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https://groupworks.com/blog/take-a-hike-the-a-to-zs-of-walking-and-hiking-clubs/
This is so validating to all of my efforts that I have put into working on this website and my work in pubicity with the American Volkssport Association. I had to share this. I also want to say thank you to everyone who continues to walk, hike, and write about walking. Without your fascinating websites,books, videos, histories etc... my site would not exist. My goal continues to be to advocate for safe walkable neighborhoods, and bring awareness that walking is truly a sport and an easy way to stay healthy and fit. And it is interesting and has its place in history. I am very excited about a writing /blogging gig that I was recently hired to do. I will be writing for GroupWorks which is a platform for helping clubs by making management easier. I first heard about GroupWorks when the AVA started using it to manage their clubs and members. They also have interests groups called passions and then they have channels that one can follow. One channel is called Hiking and Walking and I will be the person writing and adding content to that channel. It is very similar to how I gather information for my website. I feel like this is a really positive step for me as I move forward in my life.
If you are interested in using GroupWorks for club management I'd suggest checking their website. It is an easy platform to use and has lots of potential. Plus you could then subscribe to my channel! I recently joined a new group in North Portland (OR) that is focused on connectivity. Connecting multi modal transportation agencies with neighbors to discuss the transportation issues and how to move forward in an increasingly more densely populated neighborhood. We decided to do a Kick off and introduce ourselves to the community and get the transportation agencies involved with the neghborhood. This was our first event with about 150 people in attendance.
I was fortunate to know the author, who lives in my neighborhood and offered to attend the event and write a blog for America Walks. http://americawalks.org/america-walks-attends-north-portland-transportation-kick-off-event/ Now the work begins to continue to build the partnerships and keep the dialog going.
When I turned 50 my friend recruited me for her relay team, The Vintage Whine Walkers. This is a group of older women who enjoy walking and all the challenges that come from living in a van with 8 other women during a relay event, fatigue, jumping in and out of a van to support the person walking etc..., bees, mosquitoes, heat, cold, finding and losing things, it is all part of the adventure.
When a relay comes up (this year we are doing 5 walk relays not the usual 2) our captain, Judy will ask who wants to join the team for that particular race. Sometimes she has to find new team mates which helps grow our list of walkers as some move to other teams or are unable to participate anymore. Our team prefers to do an 8 person team, we have a reliable comfortable older van which fits right into our group. Although CLR did a Relay in Hells Canyon one year and we did it with 5 people. Don't ask how. We somehow managed. Unfortunately that relay did not continue after the first event. We do Portland to Coast, Cascade Lakes Relay from Silver Lake to Bend. This year we did an overnight Cape Meares Relay. Hood To Coast is expanding their races and moving towards one day relay events. We did HTC Pacific City and HTC WA. The two videos are from the HTC WA relay. The one on the right features my team captain. She is the reason I continue to do relays. I am not sure why I enjoy doing walk relays. I'll be out walking along my leg on a narrow highway following the walker ahead of me with a walker gaining on my heels, it's hot, I am thirsty, hungry for real food, and tired. My team is waiting for me a couple of miles down the road, and I ask why am I doing this? Then when I am at home and it's dark and cold outside I see the email from Judy- I just signed us up for the CLR- are you in? And I respond-of course! How could I not do it again? I have two more relays this year. Cascade Lakes Relay and the Portland to Coast Relay. Judy has us signed up for 3 next year and we keep searching for some new ones to add to our list. We've been eying the Golden Gate Bridge Relay. The Idita Walk used to be one of my favorite yearly events. It was run by Nome Boy Scouts and they raised money for their troop. They charged $10.00 and you received a pin when you completed 1049 minutes of walking from Feb 1 - 31 March. It was an easy challenge and people would add to the challenge-things like signing up first. Doing the most minutes. Reaching the goal the soonest. They were not official challenges but there was a list of everyone who signed up in order and you could track everyone's success.
Unfortunately they no longer hold this event. I had to remove it from my site as the last event was in 2017 and it was run by a community and I felt like it was not as great as it could have been. I enjoyed knowing that my money was helping a troop in a very small community and I thought this was such a clever way to raise money and meet people and get people out exercising during the winter at least 30 minutes a day. The point of the Idita Walk was following the real sled race in minutes versus miles. My hope is someone will bring back this event and make it even stronger. Another event that is no longer is the Burning Boot Walk in BC. Sadly that has not been held for many years. It was a fun grueling walk. This is a film that was taken 4 days before the Earthquake in San Francisco in 1906.
www.nytimes.com/2018/04/14/us/san-francisco-earthquake-film.html This link has two films the one taken before the earthquake and the 60 Minutes story about the film. I also found this footage that has sound. www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Q5Nur642BU From the perspective of a walking advocate it is striking to see the people walking and streaming across the street and the vehicles are not so bothered by it. It's a wonderful piece of history and of course tinged with sadness for the disaster and the lives lost.
Pacific Crest Trail / A Walk Across the United States
Why I Got Off the Pacific Crest Trail After 454 Miles Instead of Walking All the Way to Canada by Vanessa 2/5/18 Autostraddle
I appreciate this article. She shares an honest story about not finishing the PCT. For reasons that need to be brought out in the open. It is also a good reminder that there are people who don't finish the PCT and those stories are not as popular as the ones about people who are completing the PCT. I think we do a disservice by not listening to all the stories. Not everyone survives hiking the PCT. Scout I saw this article this evening and I thought it was important to share.
Inside the Mind of Thru-Hiking's Most Devious Con Man, I think the title says it all. In this age of social media I think it is important to be informed. |
ScoutI am an avid walker and hiker. My favorite is a long hike. I also enjoy taking off and going on a meandering walk for a few hours. I've hiked rim to rim in the Grand Canyon and I did 3 Burning Boot Walks on Vancouver Island. Archives
February 2019
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