Hi Everyone,

As most of you are aware, our group continues to grow at a rapid pace. We've added more trips each year so that as many of you as possible can attend, but our trips still fill up quickly. The demand is greater than the supply, and we have limits on the number of people able to attend a particular trip. Most of our trips are limited to 15 people, and we do this for a few reasons. Most of the wilderness areas, etc. impose a limit of 15, finding a backcountry campsite that is large enough for more than 15 people is very difficult on most hikes, and while we promote group backpacking we don't want to get carried away and have "crowd" backpacking.

We want to make sure that anyone who has RSVP'd Yes for a trip will attend. Since our trips are over an entire weekend (or longer) there is some advance planning involved and a few days is usually not enough time. People who wanted to attend a "Full" trip a month ago will probably not be able to go if a spot opens up only a few days before the trip begins. Again, we want as many members as possible to be able to attend our trips. So with that in mind, we have initiated a policy for RSVP's so that spots on a trip are not wasted due to last minute cancellations. This policy is listed below.

Our RSVP Policy: If you are not able to attend a trip that you signed up for, you must change your "Yes" RSVP at least 2 weeks prior to the trip. For example, if the weekend trip is scheduled for a Friday (the 20th) you must change your RSVP two Friday's prior to that date (the 6th). We use the "3 strikes you're out" system (although you're not actually out). Each member will be allowed 2 exceptions per year to this policy (this allows for those unexpected, last minute situations). If you change your RSVP to a "No" within 2 weeks of a trip twice during a particular year, you'll get a friendly reminder that we don't like you to do that. If you do it a 3rd time, you'll only be allowed to RSVP "Yes" for a trip the day before the trip (assuming there is a spot available) and any other trips you RSVP'd for will be changed to a "No" (you can sign up for them again, 1 day prior to the trip).

Please let me know if you have any questions or comments.

Thanks,

Bob