Formal Hiking Clubs vs Hiking Boards

[amstony]

Hands down I think that hiking with my "views" friends has been a highlight of my hiking career. I have met the most wonderful,caring,responsible people through this forum. Friends for life : )

I feel very fortunate to have discovered this forum and the friends I have met through "views"
kmac

I second that. Well said, one of the best comments on this board in a long time.

 

[Mark Schaefer]

I have hiked both with clubs and online friends. Both have been good experiences. I do tend to hike solo as I generally work weekends and hike on varying days during the week. I also like to like to keep my options open to choose a hike that fits the day's weather. So I tend to hike with spur of the moment choices.

I still like being a member of the clubs, to support the good work they do. Also the newsletters have good information. Of course nothing beats the online boards for current information and for obtaining answers to questions.

 

[Chip]

Hands down I think that hiking with my "views" friends has been a highlight of my hiking career. I have met the most wonderful,caring,responsible people through this forum. Friends for life : )
kmac

I must be using the wrong VFTT...
It appears I'll run into you at The Big Y or Edmund Town Hall before the Whites.

All morning we felt as though someone was behind us,

I am so naive. This has definately happened to me and I guess I was just happy the guys weren't waiting for me to leave the parking lot so that they could break into my car. Not cool, but not a stupid strategy for the weak or lazy.

 

[forestgnome]

As an exclusively solo hiker/camper, the only benefit to me by clubs is the trail work, which I deeply appreciate. Otherwise, it's just another social group. I once belonged to the big one, but I rarely felt I was in like-minded company. Usually, there would be a couple people who wanted to talk about things that interested me, like the forest and the animals. Most people were all about extreme treking, peak-bagging lists, speed records.....painful. The worst part was being solicited by the club to help with political efforts. What a turn-off. All I wanted was to meet like-minded folks and talk about the magic of the forest. The clubs can be whatever they want, but they're not for me.

On VFTT, I can just hit that little ole back-button and ignore a thread that doesn't interest me. I learn about things like forest science, animal biology and nature photography(the histogram is helping me). I can ignore a thread about ice climbing gear, but learn about the latest snowshoes from folks who are actually using them.

Clubs or bbs, it's all good!

BTW, good thread!

Happy Trails

 

[giggy]

boards - I find way more like minded folks here, made some great freinds, etc..

I am opposite of most, while I sometimes do solo stuff, I haven't in over year and much prefer the social aspect of hiking, and esp - partying/eating after the hike.

I find way too many rules, BS and preaching (waiver forms, etc..) with trips organized by the "club" - went on one years ago and never will again.

 

[giggy]

I have met the most wonderful,caring,responsible people through this forum. Friends for life : )

you can't talking about me

 

[kmac]

of course I'm referring to you

 

[David Metsky]

I've met great friends and lifelong hiking partners via clubs, VftT, and chance meetings on the trails. It's not the organizations, it's the people.

-dave-

 

[woodstrider]

What is your organizational style?

I think that this thread has amny interesting things to say about the way that the hiking community is evolving and the prevalence of the internet in in th eworld has had a lot to do with some of the chances discussed. Recently a friend and I discussed how club memberships were down and we agreed that the internet had a large role in that change. I don't think that thatis a negative thing, either.

One of the reasons that clubs were formed have to do with, but not limited to;
1- meeting other people interested in doing the things that you like to do
2-more experienced members sharing their knowledge and experience
3-coming together to accomplish a common goal- like trail improvement, and promoting a common philosophy
4-excluding some people from partcipating in group activities

I think that all this can be accomplished as well in either the forum of the internet or in tradition club organizations. Both have evolved formal rules and order different modalities to the same goals.
Life just got more flexible. I like it.

Some of these other issues members have brought up deserve deeper discussion. I will just say that whenever you have a group of people that (especially) do not know eachother well, there must be assigned a leader. I have even talked to people who assign that important role to a single person in a group of people who do know eachother well.

Personally speaking, I have given up particiapting in large group hikes and backpacks as I feel that the number of conflicts within a group is exponetionally proprtional to the number of members in that group. And that is with a leader. I mostly hike alone and rarely argue with myself (anymore) and I always have a good time.

 

[jmegillon149]

One thing that I think most people have missed is the "internetization" of the traditional hiking club. I am active with an AMC sub-group (age & area specific) that relies almost exclusively on the internet for getting the word out about the trips and events.

While not quite as informal as a board like VFTT, it has certainly evolved into more of a hybrid of the two. While we have club leaders, an advisory board, membership status, etc.; we also have the ability to plan on the fly, mass email each other gear questions, etc. It is actually where all my current hiking partners are from.

 

[Tom Rankin]

One thing that I think most people have missed is the "internetization" of the traditional hiking club. I am active with an AMC sub-group (age & area specific) that relies almost exclusively on the internet for getting the word out about the trips and events.

While not quite as informal as a board like VFTT, it has certainly evolved into more of a hybrid of the two. While we have club leaders, an advisory board, membership status, etc.; we also have the ability to plan on the fly, mass email each other gear questions, etc. It is actually where all my current hiking partners are from.

I'm sure most clubs have web pages and make use of the internet for various functions. However, some clubs do not post their hike schedule times and meeting places in a public place. Does your sub-group post specific hike information in a publicly available place?

 

[arghman]

It's not the organizations, it's the people.

I agree, but the organizations do set the rules & that does affect things.

lately I haven't particularly felt like hiking w/ either kind of group, my own interests have not meshed well (long story not appropriate for here).

 

[David Metsky]

I agree, but the organizations do set the rules & that does affect things.

