In Sunday's Fit! column, I suggested taking a paddle trip on the Neuse River, using an established outfitter. Turns out I missed one.

"This is my 5th year doing the business," wrote Sherry House, propreiter of Neuse Adventures Canoe & Kayak Rentals. "We offer 2 hour and 5 hour trips on Saturday and Sunday and evening trips from 6-8 p.m. during the week."

Exploring the Neuse below Poole Road (photo courtesy Neuse Adventures).

The trips explore a section of the Neuse which several paddlers have told me is the best the river has to offer: from Poole Road through Johnston County (with takeout at Richardsons Road. The most popular trip, House says, is the two-hour version, which which puts in behind Neuse Adventures headquarters at the House farm and takes out at NC 42. The five-hour version puts in at Poole Road and takes out where the Neuse departs Johnston County.

The two-hour trip is $30 for a one-person kayak, $40 for a tandem kayak or two-person canoe; the five hour trip is $60 and $80. Shuttle service is also available: $15 for the two-hour trip, $20 for the five.

Reservations: 553-3295, johnny@neuseadventures.com.

One of Get Out! Get Fit!'s favorite summertime activities. I'll be writing about it in the Fit column in the N&O's Arts & Living section in mid-May. (I'll post that story here as well.)

What: Wafting the Eno River, two-hour guided trip in inflatable "wafts" (a rubbery two-seat kayak/easy chair)on the Eno River led by naturalist Riverdave. No experience necessary. All ages welcome.
When: Trips daily starting May 1 at 10 a.m. and 3:30 p.m., and a 9 p.m. trip every Friday, through Oct. 15.
Where: West Point Park, 5101 N. Roxboro St., Durham.
Cost: $13.
Reservations: 471-3802.
More info: www.wafter.org

Here's something interesting I picked up at Bruce Rosar's Street Cycling class Saturday. Say you're out on a ride and something ... unfortunate happens. Something that requires emergency personnel and you, perhaps, being unable to effectively communicate. The emergency personnel find your cell phone in your jersey, check the contents and — holy cow! does this guy know a lot of people. Wonder who should be contacted in case of emergency.

"Ice," that's who. "Ice," Bruce told us, is what more and more people, cyclists in particular, are plugging into their contact list. I-C-E, as in In Case of Emergency. Let's the authorities know immediately who to call and post bond. Or whatever.

So what else did I learn in Bruce's Street Cycling class, which is anctioned by the League of American Bicyclists and is intended to help greenway and neighborhood cyclists ride in traffic? Tune into next Sunday's Fit column in the N&O's Arts & Living section to find out.

Up for some vicarious living? Then plan to be at the Great Outdoor Provision Co. store in Cameron Village Thursday to hear husband and wife outdoors enthusiasts Randy and Sheri Propster. The Propsters are out and about as part of Backpacker magazine's 2008 Get Out More Tour! Basically, Randy and Sheri tell you what a great time they have living the outdoors life, prompting you to want to get out more. That or live a life of eternal envy knowing you can't possibly do the things they do. Such as take a 253-day honeymoon on the American Discovery Trail.

They'll be on hand from 4-5 p.m. Thursday, telling tales, answering questions and giving away cool stuff. Well, Backpacker says it's cool stuff and really, who among us doesn't get excited over a even a free water bottle.

Learn more about the Get Out More Tour by backing up and clicking on Get Out More Tour.

Fans of water! There's a new festival you should check out this weekend.

It's the Falls Lake Festival, a "celebration of nature & conservation" Saturday at various locations along Falls Lake. There's a lot going on between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. Here are some highlights:
* Canoe and kayak demo. More than 25 boats will be available for a test paddle. If you're contemplating buying a boat, but aren't sure what to get, demos are the ideal opportunity to see what works for you. Take out a recreational kayak, don't like it, try a touring kayak or a canoe instead. Take out as many boats as you like (time and number of others wanting a turn permitting). Boats will be on hand from Wilderness, Perception, Heritage, Native, Mad River, Liquid Logic and Wave Sport.
* Fly fishing demo. Orvis rods will be on hand.
n B.W. Wells / Rock Cliff Farm open house. This lovely spot is open only on a limited basis. Take advantage.
* Mountains to Sea Trail. The trail's Friends group will have a booth where you can learn more about the 30-plus-mile section that runs through the Triangle.
* Our buddy Paul Ferguson will be signing his book "Paddling Eastern North Carolina," the second edition of which describes more than 3,200 miles of paddle trail through the Piedmont and Coastal Plain. Paul knows more about paddling than anyone; pull up a chair and pick his brian.
More details about the festival and a map by clicking here.
You should go if for no other reason than to see what Falls Lake looks like with water in it!

The ongoing drought and the Army Corps of Engineers' recent decision to cut back the release from Falls Lake has forced Raleigh Parks & Rec. to cancel this year's Neuse River Festival.

"The ACOE is releasing 28 cubic feet per second from the dam and at that level even the upper section of the Neuse is too dry for anything other than a portage race," Kathy Capps tells us via e-mail. Capps manages P&R's Adventure Programs, which managed the 10-year-old festival. "Minimum release for an upper section race (round trip upstream and back to Elizabeth Road) is about 100 cfs and minimum release for lower section race (Milburnie Dam to Poole Road) is 150 cfs."

