Meetup.com has scads of hiking groups, including quite a few in the Bay Area. These are the most promising ones I scouted out this morning:
- Oakland Dog Hikers — This group charges a $2 fee. Next outing: Equinox Hike – Full Moon Hike — 6pm (March 21) in Berkeley at the Steam Train Staging Area of Tilden Park.
- “Let’s hike and maybe take a break if we get tired” — Sounds like the title of a discussion thread that morphed into a hiking club, something that could only happen on the Internet. Next outing: Diablo Foothills – Livorna (4.4 mi, 400 ft) Contra Costa County — 10 a.m. Saturday (March 22). This one’s not taking on new RSVPs (just as well; there’s 49 already). This group looks to be super popular, so you’d have to sign up early when hikes get announced. Also: be sure to read the group’s “about us” page.
- Super Fabulicious Hiking and Outdoor Adventure Group — Next outing: Morgan Territory 13mi. 3000ft. — 10 a.m. March 29 (a Saturday). This group also has 25 RSVPs for an overnighter April 12 at Sunol Wilderness … wonder where they’re gonna put ’em all.
- The San Jose Hiking Meetup Group — Next outing: St. Joseph’s Hill OSP – Dog Friendly Hike — 10 a.m. Wednesday (that is, tomorrow).
Well, if you want some company on your next hike, you ought to be able to find some with one of these groups.
I have hiked with the “Let’s hike and maybe take a break if we get tired” hiking group and have met some really nice people there. The group organizer, Maura, is an amazing woman with a ton of energy. She seems to have something going every weekend and her events are fun. Most of the hikes are limited in length though and as you noted, tend to be popular and fill up with a ton of people. Maura has had some good hikes though and I keep my eyes open for ones I want to do. The rest of the time, if I am hiking in a group, I really like the Stanford Outing Club, no relation whatsoever to the meetup.com hiking groups of course. I especially like the hikes led by “V”. They tend to be long enough to push my limits without killing me and he makes it fun. If I were a stronger hiker, I would consider INCH (Intrepid Northern CA Hikers if I got it right). As it stands though, they’d leave me in the dust. Otherwise, if I am not hiking with Maura or “V”, I’m probably out there blazing the trail on my own.
Anyone from INCH reading the blog?
http://www.rawbw.com/~svw/inch/index.html
They seem to have a nice regular assortment of more aggressive outings.
Criminy, the “Let’s hike and maybe take a break if we get tired” people
sure have a lot of rules for a group where individuals are supposedly
responsible for themselves.
Anyway, this seems like a good place for a plug for Vern Buck’s site
that lists Bay Area hiking groups: geocities.com/evbuck
Many of them are mailing lists and most also have associated informative
web pages. There’s just about something for everyone. I also encourage
people to join a list like Bay Area Hiking with a large subscriber base
and then post their own group hike. It’s one of the best ways to find
people who like to do the same kind of hiking.
The rules have a way of keeping group size down, which is actually more practical from a group leader’s perspective… hiking is one group activity where “the more the merrier” becomes a nightmare after the first dozen or so.
I thought about having a feature here where I posted regular links to group outings, but I’m not sure the groups really want/need the publicity.
“hiking is one group activity where “the more the merrier” becomes
a nightmare after the first dozen or so”
Does this mean you’ve never gone on a luvmonkey hike?
I try to avoid the luvmonkey habitat … I hear their bites cause social diseases.