No doubt. I'm just saying that there are great people in all the various internet, traditional, and ad hoc hiking groups. If you are willing to put up with the hassles that each method has (and they all have drawbacks) you can find excellent hiking partners in each one. Some aren't as good a fit for everyone, but they're all fun in their own ways.

-dave-

 

[jmegillon149]

New kind of hiking website

I'll admit its re-igniting an old thread - but I was looking at my user CP, and saw my last post to get a rating was this one!

It made me think about some developments since then. As I wrote, I am in a web-based AMC subgroup. We used to be able to post whatever we wanted. That got more regulated, and that caused a second listserv to be formed (not formally affiliated with AMC, but everyone there came from the same place).

That listserv did not have that much activity (think the lurking situation here). Lots of people didn't want to blast their plans to the "world", which, admittedly is one reason why I don't post hikes on VFTT. I always felt the AMC group was "club first, website second", while VFFT was the opposite, and I have used it mostly as a source of information.

That led to my friend from that group starting a new type of list, where you can filter who gets your message based upon who you know, who they know (2-3 degress of separation is my preffered method), and exactly what activity you plan on doing.

the url is: www.adventurenetwork.us

Feel free to check it out and maybe even join. Several VFTTers are already there. Its a great way to meet "new people" without meeting "totally random" people.

So to bring this full circle: For me everything (including becoming a VFTT memebr) started in a "formal" club that heavily used the internet, which led to a "technically unaffiliated" sub-group that is now developing into a web-first group (especially as it is now having an influx of folks from outside the group) though the initial foundation was people from that original structured group. This further illustrates my poin that the lines between formal clubs and internet boards are being increasingly blurred, and many people are seeing themselves on multiple sides of more than one such line.

 

[MadRiver]

I’ve tended to shy away from “formally lead” groups because I like to have the freedom to change my itinerary if I so desire. I have also tended to believe correctly or incorrectly those formally lead groups were more for the novice hiker than the more experienced hiker. I also shied away from informally lead group, e.g. VFTT, AMC, and ROT bulletin boards because I had a limited time frame with which to hike and most times the posted hikes were on days that I was traveling back to CT.

Now that I have moved to NH I have more freedom to hike on off days, e.g. Sundays. I have also started to hike with others from this board and ROT, especially in winter where my wife prefers to ski than hike. I have also started to participate in group activities like Fools Scout Ball and Gourmet Hut Trip. I hope to keep broadening my experiences and participation in activities with like minded hiking enthusiasts. I have even toyed with the idea of taking an AMC leadership course down the road.

 

[Ed'n Lauky]

One winter a few years ago, myself, Doug and Jeff Romano were preparing to wack up to Scar Ridge from the campground entrance. Another car arrived and two guys asked us where we were headed. We said they could join us, but they declined. All morning we felt as though someone was behind us, finally we stopped in a patch of spruce and waited, after about 5 to 10 minutes, one of the guys came through the spruce and was face to face with us, in no uncertain terms we told him what we thought of him and his tactics, faced with 3 lunatics he decided it was best to descend and come back another day.

I generally hike alone because of the dog factor. I love being with Duffy and I don't want him bothering anybody. On popular mountains, if there is an alternate trail of reasonable distance I often will take it just to avoid the hassle. If I arrive at a trailhead and others are there I often will delay leaving to let them get going. In the summer I guess it really doesn't make much difference. But I am blown away by the above quote. Most people in the trail reports like to brag about braking out a trail others can use. If someone confronted me about something like that I would simply shrug my soldiers and keep on going. If the folks want to follow me they can follow, if the want to go ahead they can go ahead. Now I admit that if someone said to me would you mind breaking trail for a while? I would be glad to do it if they didn't mind either my pace or my dog. But if I got to a trailhead either alone or with someone else intending to do my own hike and someone followed, I'd just do my thing. I certainly wouldn't hassle them.

 

[jmegillon149]

But if I got to a trailhead either alone or with someone else intending to do my own hike and someone followed, I'd just do my thing. I certainly wouldn't hassle them.

I agree. I don't even think they were necessarily following to avoid breaking, they could have just felt like hiking with each other, not a tag along with a few guys from the parking lot they don't know. And if that was the plan - Is this that different from planning slightly later start times with the assumption that someone likely came before them?

For some people who are not as strong of hikers, breaking trail may not even be considered a good idea due to lack of equipment/less conditioning etc. Personally, I try not to hassle any one for any reason, exceptions: litter, off trail in alpine zone - in other words: causing actual harm.

 

[HikerAmiga]

I have to admit that I was introduced to serious hiking in 2005 (and other outdoor pursuits as well) by way of a then, new romantic partner, to whom I'll always be grateful. But eventually as I spread my wings, I started to independently partake in organized clubs such as the AMC as well as on these online forums. In my view, each of these venues has there advantages but collectively I've found what feels like a new family/friends network and I can't imagine my life without you guys (as corny as that may sound)! The comraderie, whether experienced online or in person via group hiking and gatherings has been such a highlight for me as otherwise, I get little to no support from anyone outside these forums for my outdoor pursuits (it's all too foreign a thing for most of my actual family/friends/coworkers, etc.) Having said this, admittedly, there are times when I will go out solo and enjoy myself immensely and experience an independence that is truly also rewarding. Overall, these venues are a great way to connect with other like-minded outdoor enthusiasts over large distances sometimes and form lasting friendships or partnerships where otherwise, we would likely never connect. Also noteworthy is the fact that as I've met and interacted with different people/groups, I've been able to learn so much from them because of their diversity (varying backgrounds and experience, skill levels, IQ, EQ, etc.) and this is certainly invaluable for a novice like me!