Can someone tell me how to...

“Can someone tell me how to Plan a Group Hike? Not that I want to, but reading the responses on the ECT Ozark hike make me wonder.

I have my opinion (of course), but since I have read the responses it is obvious that everyone has their own.

Should the planner define the hike, post an agenda and let people decide they like that style and will particpate? Should they try to accomodate a variety of hiking styles?

I wanna hear from folks who put something together. Did it happen as you planned it?

If you showed up to a public hike with strangers. Was it as it was advertised?”

“Bacpac, first if YOU want to start a hike I would advise a few things...

1) Be nice
2) Dont threaten any physical abuse
3) Offer to pay folks to spend time with you
4) Be nice
5) Hope that strangers show up (they dont know you so you can start fresh)
6) Dont bring your sheep ( i know you say they are to carry your gear,but we know the truth)
7) Dont act like a psycho
8) Invite me cause I think hiking with you would be a laugh a minute

BTW the hikes that I have helped organize have turned out well. I actually found that people dont find me irritating...too much anyway.”

“The one I went on that walkindude planned was pretty much as advertised, and a great time it was.”

“Are you serious bacpac?? I have planned several and they went well but I don't want to write a bunch of stuff only to have you snort.”

“Go for it, bac, my man! I have only one request...don't invite your cousins. That stuff gives me the creeps.
Seriously, I think you have a good idea going.”

“I think, that if you were going to plan a demanding hike, You should say, right off the top "This Ain't fer beginners!". Those with experience will be able to ask you, for enough info, to determine whether or not they should go.

I recently joined up, for a hike, in central Oregon - a place I'd never been, with people I didn't know. I asked China Chas what he had in mind, checked a topo and satellite pic, and decided "Okay, no problem". I went ahead, open minded. If they're power hikers, that's cool- if not, that's okay, too. I was packed 'solo', so if they turned out to be a$$holes (which I doubted), or thought that I was (ya never know), I could just split.

Turns out, they're a great bunch, the terrain was what I'd expected, and I had a great time. It was a good way to see a few places, that I would have otherwise never gone to.”

“Yeah, and the Ozarks are great in the Fall!”

“Mary, I was trying to be serious, but Hyperwacker screwed that up!! Ya wuss!”

“My wife and I went on several hikes with a club, we didn't know anyone in the group and it went ok. We were all there to do the hike and enjoy the outdoors. The thing that can happen is that the hike might not have the pace you are use to, too fast or what ever. We like to take our time and enjoy everything.

One trip we went on we almost had to jog to keep up. Didn't have time to look at anything.

That's what I think would be cool about going with a group from TT, because you kind of know everyone or at least their personalities.”

“Maybe I should promise no mental abuse too

Ok, hyper made a few good points.”

“OK Here goes. You can start with the hike and decide who is suitable for it or you can start with the people and choose the hike to suit them. The second time you hike with someone you have a much better idea of what they are up to.

I try to choose hikes within two hours drive from a major airport if possible Long drives take up hiking (vacation)time.

Transportation can be tricky--who drives who picks up whom. Rental cars? Locals?

Plan to meet the night before you plan to hike if you can.

Make a group listing for email so everybody is sure to get plans as things get going. Even if you have chats and phone calls putting it in writing is worthwhile to keep everybody up on what is happening.

Maps and weather info need to be shared. If someone is not from your part of the country they may need extra instruction. Desert hiking is so very different from.... Be sure to tell anything that might pose a problem for some such as altitude or heat or cold or lots of elevation change.

If there are a whole lot of folks coming you may choose to think of the hike as being mostly social and plan accordingly.

Don't try to plan group meals.

Sharing some things like stoves or tents can be good.

That is all I can think of for now and Robert has good dinner ready so I'll quit here.”

“I just plan a trip that I want to do including campsites and mileage and ask if there are any takers. It works for me.”

“humanpackmule, If I wanted to hike with any of these folks that might be the plan.

I think you have solved the riddle. I can't plan a hike if I am seeking to avoid the people who might show up.

Thanks.”

“Well, what kind of a thread is this? Bacpac, you might be surprised by going on one of these things. And I think that once people got past your blustery internet persona, things would go smoothly.

Friends are nice to have.”

“Thanks rl, I have friends. It is the people who think they want to be my friends that I seek to avoid.”

“"if you build it, they will come,,,,,,,or they won't....heh...

if they can get time off...
if you plan a trip to someplace you really love, chances are whoever comes will love it too...
if you expect for everyone to walk together in a little line /parade like fashion...hmmm....don't think that is gonna happen (check the hiking style threads)
it is always a good time in camp, hangin out with everybody out in the wilderness...you go home feelin really groovy.
i need to look up the word "stranger"...i am not sure i have backpacked with any in all my life.....i am usually stranger than others
So bacpac....
where and when ya goin'? :) you would be a riot i bet”

“My intent and question were valid when I started this thread, but I realized after reading humanpackmules' post why I was having such a problem.

If I can't commit to the trip myself it is impossible to plan. So simple.”

