6/20/10 Posting

I took the weekend off from hiking and spent Saturday with Matt at his Civil War Reenacting event in Port Gamble. This is where folks dress up in period clothing, erect camps complete with canvas tents, and participate in mock battles. Even if you’re not a Civil War buff you can have a good time viewing camp life in Federal and Confederate camps, watching the battles, or shopping at the suttlery shops for period clothing and other accoutrements. While I am not a reenactor like Matt, I occasionally dress up in period clothing and attend a ball and have dinner with his Federal or Confederate unit. It’s something completely different from hiking and I enjoy spending time with the folks from Matt’s units. This kind of group activity teaches me how to get along with and appreciate folks with different perspectives and from different walks of life.

In order to enjoy any group activity—be it Civil War Reenactment, Mountaineers hike, or other activity—I find that a healthy curiosity about other people’s lives and opinions makes for interesting conversations and is a great way to pass time while on the trail. Learning to enjoy and appreciate other people is one of the things I like best about hiking and, aside from the safety benefits of hiking in a group, is one of the other great benefits of hiking with others. So if you haven’t yet had an in-depth conversation with someone you don’t already know, I strongly encourage you to engage your hiking companions in conversations that go beyond the realm of occupations or the vagaries of the weather. Ask open-ended questions (those that can’t be answered with a “yes” or “no”) about their lives or thoughts about current trends or events. Pick something that you learn about them in this way and ask them more questions about it. People like to talk about themselves and getting them to do so is one of the best ways of finding shared experiences and beliefs and creating new friendships. You already know what your friends do and think; why not find out about people in the same way?

July Hike Signup

I’m emailing out the July hike descriptions today. Signup for July hikes and for the Cougar Flat campout begins on Wednesday June 23^rd at 9:00 AM. If you plan on attending any of the Cougar Flat weekend activities—either as a camper or just to go on the hikes—pay special attention to the signup instructions. There is a different signup process for both the camping portion of the trip and for signing up for the hikes. This is because registered campers have priority signup on area hikes over non-camping hikers and so we allow them to sign up earlier for these hikes. Please read the instructions carefully and if you have any questions, either contact me (masterhiker@gmail.com) or Steve Payne (stevepayne@mindspring.com) and we will help you. Signup for non-Cougar Flat hikes is the same process you have been doing all along.

June Hike Signup:

Open signup for June hikes is going on right now. Feel free to sign up for as many hikes as you would like. Available hikes are listed below.

CHS1:

6/22 (Tue)—Midweek hike, Jan Davis/Sue Shih, Tronsen Ridge (8 miles, 1,000’ gain)

WTA Trail Maintenance Signup

In June, the first of several WTA Trail Maintenance work parties is coming up. The link to sign up for this trip and the others is located on the CHS web site in Course Document>CHS Trail Maintenance Flyer. (http://www.mountaineers.org/seattle/chs/CHS/Class_Resources.html)

CHS Pictures:

If you took any pictures on your hike this weekend, please be sure to forward them to chshiker2008@gmail.com to post them on the picture site for everyone to view.

Have a great week and I look forward to hiking with each of you soon. Please contact me if you have any questions.