Water? Who needs water for kayaking?

The festival began in 1997 as a funky eco expo/canoe and kayak race from a muddy put-in just above U.S. 64. More recently, it had evolved to a full-fledged festival based at Anderson Point.

Capps says the drought has caused other problems for The Adventure Program. "We have also had to drastically modify our entire regular paddling lineup of programs for Spring, Summer and Fall based on this forecast, changing most whitewater and moving water programs to flat water, and changing some water based programs to something entirely different on land.

She adds: "We are definitely hoping for the best, but also preparing for the worst."

Traditionally, North Carolina's State Parks have opened at 8 a.m. and closed at varying times depending upon the time of year. In the dead of summer, from June through August, they stay open until 9 p.m. During the shoulder months of April, May and September they've stayed open until 8 p.m. In the dark of winter — November through February, they close at 6 p.m.

Expect the bonus hour to be taken advantage of at Umstead.

In the transitional months of March and October — transitional in terms of waxing/waning sunlight — they've closed at 7 p.m. I've always looked forward to March in particular because of that added hour. This year, March is even sweeter. Because Daylight Savings Time starts March 9, parks administrators decided to take advantage of the extra sunlight by going ahead and staying open until 8 p.m. Thus, we went from a 6 p.m. closing to an 8 p.m. closing today.

Let your local state park know how much you appreciate the extra hour and plan an early evening expedition during the week ahead.

People sometimes say to me, "Wish I had your job; always getting to be out and about." Sign up for my internship program and you'll see the "out and about" is usually about being "out " of coffee and "about" to go mad in the office.

Burt Kornegay shares tales from behind the paddle Feb. 6.

The guy you really want to envy is Burt Kornegay, owner and chief guide of Cullowhee-based Slickrock Expeditions. Burt was in the Marines from 1972-74, got his B.A. in history from the University of Oregon in 1976 and an M.A. in English from UNC in 1980. He started running wilderness trips at the age of 20 in New York's Adirondack Mountains and started Slickrock when he was 33. He's personally led more than 400 expeditions, from backpacking trips along the Bartram Trail (he presided over the N.C. Bartram Trail Society for 12 years and co-authored of the N.C. Bartram Trail series of maps) and in Panthertown Valley (about which he wrote "A Guide’s Guide to Panthertown Valley") to Big Bend National Park in Texas to the Klamath River in the Northwest to the Isle Royale National Park in the Great Lakes region. On average, he spends about 100 nights a year in the woods.

Burt, it can safely be said, has tales to tell. And he will share them on his annual visit to the Great Outdoor Provision Co. store in Cameron Village Feb. 6 at 7 p.m. His focus: 25 years of canoeing wild rivers.

Mark your calendar.

As part of our mea culpa for giving the wrong date for Raleigh Parks & Rec. Adventure Program's Rollapoolooza event in yesterday's Get Out! Get Fit! column, we're here to reiterate that the whitewater-kayak-clinic-in-a-pool is JANUARY 19. That's JANUARY 19, as in NEXT Saturday, 6-10 p.m. (gear swap begins at 4 p.m.).

So don't go to the Pullen Aquatic Center tomorrow expecting the event. Go NEXT Saturday.

You won't be able to do this THIS Saturday at the Pullen Aquatic Center. But you will NEXT Saturday.

If you were rearranging your plans for Saturday to work in Rollapoolooza, the big kayak clinic at the Pullen Aquatic Center, STOP! It's not this Saturday, as I erroneously reported in today's Get Out! Get Fit! column, it's January 19, NEXT Saturday. My apologies. Rearrange your plans — again — accordingly.

Today's Get Out! Get Fit! column on Rollapoolooza, the annual indoor whitewater kayak clinic spectacular — that is one weird description, but it's accurate — JANUARY 19!!!! —

and we put that in caps with a bunch of exclamation points because we initially and erroneously reported that it is this Saturday, the 12th, WHICH IT IS NOT, it's next Saturday, JANUARY 19!!!!!

— at the Pullen Aquatic Center in Raleigh is unique, in part, because the 45-minute clinics offered from 6 p.m. until 10 p.m. will be taught by some of the top whitewater paddlers in the land. As of Monday, here's who was planning to be on hand. (If you're new to this, click on anything in blue for more information.)

This could be you. Maybe.

Jackson Kayak

Eric Jackson
Dane Jackson
Emily Jackson
Clay Wright

Dagger
corey volt
Pat Keller

Wave Sport
Tyler Curtis
Brian Jennings
Kelsey Thompson
Robert Perrson
Brian Kirk

Pyranha
Leland Davis
Andria Baldovin

Werner Paddles
Marlow Long

I was talking with Banks Dixon, proprietor of Frog Hollow Outdoors in Durham, this afternoon about upcoming paddle trips. I noticed that his night trips — a full moon paddle and a new moon paddle (for star gazing) — tended to peter out come late fall. "I'll take a private group out if they want to," Banks said. Otherwise, it's just too cold for most novice paddlers going into winter.