“yet another meaningless thread started simply to call attention to the creator.

Bacpac..would you like some cheese to go with that whine?”

“Bacpac, here is a novel idea.

1) Read the posts for trips that have been planned in the past.

2) Read the trip reports from those trips.

3) Make conclusions from that.”

“Bacpac, heres is a novel idea.

1) no one will go on your hike (you're dickless)

2) no one will go on your hike (you're dickless)

3) no one will go on your hike (no one likes you)”

“The only trip I want to plan right now includes txwoodswoman, with a pack, on her back waiting for a bacpac attack.

I got a hotel reservation in Texarkana, call me 501-224-0644”

“Knowing you and your MR Privacy act..that's the porn hotline you call..”

“Sheesh--I got took AGAIN!!!”

“Huh?
If you don't want certian people to go then don't ask everyone and only talk to the ones you want to hike with. What's the big deal?”

“I'll hike with ya, Mr.bacpac...you can be sure I'll have dog in tote.

I want to be your friend!”

“I appologize Mary. I was sincere, but I learned something about myself tonight.

I hope I can take you another time.”

“Oops, that sounded nasty. Sorry again, Mary.”

“Buddur, Everyone wants to be my friend.

MOOOoooHAAAaaaaHAAAaaaaa”

“If you plan the trip the way you want it, pack solo, and just invite the people you want to come along you'll enjoy it more. The problem with a "group hike" is having to ignore your own preferences to adjust to the group.”

“Kewl, another new person, with an email address, even. flutterbygirl, are you a rare poster or a renamed regular?”

“What Mr.humanpackmule said. You'd be surprised at the secret TT hikes done undercover of this site.”

“New poster. Been reading for awhile, tho.”

“Sorry about that, I'm at a friend's. Same message, tho. New poster.”

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"The New Newbies Guide"

Welcome to the wild and crazy world of Trail Talk. In this guide, I will go over various terminology, and ways of the Trail Talk (TT) folk. Use this guide as a reference for any thing that you don't understand that goes on here. However, before I continue, I must warn you that this is one untamed site

SECTION A, Spelling and Grammar:
Always use your best spelling, and grammar. We have a few English teachers, and one professor, that post here. ACRONYMS must be capitalized if used, and please limit them to the very basic ones of LOL, and BTW, after that the TrailTalkinanes loose it. If you are brain dead, and need help, and training on the laws of basic English we have this web page for you.

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SECTION C, TROLLS: If you have not been accused of being a troll already, you have good luck today. Trolls are basically people that are out for attention, and they will again that attention by posting completely radical things, for only one purpose, the purpose of creating havoc. If that has not explained trolls well enough for you, we have this great web page that will aid you in you search for what the hell a troll is. The websites most infamous troll is Tarpy, he has posted under the aliases of Wild Child, Mantra, Jara, Tarp Rat, ATBackpacker. In the past, he hasn't post any thing worth while reading, however with in the past week he changed his name to CX, and has posted nothing but normal stuff, and I believe that he is trying to change his ways. We also have another troll, his name is Joe Moma, there are about 5 people with access to that name and post wild things under it.

SECTION D, HTML: You can use most HTML in at this site, just please don't go over bored with it. Matt, the Webmaster will change your post if you go to over bored, and he doesn't like us to post pictures often, because they slow down the site (and this site has enough technical problems as is). If you don't know much about HTML, well guess what, we have yet another great web page to educate you about HTML and how it all works.

SECTION E, Trail Talk Terminology: A Trail hoe, is a person that hikes a lot. A Trail Pimp is a person that makes up the trips for us to hike on. A Trail virgin is a person that has never been on an over night trip. A Trail B!tch is a person that hikes, and likes it, but doesn't do it as often as the hoes. A Troll, well I hope you know what that is by now. A Regular is a person that posts nearly every day. A thread is the topic that your are posting on. A Handle is your name, AKA Trail Name. A Lurker is a person that surfs the site, however they don't post often or at all. There's more but I just forgot it.

SECTION F, Bio's, Calendar, and Photo's: We have a web page with pics of us nuts on it. You can find most of us on the page, and many people that don't post any more. The older photos are at the top of the page, and the lattés ones are at the bottom. That web page is ran by Phil a TT regular, NOT Matt who is the web master. We also have a a bio's page, with all of are bio's. I don't know how accurate they are, but they are there. We also have a page with all of are upcoming events on it. We call it a calendar.

SECTION G, Instant Messaging (IM): Most of us have some for of IM, weather it be, ICQ, AIM, MSN IM, , and or Yahoo. Some of us use MSN, a slightly larger hand full of us use Yahoo, more of us use AIM (AIM RULES), and most of us use ICQ.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
This site crashes often so by a helmet, posting heavy HTML, or when ever Matt tries to make a change, it crashes. You will often get a line saying something about line 28, or line 26, don't worry about it. Its not you computer it's the crazy server. To survive here you are going to have to grow some thick skin. In conclusion I welcome you to the nut house, enjoy.

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