Do flash mobs even exist anymore? Anyway… I thought it’d be interesting to post a link to one of the local hikes listed on meetup.com. A group based in Mountain View called “Let’s hike and maybe take a break if we get tired” has over a thousand members. This group has a hike from Palomarin to Ocean Lake planned Saturday already has 50 people signed up (the organizer has, thoughtfully enough, closed it off to further RSVPs).
Any thoughts on taking out a group this large? Not my cup of tea, though I like the idea that it would drive the creator of Bay Area Linkup crazy (BA Linkup hike discussions inevitably turn to the antics of its CEO, invariably described as a mad genius/control freak who must be tolerated because his site is so cool because it has so many rules mandating proper behavior — something the Church Lady might create if she were into building databases. It would be mad fun to create a club whose sole purpose is crashing BA Linkup events).
Of course the storied Intrepid Northern California Hikers have solved the problem of what to do with a really large hiking group: if the guy on the trail next to you starts in with an annoying recantation of the microchip he built last week, you just walk faster. After 11 years, only the “just walk faster” part survives.
(By now you’re probably getting a sense of why I usually end up hiking by myself).
I’ve done a bunch of group hikes with this meetup as well as the Stanford Outing Club and though I have met the nicest bunch of people on all my hikes with them, the one thing I notice this time of year is all the dust the big groups stir up as we walk along dusty trails. Sometimes it gets really bad, to the point where I wish I at least had a dust mask if not a self enclosed space suit. Whew!
The meetup group does do one thing that helps with these large groups. They split up into smaller groups of about 10 who hke at different speeds. Even 10 people can stir up a lot of dust though.
I ran across a group at least that size over the weekend in the Giant Sequoia Nat’l Monument. All with full extended expedition – style packs. All getting off a big, custom bus. And most, after speaking with a few, with little outdoors experience…the stuff REI dreams of!
I mostly hike solo because my speed, or lack of, is an issue for the destination oriented. I enjoy the quiet of a lonely trail, not having to chatter or be chattered. I don’t think I’d even consider going along with a group that large – they must miss, or scare off, all the realy good stuff.
Great points Bob. I see more stuff around the trail when I hike alone than I do when hiking with groups. Since I am also slow I spend more time struggling to keep up with the group than I do enjoying the moment. And flat out, I see far more animals out there alone than I do in groups. And it is more of a thrill to see the animals than it is to see a sterile forest!