Every Trail Challenge 3.9 CANCELLED

The Every Trail MetroPark Challenge Series When there are trails in Dayton to hike, who waits for good weather and longer days?! This is the 3rd annual hiking series hosted by Michelle and Brian Coleman.

Hike Description: We will start our hike at Huffman Dam, hike the 2 miles of trails, climb the dam, then hike the bike trail to Eastwood MetroPark where we'll hike the 2.5 miles of trails and then hike back to Huffman. This hike is 12 miles total hiking.

This hike is set at a moderate pace and is part of a challenge series. We are hiking for exercise but will take a few breaks. Since the terrain is mostly flat, you can plan to hike at 3.2-3.5 mph. This is on the faster side of moderate, but certainly not a fast hike.

Meeting Location/Start Time: Please make sure you are at the LOWER or 2nd entrance of the park, put the specific address in your GPS not the park. Please plan to arrive 15 minutes before the posted start time because we will leave promptly. Look at the address on a Five Rivers MetroParks map so you know the location of the shelter where we are meeting. Problems? Make sure you have someone’s cell phone so you can call! Again, we will leave promptly at the start time listed.

What You Need: You need sturdy shoes; hiking shoes or boots are recommended. Trekking poles are encouraged, especially with our hillier hikes. Trekking poles will help you get up a hill, assist with balance, and take a bit of pressure off the knees. Check out our local hiking stores or a sporting good store for trekking poles. A pack with water and snacks are encouraged, especially with our longer hikes. However, if you can hike with a pack in our shorter hikes it will help you get used to carrying the the extra weight.

Cancelations: You will be notified via Meetup if any hike has to be rescheduled due to weather or hike leader illness. However – we do not cancel easily! We will hike in the snow, in mild rain, in below freezing temps, in windy weather, but will not hike in blizzard conditions, in freezing rain, and we may have to move the time to a bit earlier/later for the roads to clear or to beat bad weather. We have hiked in -20 wind chills and folks had to take off layers they were so warm. Do not let a little cold and snow scare you! We have the best memories from the coldest hikes so – suck it up buttercup (haha, that is Michelle’s motto, you’ll hear it a lot)!

What Ifs: We know that sometimes things come up and you cannot join us. Please cancel your RSVP as early as possible to make room for others who are on the wait list.

Your Hike Leaders: Brian and Michelle Coleman, members of Dayton Hikers since 2009; we are avid hikers, backpackers, cyclists, teachers, goofballs, weight loss success stories, and hiked all of the MetroParks at least five times.

The Series, Schedule, and RSVPs: The Every Trail MetroPark Challenge series is where we will hike every trail, both color-coded and non-color coded (minus the bridle and mountain biking trails) in each of the 19 Five Rivers MetroParks of Dayton. We will start with the shorter trails and build to longer hikes. The goal is to hike every trail and earn a cool patch!

To Complete the Challenge: We are doing things a little differently this year. You will be responsible for logging your own hikes and submitting one hiking log once you have completed the challenge. Brian and Michelle will not be tracking attendance beyond helping everyone get to know one other. You can log your hikes any way you choose, but we've made it easy with a hiker log that you can download and fill in (see link below). We do not need you to submit GPS maps, photos, or the like, just a list of the parks and when you hiked them. Remember, the point of the Every Trail MetroPark Challenge is to hike EVERY TRAIL! You don't have to walk every inch of the trail, but challenge yourself to do as much as you can on each color coded and non color coded trail.

You must RSVP for each event on the Dayton Hikers Meetup page. If you are a chronic no-show, you will be removed from future hikes to make room for others. All hikes will be on Sundays (except one).

Sample hiker log: https://goo.gl/7Lq2vf