Meet the MULES

Enter to win Trusty’s Eclipse Package: HERE Lads! Where are your glasses!? “Plan ahead.” Sound advice for the coming penumbral occulation on Monday, Aug. 21 — and it comes to...

Cheoah Bald may be the most remote of our viewing venues (photo: themortons.org) It’s a given that you know what you’ll be doing the afternoon of Monday, Aug. 21. The...

New River Trail (photo: Rails-to-Trails Conservancy) 1. Devil’s Marbleyard, James Face Wilderness west of Lynchburg. Hiking. This is just the weirdest thing, to be hiking in the lush Blue Ridge...

Jaala on the Pacific Crest Trail, specifically on the Knife Edge in the Goat Rocks Wilderness in Washington. One day Jaala was a runner with little outdoor experience. The next,...

Paddle the riffly New River Over the past two weeks we’ve been reminding you that summer is half over, and gently encouraging you to not let the rest of the...

Creek crossing at Brumley Forest With a little planning and perseverance, we’re guessing you can get in enough adventure so that when outdoor exploits are shared around the office filtered-and-infused-water...

Here are 10 coastal adventures that not everyone knows about. Up, up and away, at Jockey’s Ridge (photo: visiting.com) Now get out your calendar and start planning. (Note: fees apply...

Robin Hannon: Back in the Tetons again. Like most boys who came of age in the 1960s, Robin Hannon, manager of our Cameron Village store, spent most every second he...

Exploring a pool on North Harper Creek When it comes down to it, what you really seek in an adventure is fun. A bit of a challenge, sure. A story...

Hiking Harper Creek You want to keep hiking as we surge into summer, but the heat! Not a problem, really. You just need to make sure that relief — in...

Some people have an influential mentor who helps determine their career path. For others, their vocation is determined by lineage, by fate, by channel surfing. Chapel Hill Store Manager Chad...

Since childhood, when we’ve thought of cooling off on a hot summer day, we’ve thought of losing ourselves in a cool mountain pool. Just the thought of a natural water...

A well-marked MST through Holly Shelter Game Land Hiking is like craft beer: it’s all good, it’s just that sometimes you have a hankerin’ for a particular kind of trail....

Paddling the marshlands of Falls Lake One of our favorite questions when a newcomer walks in the door: “So, is there any good paddling around here?” Well, reckon that depends...

The MST at Rough Ridge, Blue Ridge Parkway Picture, if you will, a 1,175-mile trail hiked in its entirety in one day. And not by one person, but rather by...

GetBackpacking! Intro to Backpacking Class of February 2017 We love backpacking. We sell lots of useful, essential and fun backpacking gear, our GetBackpacking! program helps you learn the ropes, then...

Let’s talk for a minute about backpacking. You mean strapping a bulky, steel-frame pack with 60 pounds of gear to your back and hiking 20 miles? No, I’m talking about...

Your first hike: So many questions! Last fall, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina, in partnership with N.C. State Parks, N.C. Recreation and Park Association, Friends of State...