What we’re about
The New York Afternoon Hiking Group is founded on the belief that civilized people like to sleep in on weekends, and lead their active lives in the afternoon. Hiking is not only exercise, it's also a great chance to socialize in pleasant surroundings, making both platonic and romantic friendships.
We lead hikes, roughly one per month, in New York City. All hikes start and end near subway stations or bus stops, and those interested can go to a restaurant nearby for dinner afterward.
We only use restaurants that take separate checks so everybody can pay with their own credit card and we don't have to split the bill.
We aim to arrive at the restaurant at 6pm if on Sunday, 7pm if on Saturday, or a half-hour before sunset, whichever is earlier. For all but the longest hikes, this means we start in the afternoon.
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We have enough routes that we generally don't repeat any of them multiple times in a year.
One thing about most of these hikes is that since they are within NYC, if you get tired, you can just drop out and jump on public transport at any time.
The pace is about 2 miles an hour. We find that people walk a bit slower in summer and faster in winter (trying to keep warm). The pace is slow enough that pretty much everybody is able to spend the entire time engaged in conversation.
We don't appoint sweeps because we find that if there's a sweep, people no longer fear being left behind and abuse the situation, walking really, really slowly as they get lost in conversation, risking our not completing the hike before sunset. We may consider adding sweeps in the future, but only if they can carry a cattle prod.
We don't do headcounts. What happens is that some people show up looking for social opportunities, decide partway through the hike that they don't really want to meet anyone else present, and then quietly drop out and jump on a subway without telling the leader. And if we did a headcount and came up short, what should we do? Send out search parties scouring New York City for "a human being, no description"?
Once, a guy sent word up from the back that he had hurt himself, then everyone was held up for 45 minutes while the leader went back looking for him and couldn't find him because he had jumped on a subway without telling anyone. The guy was expelled from the group for that.
Suggestions for new routes are welcome. Keep in mind the following criteria:
- Must start and end near subway or bus stops.
- There must be a restaurant near the end that can handle a large group, that will do separate checks for that large group, and that takes credit cards. It's desirable that there be vegetarian options on the menu.
- Greenery and bridges along the way are preferred.
- Route must be at least 4 miles long, preferably more.
- Information about restrooms we can use along the way is very helpful.
There is no financial charge for attending these hikes, but you participate in exchange for your relinquishing the right to sue the organizers for anything unfortunate that may happen during the outing. By attending an event, you agree to the terms of a lengthy legalese waiver that can be read here. In the agreement you give up any right whatsoever to sue, to the fullest extent permissible by law.
Upcoming events
1
9 Mile 4 Island, 4 Bridges and a Cable Car Hike
1st Avenue & East 60th Street, New York, NY, USYou will need a Metrocard or OMNI card to ride the cable car.
There are no vaccine or masking requirements on this hike.
We'll start in Manhattan, then cross the 59th St Bridge to Queens, then take the Roosevelt Island Bridge to Roosevelt Island, then the cable car back to Manhattan, then we'll walk 2 miles north along the East River to 103rd St, then take the Ward's Island Bridge to Randall's Island, then the Triborough/RFK Bridge to Astoria.
After we reach Astoria, I'll direct those who want to go home to the Astoria Blvd subway station on the N line, then those interested in dinner can follow me to dinner at a Greek restaurant in Astoria that does separate checks.
The walkway over the Triborough/RFK Bridge has no chain link fence guarding it, just a railing that's only 3 feet high, so if you're a tall person there is a very strong feeling of the height, much more so than on the George Washington Bridge. And if your hat blows off, you'll never see it again -- it's recommended that you tie your hat to a shoelace around your neck. If you fall over, it's probably not high enough to kill you, just high enough to break your back and paralyze you.
If you're driving to this hike, it's recommended you park your car for free on the streets near 23rd Ave and 31st St in Queens, take the "N" train from the Ditmars Blvd stop to Lexington Ave and then walk to the start point.
The amount of time this hike takes has varied a lot by year. In 2015 we finished it in 3 hours, in 2018 the same route took 5.5 hours. The mistake in 2018 was that we had a "sweep", so people knew they wouldn't get left behind no matter how slowly they walked, and they totally abused it, dawdling really, really slowly, taking forever to catch up. The hike took an hour longer than planned. We won't make that mistake again. Then plan is to be in the restaurant by 4:00pm, before the sun sets at 4:32pm.
We'll be stopping for half an hour by a supermarket on Roosevelt Island for a lunch / bathroom break. There's a deli in the supermarket, so you won't need to pack a lunch unless you want to.
Attendance on this hike is free, and all participants attend at their own risk. By attending, you agree to the terms of the release waiver, which you can read at http://bluejacket7.com/legal/WalkingWaiver.doc In it, you basically give up any right whatsoever to sue, to the fullest extent possible by law.
70 attendees
Past events
136
