Hello my friends here on the NOOK. Following is an edit and rough splicing of two announcements that have I have posted recently on the ANANEC club forum. They concern our freehiking club's annual Summer Solstice celebration to take place in Vermont (USA) this coming weekend, especially Friday. All are welcome:
> Time to warm up our calendar from its not so long ago winter doldrums. Summer Solstice is soon to be upon us. A long awaited date in the yearly cycle that any red blooded nude hiker should celebrate in a most fitting manner. For those of us in the Northeast of the US, the Long Trail awaits our pleasure. ANANEC club member Ed will once again be leading his venerable Solstice hike upon that most hallowed of ground. The hike will be the same as last year, but be fairly warned….It is never the same, and it is not to be missed.
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> This year, the hike will be on Friday, June 21. We will meet at 9am at the parking lot at the LT/AT crossing located 1/4 mile east of the Big Branch picnic area on the USFS road #10. That road is easiest to find from Route 7. If heading north on Rt 7 out of North Dorset and before South Wallingford, look for a small road on the right in the vicinity of Danby which heads up into a tiny hamlet (four houses) called Mount Tabor about 1/4 mile east of the Rt 7 junction. Continue east up this road after passing through Mount Tabor into the GMNF. You should pass an official sign noting entry to the forest and I believe also noting that you are now on USFS road #10. The picnic area is to be found on the right side of the road after climbing another mile east. Pass this parking lot and pull into the next one to be found on the right about a quarter mile further. The trail crosses the road at this location. USFS #10 goes on from this point east for another five or six miles and arrives at the town of Weston on Rt 100 thus our meetup at the parking lot could be approached from the east by heading west out of Weston, but I have never taken this route at the beginning of my day yet so I could not comment about landmarks on that side.
Anyone is welcome to join us on the hike. The more, the merrier. This is a 10 mile hike – moderate to easy with the first 2 1/2 – 3 miles being uphill. There will be many places for photo ops. About 2 miles from the finish of the hike, we'll take a swim in Little Rock Pond. Those of you who wish to make this a two day Solstice celebration as discussed above, may come the night before and stay at either of the three shelters to be found within a mile or two south down the LT from the parking lot just east of the Big Branch picnic area, the meet up place for our Friday hike.
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Hi all. Back in May, I announced the ANANEC annual Solstice dayhike coming up next Friday in Vermont (USA). Club member Ed has been organizing this annual highpoint of the season for close to ten years now and it has never been a disappointment. We hope that some of you can join us for a great day hike then. Email me for details if you would like to join us.
In that message I mentioned a possible extended hike to book-end the day hike. Here is some more info on that. I am leading a three day loop hike to take place on Thursday, Friday, Saturday June 20 – 22 through the Big Branch Wilderness, located within the Green Mountain National Forest in southwestern Vermont. The schedule for this freehike is arranged to bracket our club's annual Solstice day hike on the 21st. You are welcome to join me for as little or as much time as you may have on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. There will be skinnydipping opportunities on both Friday and Saturday. If you wish to join me for what promises to be a great nude backpacking trip, email me for the details.
We will be staying Thursday night at the Big Branch hut and Friday night at the Old Job hut. If you are just hiking the mile or so in from USFS #10 (just east of Danby Vermont) either night to stay the night, for the Friday dayhike, I will probably see you there.
I know that the Thurs – Sat timing of this trip is inconvenient for many of us with day jobs. Sorry, but the dayhike around which it is centered is our traditional celebration of the Summer Solstice, the longest freehiking day of the season and thus must occur on Friday this year. I have made allowance for persons to be able to jump into and out of the extended hike at various places along the way, thus allowing you to tailor your own hike to something that is best for your schedule and needs. It is entirely possible to join us only for the Saturday leg of this hike and still get a good taste of freehiking if that is all that you work schedule allows.
If we are lucky, we will have three days of nudity in very pretty part of the Green Mountains, about 8 miles Thursday, 10 miles Friday and 8 miles Saturday very little backtracking. I hope that some of you can find some time on any of the three days to join us.
–freewalkerma–
