🔐 Structured Hike — Registration - Required Before Joining

### 📌 Important Clarification About This Event

This 🔐 Structured Hike — Registration Required Before Joining is not a casual meetup hike, not a standard club hike, and not a guided tour.
It exists for a specific purpose:

• registration
• screening
• coordination
• structured planning

Not all hikes in this club are this type of hike.
This format is used when:

• trail access requires coordination
• permits or land-use rules apply
• winter or sensitive conditions are present
• group readiness must be confirmed in advance

Other club hikes may be lighter, shorter, or paced differently — but all participation still follows verification and coordination standards.

# 🥾 What Is a Structured Hike?

A Structured Hike is an intentional, coordinated outing where everyone participates — in movement, awareness, and preparedness.
We move as a coordinated unit, not a crowd.
Each participant:

• Carries their personal essentials
• Carries one small piece of shared group gear
• Understands how the group functions
• Moves with presence, not pressure

This model builds confidence, safety, and trust — without speed games, ego, or performative leadership.

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## 🧭 How a Structured Hike Works

### 🔹 Shared Responsibility

There is no single person carrying everything.
Group safety gear (medical, navigation, comms, climbing gear, contingency) is distributed so no one is overloaded and everyone stays aware.

### 🔹 Defined Roles (Quiet & Functional)

Roles rotate and are simple Examples include:

• Scout – moves slightly ahead to read terrain, transitions, and flow
• Navigation Anchor – tracks route, position, and alternates
• Sweep – stays toward the rear and watches spacing, fatigue, and morale
• Medical Point – carries or assists with the group kit
• Time Keeper – monitors daylight, pace, and turnaround windows

Additional support roles may include:

• Terrain Spotter – assists on scrambles, crossings, or exposed sections
• Weather Watch – tracks changing conditions and temperature shifts
• Comms Support – assists with radios, signaling, or emergency comms
• Gear Support – helps manage shared equipment or transitions
• Pace Balancer – helps keep movement steady without pressure

No hierarchy. No titles.
Just shared responsibility and awareness.

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## 🧗 Rock & Scramble Integration (When Listed)

Some structured hikes include:

• Rock scrambles
• Low-angle exposed movement
• Optional technical steps

When this is part of the route, we use:

• Helmets (when appropriate)
• Rock climbing shoes and equipment
• Thin liner socks (for cold rock, hygiene, and clean swaps)

Footwear swaps happen just at designated staging points.
No barefoot pressure. No skill shaming. Bypass options are always stated.
This is not a climbing course — it is controlled terrain awareness and movement.

***

## 🎒 What You Carry

### Required Personal Gear (All Participants)

• Backpack
• Water and trail food
• Weather layers
• Headlamp
• Appropriate footwear
• Personal medications
• Paper map section
• Phone (airplane mode encouraged)

### Group Gear (Assigned in Advance)

Each participant carries one small shared item such as:

• First aid or trauma basics
• Navigation tools
• Emergency shelter or cord
• Comms or signaling tools
• Climbing gear

Assignments are shared before the hike.

***

## 🗺️ Before We Step Off

Every structured hike begins with a short, calm briefing:

• Route overview
• Terrain notes
• Turnaround time
• Bailout options
• Gear confirmation

No speeches. No hype.

***

## 🕓 Timing & Format

Structured hikes are built around conditions and people, not fixed calendars.

• Timing adapts to weather, daylight, and group readiness
• Outings may range from:
• Short 1-hour orientation or conditioning walks (prep for longer outings)
• Half-day structured hikes
• Full-day terrain or skills-based outings
• Weekday and weekend options are both possible

We do not post mass RSVP hikes.

### 🚗 Logistics

Open to carpooling or meeting at the location.
Happy to recommend what to bring or how to prep for trail conditions.
Transit Access:
Our carpooling location is directly connected to a River Line Light Rail station, making it easy for those arriving by public transportation.

• River Line Light Rail: Local NJ rail line that serves many nearby trail areas
• PATCO Speedline: High-speed rail from Philadelphia to South Jersey — connects at the Broadway/Rand Transportation Center (also a River Line station)
• Amtrak: National rail service — connect with River Line at Trenton Transit Center for long-distance coordination
• NJ Transit Trip Planner: Plan your full route using rail, bus, and transfers across NJ and into PA/NY

### 🚆 New York Park Access (Train-Supported Hikes)

• Metro-North Railroad — Hudson Line

https://new.mta.info/agency/metro-north-railroad
Serves Beacon, Cold Spring, and Garrison
→ Primary access for Hudson Highlands State Park, Storm King State Park, and nearby Black Rock Forest trail connections

• NJ Transit / Metro-North — Port Jervis Line

https://www.njtransit.com/port-jervis-line
Serves Tuxedo, Sloatsburg, and Suffern
→ Direct rail access to the west side of Harriman State Park

Let us know if you’re arriving by public transit — we’ll coordinate the meetup, timing, and trailhead accordingly.

## 📌 How Coordination Works (Important)

## 🧭 Start Here: Orientation & Safety (Required)

Before your first structured hike or training, all members must review:

📘 Welcome to the Hiking Club

📋 Hiking Safety & Gear Checklist
✅ Pre-Hike Checklist
📢 Hiking Essentials & Emergency Whistle Guide
🪨**Cairns & Trail Markers – What They Are and Why They Matter**
🔗 Trail Club Lodging, Hotel, and Ride Policy
🔗 🚫 No Alcohol or Substance Use Policy
🔗 🚫 Activism & Political Endorsement Policy

## Registration (Important)

1. Complete the Two Required Forms

🛡 Hiking Club Verification Form
🥾 Trail Energy + Travel Intake — Member Check-In
(Printable versions available — just ask.)
2. Schedule a Brief Zoom Check-In
This helps us align pace, goals, and trail circles based on your form responses.
3. Fill Out the Universal Request Form
👉 https://forms.gle/quqELunKvDgaCUWg7
🔁 Already completed Steps 1 & 2?
Skip straight to Step 3 — just use the Universal Request Form to request or coordinate your next hike, event, or session.
We don’t build around RSVPs — we build around you.
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### We’ll coordinate tailored to your vibe, not the crowd.

***

We do not use public RSVPs.
Every walk, hike, training session, or adventure is:

• Pre-arranged
• Intentionally shaped
• Coordinated through the Universal Request Form

👉 Universal Request Form
https://forms.gle/quqELunKvDgaCUWg7
Use the form to request or offer:

• 🚗 Carpool seats or pickup points
• 🛏 Lodging or shared cabin options
• 🥾 Hikes, training, or adventure ideas
• ⚙️ Gear support, safety help, or co-hosting
• ✍️ Anything else

We shape events around verified members who show up — not fixed calendars or RSVPs.

## 📖 Want the Full Context?

➡️ What We’re About
https://www.meetup.com/hiking-expedition-adventures-outdoors-meetup-group/

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### Final Note

We don’t chase numbers.
We don’t rush terrain.
We don’t outsource responsibility.
We shape the hikes around the members — not the other way around.