Summer is almost over! I could never have imagined that being a good thing when I was a kid. But, our club does not have regularly scheduled hikes or camping trips during the summer, and it is time get back out on the trails of Texas. We will start off gradually with a day hike on the trails near Mercer Arboretum and a camping trip to Galveston Island State Park, and we will have plenty more hiking and camping in the cooler Fall weather.
We had a fine summer. A group of club members invaded the Asheville area of North Carolina in June. We hiked the wonderful trails of the Pisgah National Forest as well as the trails of Montreat to the Northeast of Asheville. Those names are not well known to most of us in Texas. Take it from us that it is worth a trip to Asheville to put boots to ground on those trails.
One last thing, we had our first club backpacking trip in several years in May. Six of us did an introductory backpacking trip on a section of the Lone Star Hiking Trail. We hauled packs ranging from 25 to 35 lbs for about 8 miles in. As many of you will recall May was a pretty wet month, so we had a pretty damp slog through the woods. It was wonderful! We will be planning more backpacking excursions this year, usually coordinated with our club weekend camping trips.
If you are interested in knowing more about us, and getting out on the trails with a group of fun hikers, campers, fifth-wheelers, and RVers, come to our next club meeting and get to know us.
UPCOMING EVENTS – SEPTEMBER
Camping Trip –Galveston Island State Park
Day Hike – Mercer Arboretum & Timberlane Trails
September Club Meeting:
Wed, September 7, 2016 7:00 – 8:30 P.M.
Spring Creek Greenway Nature Center (Map)
1300 Riley Fuzzel Road Spring, Texas 77386
Please feel free to join one of our club meetings. For more information about the club send an email to thewoodlandshikingclub@gmail.com, and check out our newsletter by clicking on the NEWSLETTERS link in the left menu. If you would like to join us for a Day Hike before you can come to one of our meetings, also send an email that you are interested.
WHERE do our members live? Check out this map to see. Our members come from a wide range of communities in the Greater Houston area. The 4 most represented communities are The Woodlands, Conroe, Spring, and Houston. We also have members from Montgomery, Cypress, Willis, and Kingwood.
We are also adding a webpage on general hiking related information. Check it out at <Hiking Info!>. AND we have just added the March Newsletter, look to the left!
ABOUT THE WOODLANDS HIKING CLUB
The Woodlands Hiking Club, a group of enthusiastic hikers and campers committed to enjoying the outdoors, was officially organized in 1983. While most of our members are from The Woodlands and surrounding areas, we also have members in Sugar Land, Georgetown, and Arlington.
A day hike is usually scheduled for a Saturday morning once a month at a local trail, park, or nature center. We normally camp one weekend a month at a Texas state park, hike Saturday, and enjoy a pot-luck dinner on Saturday night; or sometimes we go to a local restaurant. We do not have regular campouts during July, August, or December. Some members have travel trailers and some have tents. Once in awhile, we stay at a motel.
Each year the club plans hiking and camping trips to meet the interests of its members. There is something for everyone – local day hikes, weekend trips with short day hikes, or an adventurous week-long backpacking trip to places like the Rocky Mountains, Yellowstone, Grand Canyon, or Big Bend National Park. The Club occasionally plans more exotic trips. Over the past several years, trips have included Alaska, Peru, England, Mexico, and France. In August 2009, a couple of our members went llamapacking in Colorado near the Continental Divide. In December 2009, several members once again went to Big Bend National Park to spend a week at one of the club’s favorite places. In October 2011, we went to Great Smoky Mountains National Park; and in September 2012, a group traveled to Taos, New Mexico. In March 2014 the club spent a week in glorious Big Bend National Park, enjoying more than 8 hikes totaling more than 25 miles.
Visitors are always welcome to attend our meetings. We meet on the first Wednesday of the month except we do not meet in July, August, or December. We meet at the Spring Creek Greenway Nature Center, 1300 Riley Fuzzel Road, Spring, TX; and meetings begin at 7:00 P.M. Our newsletters from the past year (see tab at the left) will give you a good idea of our activities, and the most recent newsletter will have up-to-date contact information and any changes in our meeting day and location.
