The Access Umstead Committee, which has been politely petitioning for a reversal of the parking ban at the Graylyn Drive neighborhood entrance to Umstead State Park, is working on the same thing at the Reedy Creek Road neighborhood entrance.

The Raleigh City Council on Tuesday removed from its consent agenda a proposal to ban on-street parking in the Trenton Woods neighborhood near the Reedy Creek Road entrance. A council committee will take up the question.

Park lovers warned the council against setting a precedent that could make it easier for other neighborhoods all around Umstead's fringe to bar those pesky parkers, too. Now Access Umstead is inviting its allies to e-mail City Council members with a request that they uproot the dense thicket of No Parking signs (actually planted by NCDOT, not by the city, I think) around the entrance.

Meanwhile I learn on the Access Umstead site that state parks officials have at least tallied the public comments they solicited last fall regarding alternatives for providing new access at the Graylyn gate. Of the 249 people who offered their opinions, 150 favored Alternative C. No word on when, or whether, any of these alternatives will be implemented.

This stuff shouldn't be hard. The barriers really are bureaucratic. ... [MORE]

A bumper crop of “No Parking” signs is flourishing along Reedy Creek and Trenton roads at the southeast edge of Umstead State Park in West Raleigh.

Even in winter, they’re spreading like kudzu.

In the past two years, the state Department of Transportation has planted about 60 signs on a quarter-mile stretch around this quiet corner.

They stand barely 30 feet apart, closer than needed for a simple regulatory message. They’re dense enough to serve as crude barriers — to anyone who dares to park the car and indulge in the guilty pleasure of fresh air and exercise in a splendid state park.

On Tuesday, the Raleigh City Council will consider making a further extension of the Umstead unwelcome mat.

The council’s consent agenda — items to be approved without discussion — includes a parking ban on the streets of Trenton Woods, one of the nice new subdivisions springing up on Umstead’s outskirts. Homeowners there don’t like park users parking in front of their homes.

[Tuesday 2/3 update: The Trenton Woods proposal was pulled from the council agenda and sent to a committee for study.] ... [MORE]

I glanced at my watch as I crossed the Crabtree Creek footbridge: 5:05
p.m.. Glanced again as I took the Company Mill Trail across Reedy Creek
Trail: 5:16 p.m., and again as I came back: 5: 32 p.m. Otto! I thought
as I realized I was flirting with dangerously close to Umstead's 6 p.m.
gate closing.

Friday, I told you what the family did to actively celebrate the new
year: Went on a New Year's Day hike led by Ron Drago at Umstead State
Park. Ron's been doing the hike for six years now. That, I knew. What I
didn't know was that he's also been leading a weekly weekend hike in
the area.

It's true. One frigid February morning several years ago, even the most sophisticated layering scheme wasn't enough.

Saturday hike will cover 13.5 miles.

Weekend forecast calls for hiking along rain-aroused Sycamore Creek.

In case you read the tease in today's N&O and came looking to find the answer to that age-old question: Can you explore all 33 miles of trail at Umstead State Park in one day, you'll have to tun in next week — to the Fit column in Sunday's Arts & Living section — for the answer.

Dang, am I beat. I spent yesterday — from 8:30 in the morning until 5 in the afternoon — seeing if it was possible to explore all 33 miles of trail at Umstead State Park in one day, through a combination of hiking, biking and running. (Actually, to explore all 33 miles, I figured about eight miles of backtracking would be necessary, bringing the total number of miles covered to 41.)

So, is it possible to do the full Umstead in one day? In that time-honored tradtion of tease marketing, you'll have to wait until Oct. 26 to find out. You'll find the answer in the Fit column in the Arts & Living section of The News & Observer.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to find a hot bath and some Epsom salt.

Here's what's on my calendar for the day: hike, run or bike all 31 miles of trail at Umstead. I plan to start around 8 this mornng biking the 13-mile bike and bridle trail network (though it will be longer because some backtracking will be required. Next, I'll run the 2.7-mile Loblolly Trail (5.4 miles round-trip). And I'll finish up hiking the 15-or-so miles of remaining hiking trail. I've always wanted to see if it could be done in a day.

 And now I'll find out.