LAFF: Lesbian Adventures 45+, NJ/NY

Moderate to challenging hike
Distance 7.5 miles, elevation gain 1130 ft. There are steep, rocky ups and downs.

Gertrude’s Nose is often listed as the best hike in the Hudson Valley. There are many dramatic cliffs with panoramic views, unusual glacial erratics and beautiful woods. Though you can stand at the cliff edges the actual trail is set back a safe distance. For those who need a bit more beauty, Awosting Falls is a twenty minute walk from the trail’s end on a carriage road.

Early start: This hike is popular and the Fall colors will be out. The parking lot fills by 9:15 on weekends, so we need to arrive by 8:30 am.

Parking fee: $10 per car.

Boots and poles are recommended, as well as two liters of water and a trail lunch. Sorry, no dogs on this one.

HAPPY AUTUMN!

We hope you all had a wonderful summer and are looking forward to the Fall. LAFF had a promising inaugural season with 25 events. We hiked, biked, kayaked, attended comedy shows, music events, Pride events, art galleries, and went on an architectural walking tour. Thank you to our wonderful event hosts: Robin, Kate and Hadley. Hosts are the backbone and the treasure of this meetup. We appreciate you!

New Hosts
At this time, I'd like to open up LAFF as a platform for any member to use to host events. No prior experience is required. Simply direct message me (Natalie) through meetup and I'll change your member status so you can post events. Posting is quite easy. There's a user friendly template to fill out. If you like, we can even provide you a co-leader, or you can start out by co-leading on someone else's event. It's a very rewarding way to give back to the lesbian community and I hope many of you give it a try.

Events should be in person, not online. They should be actual, hosted events, not just FYI's. They should be outdoors or, if they're indoors, they should try to center women in some way. If the focus is on lesbians, that's a huge plus. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out. We're here to help.

Hike Levels
Paddling season is over. Autumn is hiking time! Here's how we rate hikes.

- Easy: 1-3 miles, flat or gentle hills, smooth path, relaxed pace.
- Moderate: 4-7 miles, rolling hills with one or two steeper ones, possibly a path with rocks, roots or crossing streams on rocks. Pace 1 -2 mph. Less than 1000 feet of elevation gain.
- Challenging: 5-8 miles. Rocky, steep up and downs, 1000-1500 feet elevation gain, brisk pace of 2 - 2.5 mph. If there are rock scrambles they'll be described in the posting.
- Strenuous: More than 7 miles and 1500 feet elevation gain. Rugged trails that most likely have rock scrambles. Pace 2 -3 mph.

We'll do our best to give a good description on meetup. LAFF has a policy of no lesbian left behind, but please be aware of your abilities and choose hikes you know you can complete safely.

Safety
Hosts are volunteers, not professional guides or leaders. Each participant is responsible for her own preparedness and safety and we all participate at our own risk. That said, we look out for one another. Never leave an event without notifying the host. A host may set a safety rule such as requiring bike helmets, or life vests on the water. We want our hosts to feel as safe and comfortable as our participants.

Some Guideline

• Events are free unless specified.
• Events begin on time. Please give yourself enough time to arrive and get your things ready by the start time.
• Events may have to be cancelled or modified for bad weather. Hosts will give a heads up leading up to an event if the forecast looks iffy, but they may not make a final decision until the night before, so please check the comment section of your event on meetup. We don't like to cancel and will often go out in a light drizzle.
• "No Shows" are not permitted. If you can't make an event, please go to meetup and change your RSVP to "not going" prior to the start of the event.
• Friendly dogs are often welcome and it will say one way or another in the meetup post.
• Only members may participate in events. Sorry, no guests or plus ones.
• Lots of us like to take photos and post them on our meetup. If you don't want your picture taken, please say so at the start.

Travel
The Dyke Hikes trip to Croatia was so fantastic that we'd like to continue travelling with LAFF. We'll try to do one or two international or domestic trips per year.

Community
I'm delighted at how quickly our little community is growing and how much fun it's been to be a part of it. Let's enjoy the fall colors and have a great season of adventures together!

Easy to moderate hike. Distance 4.5 miles. Elevation gain 430 ft.

Starting from the lower parking lot we’ll do the full red loop clockwise to silver and end on the orange path along the lake. There’s a hill at the start, but we’ll take a pleasant pace and no one gets left behind. The trail meanders along the ridge and then it’s downhill to the lake.

After the hike we’ll go have dinner at the State Line Diner ten minutes away. Those who are headed to the Phantophobia: Wrath of Cyrus Grain Trail of Terror will have time summon their courage.

Bring water and a snack. Friendly dogs are welcome.

Flat, one mile/45 minute walk on grass, sand and pavement. Physically easy. Psychologically . . .

Do you have the courage? If it’s any help, remember that you’ll have lesbians with you. For years, Cyrus Grain has been spotted, dressed like a scarecrow, lurking among the trees at Darlington Lake. He’ll do what it takes to keep people away from what was once his family’s land. Apparently, he’s attracted a number of other hideous creatures to help him.

We’ll meet for dinner first at the State Line Diner and then drive five minutes to get there around 7:30.

The walk is entirely outdoors. Lighting is dim by design. The actors will not grab or deliberately touch you, though they may inadvertently brush you in areas of close proximity. You shouldn’t touch the actors, but it’s probably fine to hold a lesbian’s hand if you’re scared.

Tickets: Go to pantophobia.com and select The Wrath of Cyrus Grain Trail of Terror in Darlington Lake Park. Choose your ticket for October 31st at 8pm. Cost is $36.