Friday, August 8, 2008

Dear Hiking & Nature Meetup members,

One year ago on this date, August 8, I founded the Hiking & Nature Meetup. On the evening of August 7, I decided on a whim to start my own hiking Meetup group and got to work immediately. At 2 am, on August 8, the work was done. Back then, Meetup e-mail alerts about new groups were still sent out right away, and I also e-mailed some people I knew from a previous hike about my group. On the evening of August 8, the Hiking & Nature Meetup had 57 members. Eighteen of them are still members. The most prominent of these members of the first hour is my fabulous assistant organizer Andre, without whom this Meetup would never have been as successful as it is.

A couple of weeks after founding the Hiking & Nature Meetup, I flew to Seattle to go hiking in the North Cascades with a group of strangers from a different hiking club. I enjoyed the lodge and the mountains so much, I told the owner I would love to bring members of my own group to his lodge the next summer. Now, a year later, this dream has become reality. I am presently at the lodge with Andre and 12 members, and they love the lodge, the food, and the hikes just as much as I do. I am delighted to spend our group?s one-year anniversary here, at my favorite lodge, in the North Cascades. To celebrate the big day, we?ll be hiking up to a glacier on Mount Baker.

Our days here have been awesome. The weather is fantastic: deep blue skies, hardly any clouds, not too hot, not too cold, no rain. Every day. Unbelieveable. The lodge is cozy, and the food yummy and plentiful. And the beauty of the North Cascades mountains cannot be described in words. I had planned to do five days of hiking, but Andre pushed us to get out of bed early on Sunday and get a hike in on our way to the lodge. All 14 of us started out together, but at 4 pm one group turned around to make it to the lodge in time for dinner (my group, of course), while the other half continued on to make it up to a glacier on Mount Baker (Andre?s group). I was happy to make it to the lodge just in time for some excellent quesadillas, but have to admit that when I later saw their photos (posted here: http://hiking.meetup.com/362/photos/411089/), I turned green with envy and decided that my group has got to do this on the way back. The other hikes were great, too. We are extremely lucky in that Washington has had a very cold and wet Spring, so that the wildflowers are at their peak only now -- the meadows abound in colors. I want to try to come back here again next summer. Start saving up vacation days and money :-)


FUTURE EVENTS

August 9:
Liz and Rob are going to lead a HIKE & SWIM, but it is booked out.

August 16:
Susanna and Liz are going to lead a HIKE AND SWIM IN HARRIMAN PARK. Info and RSVP here: http://hiking.meetup.com/362/calendar/8502670/

August 17:
Back by popular demand: DAY ON THE BEACH ON FIRE ISLAND NEAR THE SUNKEN FOREST. Info and RSVP here: http://hiking.meetup.com/362/calendar/8502705/

August 23 and 24:
More hiking and swimming. Not posted yet.

August 30 to September 1, Labor Day weekend:
We'll have two trips for Labor Day weekend:
1. Andre will make another attempt at conquering MT. MARCY IN THE ADIRONDACKS, New York's highest mountain. Only fast and very fit hikers who have hiked with Andre before will be invited to this trip. Info and RSVP here: http://hiking.meetup.com/362/calendar/8271170/
2. WEEKEND AT THE MANSION in Pennsylvania where we'll spend the weekend kayaking, hiking, and whitewater rafting. Info and RSVP here: http://hiking.meetup.com/362/calendar/8437542/

September 5 to 7:
We are going to a SUMMER CAMP FOR ADULTS called Club Getaway. It's in the Berkshire Mountains. You can book it directly through their website, or through a couple commercial outdoor groups, but if you go there with the Hiking & Nature Meetup, you'll pay a smaller amount of money and be in the best group with the nicest members :-) Info and RSVP here: http://hiking.meetup.com/362/calendar/8436575/

September 13:
We'll probably do another HIKE AND SWIM IN HARRIMAN PARK while we still can :-) Last year we were still swimming in October, but we can't rely on that.

September 27 or 28:
A hike & swim, rock scramble, or kayaking trip, we'll see.

October 4 to 5:
We are going to OUR LODGE IN VERMONT TO SEE THE FALL FOLIAGE. The foliage promises to be at its peak that weekend, which is why I reserved the lodge for those two days. Not posted yet.


EVENTS OF LAST WEEK

Liz and Ralph lead a hike & swim last Saturday. Liz wrote: "As we left the parking lot, thunderclouds rolled in, and it started raining HARD. We began hiking out, and about 1/4 mile in, there was a torrential downpour. The trails quickly were flooding. At that time, two hikers said that they would not be comfortable continuing, and so as the whole group we walked them back to the trail-head. By this time, though the ground was soaked, the rain had mostly stopped, and the remaining 6 of us went on to hike out to lake Skenonto. By the time we got to the lake, the weather was gorgeous -- we had a great lunch and swim there. All in all, it was a wet and rocky start, but it turned out to be a wonderful hike." Reviews and photos here: http://hiking.meetup.com/362/calendar/8441107/

Our ongoing Washington State Hiking Trip is awesome!!! (See above.) The first photos have been posted here: http://hiking.meetup.com/362/photos/411089/ and here: http://hiking.meetup.com/362/photos/412013/

Hope to see you soon,

Suzanne