Dear Hiking & Nature Meetup members,

we have two events planned for this weekend: I am leading a kayaking and canoeing day trip on the Delaware river on Saturday, and Andre is leading a backpacking trip at the intermediate hiking level that is suited for backpacking novices. It is going to be in Harriman Park and is accessible with public transportation. If you are interested in the more serious backpacking trips in July or the Iceland trip in August and you've never hiked with Andre before, then you should go on the one this weekend if at all possible, so he can see whether you're fit for the advanced trips.

Speaking of Iceland, Andre is hosting another dinner to discuss the Iceland trip TODAY. If you're interested in going with Andre to Iceland and you haven't attended the dinners last week, you should come to the one today, it's really important.

Liz just posted an event for July 4th, Independence Day and Andre posted two overnight trips for July, one car camping and one backpacking trip, and based on the response from the members he's going to do either one or both of them. Please read details below and on the website.


TENTATIVE LIST OF FUTURE EVENTS

Please note that the events below may be changed or canceled, based on hike leader's availability, weather, and the number of interested members. This is not our complete schedule for the season, more events are added frequently.

June 25 (Today, Thursday)
Andre is hosting another DINNER TO DISCUSS THE ICELAND TRIP, Info and RSVP here: http://www.meetup.com/hiking-NYC/calendar/10705061/

June 27 (Saturday)
Suzanne is going to lead a KAYAKING TRIP ON THE DELAWARE. The paypal link has been removed, but if you still want to come along, especially if you have a car, email Suzanne. Info and RSVP here: http://www.meetup.com/hiking-NYC/calendar/10544776/

June 27-28 (Sat to Sun)
Andre is leading a BACKPACKING TRIP IN HARRIMAN PARK FOR BEGINNING BACKPACKERS. Experienced backpackers are welcome, of course. Public transportation. Info and RSVP: http://www.meetup.com/hiking-NYC/calendar/10630451/

July 2, Thursday (Holiday)
Eric Vega is organizing an event at the Caf? Wha for this day that promises to be very fun and I'm probably going to go. I believe there's going to be a life band and Michael Jackson and Prince impersonators competing against each other. By the way, the following day, July 3rd, happens to be my birthday. His event post is here: http://www.meetup.com/NYCSOCIALGROUP/calendar/9484080/

July 4, Saturday, Independence Day
Liz is going to be leading a DAY HIKE FOLLOWED BY POTLUCK PICNIC AND FIREWORKS. The pace is going to be intermediate, but it's going to be a long day, with about 12 miles covered, so this is not suited for hikers with little experience or stamina. After the hike, the group is going to have a potluck dinner and watch the fireworks. We did this last year and it was very nice. From our vantage point we could not only see the big firework on the other other side of the river, but also lots of small ones scattered across the land. Info and RSVP: http://www.meetup.com/hiking-NYC/calendar/10719089/

July 10-12 or 17-19 (Fri to Sun)
Andre posted two alternative overnight trips, currently for the same weekend, July 17-19. If both get a good number of people on the waiting list, he's going to move one of them to July 10-12 and offer both. If one of the trips gets very few people on the waiting list, he'll cancel that one. So please RSVP soon. One of the trips is BACKPACKING IN THE ADIRONDACKS http://www.meetup.com/hiking-NYC/calendar/10683159/, the other one is a CAR CAMPING TRIP IN THE ADIRONDACKS http://www.meetup.com/hiking-NYC/calendar/10682785/

July 25 or 26 (Sat or Sun)
Suzanne might be organizing a DAY HIKE WITH SWIMMING OR A BEACH TRIP, depending on the weather and her mood.

August 20 to 29
Andre will go to ICELAND, GREEN ISLAND OF GLACIERS AND GEYSERS. Possible extension (or alternative trip) August 30 to September 1. If interested and you didn't come to any of the two dinners last week, you should really come to the dinner today. Please read the info first before you RSVP: http://www.meetup.com/hiking-NYC/calendar/10465043/

September 5-7 (Saturday to Monday, Labor Day)
Another 3-DAY LABOR-DAY-WEEKEND TRIP TO PENNSYLVANIA WITH KAYAKING, HORSEBACK RIDING, AND WHITE WATER RAFTING, just like Labor Day weekend last year. Not posted yet.


EVENTS OF THE LAST SEVEN DAYS

We had a special Minnewaska hike planned for last Sunday. I'd been checking the weather religuously all week. On Friday it looked like it was going to be fine on Sunday, so I left the hike on, but then on Saturday evening at 8pm the weather forecast looked really bad for the next day, so I finally canceled the hike. And then I spent Sunday in my office, refunding all the paypal payments and banging my head against my desk, because Sunday turned out to be relatively nice and we could've had a good hike after all.


Hope to see you soon,

Suzanne


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