"By the way," I said, "I've got this idea for a series of night adventures." Banks' business may be paddle sports, but he's an overall adventure kind of guy. I told him about the Falls Lake Trail night hike and said I was thinking about a comparable paddling epic. Maybe on Falls Lake? Or Jordan? Banks was immediately taken with the idea.

This ... this is a lousy picture. But it's all I've got.

"That's an interesting idea," he said. I could tell by his tone of voice that by "interesting," he meant "interesting." Not "stupid." He laid out some potential trips on both Falls and Jordan lakes. Interesting trips that would probably take three or four hours. "We could put in at the Eno River boat ramp," he began. I liked his use of "we." "We could paddle up to the Hickory Hill boat ramp."

Hickory Hill?

"It's on the other side of I-85," he said. I liked the sound of that. It's in the "Three Rivers" area, where the Eno, Flat and Little rivers basically give it up for Falls Lake. It's one of Banks' favorite areas to paddle because of the abundant wildlife. "The trick, at these water levels and in the dark, would be to stay in the main river channel." I liked the fact that there might be a "trick" involved as well.

I asked if Banks had ever spent the night on the water. "I've had some long nights," he said. He recounted one particularly epic paddle in Devil's Gut area of the Roanoke River. He was leading an overnight group that was camping on the platforms. They set up camp, then wanted to go out after dark. "That was probably five and a half, six hours."

"So you like the idea of a long night trip?" I asked seeking confirmation.

"Oh, yeah," he said. "I'm definitely interested."

Meaning, again, that he's interested. Interested in something fun and challenging. Not stupid.

Events have conspired to deprive my Old Town Loon 138T of a home. So for the past few days, it's been living atop my Honda Civic. It's not the best arrangement, for several reasons. True, I do have a boat at the ready should paddle fever hit. But the Civic now gets about 30 miles to the gallon lugging this 78-pound boat (it generally gets around 34 mpg). Lots of parking garages won't clear a boat-toting car, and fast-food drive-thrus are definitely iffy. And the roof rack barely accommodates two bikes on either side of the thing.

Home, for now.

So here's the deal: I need a place to keep the boat for a while, until May, maybe, June at the latest. It needs to be kept out of the sun, but that's the only requirement. Keep it for me and you can use it whenever. Comes with paddles, PFDs (known in the day as life vests) and a dry bag. It's a great boat for lakes, swamps and flatwater rivers (up to Class II). It can hold 350 pounds before water starts lapping over the top. Ideal for a parent and kid, especially a parent and kid interested in testing the waters of kayaking. It's a very stable boat.

I would like visitation rights. I'd call at least four days in advance; if you already have plans for the boat, your plans prevail.

Sound like something you might be interested in? Make contact and we'll chat.

Get Out! Get Fit! is on vacation this week, which means we're busy in the field testing various activities. Today: flatwater paddling.

How long's it been since I've been in the boat? I wondered as Hana and I pulled the Old Town 138T off the Civic. Three years, I finally calculated, almost to the date. And on this very trip.

It was a fun, fluffy sky over — and in — the water Wednesday.

Three years ago this week I was wrapping up Cycle North Carolina 2004. It had been a long year in the saddle; My goal was to ride 5,000 miles for the year (I fell a little over 600 miles shy) and I had been consumed by cycling. No time for anything else. On the last day of the ride, on the way to Oriental, we rolled past a blackwater creek. That's when the blasphemy hit: I'd rather be in a boat. Two weeks later, I was, at this very spot on the Beaverdam section of Falls Lake.

"Hey back there, you slacker! Are you paddling?"

That day had been mostly cloudy with enough wind to whip up foot-high waves. Today. it was perfectly still, a deep azure sky pocked with fluffy, fun clouds. We put in around 2, headed north toward Granville County. "Past the bridge," I told Hana, " "there's a swampy area we can explore."

On the way, we saw a deer disappear onto a cove, a great blue heron, a kingfisher and a giant puppy on his back waiting for his belly to be scratched. That would have been a cloud, btw. As we approached the bridge, I began having doubts. A gauge on one of the supports reflected the number of feet below the bridge's deck the water. From the waterline, it looked like 14 was the norm. It was well below 10. Consequently, we became stranded a good 75 yards before the swamp officially began.

"That hand in the water is slowing us down, you know."

No matter. The day was perfect. When we got back to the put in, we loaded up, then walked to the swimming beach for a dip. One word for that experience.

Bracing!

I love a good trip tale. A story well told about an adventure in the woods is almost as good as being there. ... OK, it's nowhere close. But at the end of a long day when you don't have the option of hiking the AT, the next best thing is to read a well-crafted account by someone who did.

Normally, we look to the likes of Tim Cahill or Mark Jenkins for such entertainment. We'd never expect to read a great tale of adventure from someone called the Yarn Harlot. But we just did, a harrowing, humorous trip down Canada's French River.

So if you don't have time to paddle tonight, curl up on the couch with your laptop and click here.