Outdoor Journal

The darkest hour: INFINIT Custom Nutrition and Rusty Sprocket Productions LLC have teamed up to present the Night Train six-and-12 hour mountain-bike races, scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 9, at Fontana Village.

Races begin at 10 a.m., with the six-hour event ending at 4 p.m. and the 12-hour event ending at a very murky 10 p.m. A mandatory riders meeting will be held at the start/finish line at 9:30 a.m.

Helmets are required, and lights must be used beginning one hour before dusk. Riders not using lights or helmets will be disqualified.

Entry fee is $50 per rider. For more information and to register, visit http://ridethenighttrain.com.

Climbing ever higher: Carolina Climbers Coalition raised more than $5,500 towards repayment of its recent acquisition of Laurel Knob during the group’s Playing for the Payoff party, held at Triangle Rock Club in Raleigh on Saturday, July 19.

If you missed the party but would like to help, visit www.carolinaclimbers.org for more information.

Got your back: The North Carolina Court of Appeals ruled earlier this month in support of stronger protection for the state’s trout waters.

At issue was the failure of the state Environmental Management Commission to designate a 12-mile stretch of the Catawba River—home to both rainbow and brown trout—near Morganton as “trout waters.”

Filed by the Southern Environmental Law Center, the suit led to the higher court’s ruling that the state agency must assign a protective classification to waters that support trout populations, regardless of whether they’re there as a result of stocking or natural reproduction.

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