IDEA: Hike/Gathering in each northeast state

Alan (Peakbagr) and I are wondering if there is enough interest in doing a VFTT-organized hike and/or mini gathering in each of the northeast states (New England + New York). Personally, I cannot commit to planning, organizing or hosting all of them, but I can commit to planning / organizing a New Hampshire hike with a restaurant dinner/drinks to follow. Alternatively, the format could include a campground and/or campfire and/or gathering at some generous volunteer's place in the area of the hike.

As a suggestion, we though that the Massachusetts event could be Mount Greylock, and the New Hampshire event could be Moosilauke or Franconia Ridge. New York could even have two - one in the Catskills and one in the ADKs.

So, if you are interested, speak up. Or if you are interested but do not want to publicly commit, you can send me a private message and I'll keep track - allowing you to back out before we publicize an event.

There is no goal / timetable in which to do this. I cannot do NY or ME (well, maybe Mahoosucs) as a day trip, but NH/MA/VT should be very doable. Likewise, I suspect the NY crowd can't do NH or ME as a day trip. One idea might be to spread them out across the whole year and have them on long weekends.

We welcome your thoughts, ideas, input, etc.

Tim & Alan

I'd certainly would welcome helping out anything related to hiking Mt Greylock. (not my cat of the same name, he is quite the scare-d-cat to have virtual strangers trying to hike him).

There's also Mt Tom and the Holyoke Range as well...

Jay

We can certainly host a Catskill hike. And I hear there are a few good brewpubs near by!

Great idea!

Two suggestions to increase participation: Have the trips during the "normal" hiking season (Memorial day to Columbus Day) and keep them below 2,500 feet of elevation gain.

Less important, I would suggest avoiding the hikes that everyone has hiked.

Some of the hikes that everyone has hiked may be the ones that people from out of the area want to hike the most. What do you recommend to people who come from out of state or who only want to hike one hike? Moosilauke? Franconia Ridge? Southern Presis? Yup... same ones we all love and for good reasons.

I'd considered pushing for more ad-hoc gatherings and let groups form to hike as groups wanted... that was the style of the traditional gatherings. I thought this time that proposing a specific hike would allow non-campers/non party people to feel included by the group as a whole. Plus, I'd love to have some huge group panorama shots for the banner image above

It's a delicate balancing act to pick a good time and destination, because there is no way around it - some people will feel left out no matter what you chose. If we spread it out over the next year, then we'll have some in winter and some in '"normal" hiking season.' But I do see the point about not-too-difficult seeings as we're looking for a big, diverse group.

Tim

Vermont: Maybe Ellen-Abraham, Abe, Camel's Hump or Equnox.
Mass: Greylock( great views and good place to have lunch in stone shelter below the summit)
NY: Slide( one of two 4k peaks in the Catskills) and something in ADKs. There is a group size limitation in NYS so this is a consideration.
NH: I like Moosilauke 'cause it's accessible as a daytrip for many.

Tim started the idea for this.

I'll bet teejay would like to plan one in Vermont.

We had something like a dozen September Gatherings and several winter gatherings. Splinter groups formed and there were all sorts of social/hiking events and weekends organized through this website.

There were three groups of participants: those who attended because it was close to a hike on a list they were doing, those who attended because it was near a hike they would not otherwise do, and those who are so anti-social that we had nowhere else to go anyway. The best turnouts were in the White Mountains, which was also most convenient to the majority who attended, and the Adirondacks.

These gatherings petered out for a couple reasons. First, they became something more akin to a drunken frat party ... and I claim no innocence in such rowdy revelry ... and that lost the interest of some, including those who were introducing a younger generation to hiking and the hiking community. Second, organizing such things started happening on other social media and participation of VFTT members became either coincidental or the result of friendships formed here. These latter events became more impromptu unlike the earlier ones ... the fall Gathering settling on the third weekend of September every year.

Some early gatherings featured long extension cords to a campground community building and slide presentations (my most memorable was Darren's pictures and stories from the Canadian Rockies) and many gatherings included music performed by some talented members. Traditionally, the first night people met up at a restaurant for dinner, the second night was a pot luck at the campsite.

The highest attendance was over 40 a couple times in the Whites, the lowest was less than a dozen in the Berkshires. There were about 20 at the first one in Eustice where the leather apron was born, and a few less at the last one in the same place. Oh! there were two of us who showed for the 2009 Gathering in the Canadian Rockies.

Stan don't forget -35°F the first night of Gathering 6.5 in the Adirondacks. Good times!

Might be a lot of fun if folks would like to plan a gathering around the hikes. When Tim and I kicked this around we thought about getting hikers, new to the board and long time regulars together on hikes, an opportunity to mingle.

Please PM Tim and I if you'd like to host or help organize a gathering around one of the hikes we've been talking about. There has been an unbroken string of Gatherings going on every August for many years in the Adirondack High Peaks, hosted by some members here. A hike or hikes could be planned for next summer up that way.
Just throwing some additional ideas into the mix.

Having had experience organizing a couple, I would suggest avoiding the third week of September. Given the holiday week, the Baxter Bash (I think generally the week before the holiday?) and the flags on the 48 event in close proximity many folks are pushing it with spouses/children/significant others to have "another weekend" in the mountains. Plus many folks need to deal with things like mowing the grass.

There was an attempt at setting some after hike event up in conjunction with the flags on the 48 event but the organizer of flags has been somewhat vocal on not doing anything to detract from the event. Given that many VFTT folks participate it would be best to get some time between the events.

