The art of the fit

Apart from the materials they’re made of—carbon-fiber, titanium, aluminum, steel, synthetic rubber, vinyl, Teflon—today’s bicycles are strangely unchanged from those of a century ago. If you doubt it, consider the picture of the 1899 Quad Stay Eagle on this page: Didn’t someone pass you on that thing last weekend at Carrier Park? Tried and true: […]

Outdoor Journal

The sociability of the long-distance runner: Interested in making your long runs in the company of others? Henderson County YMCA’s Greg Walker has organized Sunday runs at Lake Summit in Tuxedo. Join for fellowship and the support of fellow running styles: eight-minute, nine-minute and 10-minute mile pace groups are represented. Most of the running takes […]

Outdoor Journal

Walk this way: If you’re curious about the future of trails and greenspace in Buncombe County, visit the county Web site (www.buncombecounty.org) and have a gander at the draft map of these areas. If you’ve got your own ideas of where you’d like to see trails wind or open space left open, contact Linda Giltz […]

Outdoor Journal

Blending in: The North Carolina Wildlife Federation has launched a grassroots campaign, called the Camouflage Coalition, aimed at uniting hunters and anglers to help protect fish-and-wildlife habitat. Linked by the Internet, Camouflage Coalition members are able to get critical and timely information about legislation and policy changes affecting wildlife management and outdoor recreation in the […]

Outdoor Journal

Drawing on nature: Starting early next month, Warren Wilson College will exhibit Konrad Zoll’s “Visual Notes from the Appalachian Trail,” a collection of landscape sketches and natural-history details made along the fabled hiking path. Zoll’s work will be on display from Feb. 8 to March 26 at the college’s Elizabeth Holden Gallery. An opening reception, […]

Outdoor Journal

Wild women, unite!: The North Carolina Wildlife Commission is headed our way with its “Becoming an Outdoors Woman” retreat, scheduled for April 11 to 13 at Camp Cheerio in Alleghany County. The program will include instruction on bird-watching, basic camping and backpacking, canoe skills, digital photography, wilderness survival, outdoor cooking, stream ecology, rock climbing, shotgun […]

Twilight of the giants

On a brittle morning last February, Will Blozan and his colleague, Jess Riddle, along with fellow arborists Jason Childs and Josh Kelley, drove west from Black Mountain to Cataloochee Valley, in the eastern part of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The peaks that surround the valley—Mount Sterling and Mount Guyot—were a confection of frozen […]