One of my fondest childhood memories was camping on the Outer Banks of North Carolina in April, waking up to snow! What a wonderland! This spring, Miles for Wellness brought Challenge 17: An Outdoor Adventure Trail to state employees across North Carolina. This “virtual” trail took employees virtually from one beautiful scenic campground to another across our great country. Most stops provided a myriad of outdoor activities from hiking on mild to adventurous trails, to swimming in pristine waters, to boating, fishing, bird-watching, and of course, star-gazing at night!

Beginning at Cape Hatteras National Seashore, walkers followed a westward trail and virtually exited North Carolina after seeing the sites around Murphy, North Carolina, heading to Arizona, where some may have been tempted to stay virtually in a yurt overnight, before continuing the trek to Utah to see dinosaurs at Dinosaur National Monument! Speaking of mammoth sightings, employees were able to virtually see the giant redwoods in California or Yellowstone in Wyoming, where approximately half of all the world’s geysers can be found, some topping out between 300 and 400 feet! Then off to bird watch in North Dakota and Iowa, they saw the waterfalls in West Virginia, and rounding out the trip through Virginia and back to Falls Lake Recreational State Park, here in central North Carolina!