The group size is also an issue. A mountain with multiple access trails might be the best solution so that multiple groups can hike different trails up to the summit, to reduce the impact.

Great idea - I'd be definitely interested in joining one or more of these hikes.

I would also be willing and able to host a smaller group if anything happens in or near the North Country in NH and people are okay with tenting or staying in a loft of a rustic camp.

I had been thinking about a small get-together myself geared around a winter hike in the Northern Pressies, Crescent Range, Cabot or Waumbek. This would be fairly out of the way for many day-hikers so probably not ideal for the NH Gathering. However, as a satellite or additional hike to throw into the mix, I'd be open to the idea.

I'm happy to help out with the NH hikes any way I can and am interested to see how this pans out - great idea and good timing I think!

Don't forget the one in the catskills, my first VFTT function. the first VFTT person I met in person was Shizzy! Who was cooking up burgers at the Hide-a-way camp as I pulled up in my subaru. I ran into SherpaK and a few other members on the way to the showers at the road but it was just a drive-by. It had more people than the one in the Berkshires though and I wasn't living in the Berkshires when that went on...

Hurricane Ivan!

Jay

Saddleback (& the Horn, maybe) might be a good idea for a Maine hike. it's about 2K elevation gain from the skihill parking lot, gets you above treeline (onto a section of the AT), has good bailout options down the ski trails, and can be approached from more than one direction.

I'd be in on the NH portion.

I think this a great idea. It could be just what I need to finally get around to some of the hikes outside of NH. If only done in the summer, I like the idea of one a month probably on a set weekend of the month. A bit easier for people to plan, plus it isn't too often if it is hard to get away for a weekend or a long drive for you. If it is done over the course of the year, then every two months might be good. I also like the idea of mountains with multiple routes so people can choose whichever route they want and all meet up at the summit. Then depending on how each person got to the trail head, maybe they could take different routes down and still have a ride.

I am definitely in favor of this being about VFTT community. I suspect that NH and NY have enough population to support a handful of such events. I brought it up now in anticipation of having the first one this winter, although that doesn't jive with Mohamed's seasonal suggestion. Have two groups or two trails to the same summit or whatever is an acceptable variation. We could still meet at some common location post-hike for dinner and/or drinks. I am not against drinking, but I don't want to encourage that to be the focus. Lodging in the Whites in winter can be difficult due to skiers.

I would further suggest that kids and families be invited. Of course with sports and school and other activities, that makes the timing even more difficult.

Anyone know of places which could accommodate a decent group? Possibly in a private / side function room (I believe the Common Man in Lincoln can do this), and possibly even "family style" seating.

Beyond the hike / post-hike victuals, people are certainly free to continue gathering / partying as they see fit.

Tim

I'm game. For Connecticut, I would recommend one of the following:

1. A.T. Corridor - straddle the CT/MA border, starting at Race Brook Falls Trail on Rt. 41 in Sheffield, ascend along the falls, taking all 6 of them in, then to A.T., south over Mt. Race, take a peek at Bear Rock Falls, then through Sages Ravine, up Bear Mountain, down to Riga Junction and on to Rt. 41 by Undermountain Trail. About 11 miles with 2700' elevation gain and loss, peak elevations being 2365' on Race and 2323' on Bear. Plenty of options in Barrington, Salisbury, and nearby spots for dinner after, plenty of good camping facilities in the trail corridor, too. Some beautiful trail with excellent views, in a spot or two all the way up to Greylock, and on clear days into Albany and over to the Catskills.

This hike works any time of year as a day hike, with allowances for slower pace in harsher winter weather.

2. Sleeping Giant State Park - most popular hiking venue in the state for a reason. Beautiful, varied, often challenging terrain and an excellent trail network. A popular option would be to do the Blue and the White trails, which are the hardest rated trails in the system. Combining these two and perhaps other trails, hikes of various lengths are possible. Plenty of nice places to eat nearby in New Haven or Hartford areas - S.G. is 10 miles north of N.H. and 30 south of Hartford. More of a day hike than a backpack venue.

3. Talcott Mountain/West and East Peak or other Metacomet/New England National Scenic Trail venues. Talcott Mountain and Penwood State Parks make for beautiful hiking with lots of nice stuff to see, including trips to and up the 165' Heublein Tower with its obs deck at 125', elevation approx. 1060' with long views in every direction from the most prominent mountain in Hartford County. Penwood's forests and those near the Tower are gorgeous, with pretty walks above and below sharp basaltic cliffs with neat caves nearby. Plenty of good eats in West Hartford and other nearby towns. A day hike.

There are plenty of other good spots in CT, but these are the most popular. For a backpack outing, the A.T. corridor, Macedonia Brook S.P. or the Tunxis Trail corridor would be good, with A.T. yielding the best views. I've hiked all of the above and most of the highlights in CT and would enjoy helping put an outing together.

Really like that you spoke up for a CT hikes.

Peakbagr said:

Really like that you spoke up for a CT hikes.

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Thanks, Peakbagr. We've got some very pretty trails here, for sure. I prefer the bigger, more rugged mountains further north, but there's plenty of pretty scenery close to home. Talcott/Penwood are just 6 miles from my home, so I hike them a lot.

This is just the thing that I'm looking for. I'm new to the board (came over from hike-nh), I got hooked on hiking this summer and did the NH48 and now I'm excited to do my first ever winter hiking. I generally work weekends, but I would definitely try to shift my schedule around to be able to make one of these group hikes in NH.

Kyle