

One of my sons has been active in Scouts since he was 8 or 9 and is about to finish his Eagle before heading off to college. While I spent a few years in Scouts as a kid, our time together in Scouts has really brought me back to the outdoors. Ironically as his time in Scout’s is winding down, I am becoming increasingly interested in adventures outdoors. I am convinced this has a lot to do with the need to relieve some of the stress of life. And to be honest, it is also to try to convince myself & anyone else who is nearby that I still can do it. Sometimes the conclusions drawn are in just the opposite direction, but at least my life insurance & disability are paid up! ;-)

Recently, I have decided to blog about some of my experiences. In part, to keep a log of some of my adventures, but it is just as much to force me to think and reflect about life.