AMC SEM Post-Hike Trip
Report
TRIP DATE: 04-16-2016
TRIP
LOCATION: Borderland State Park –
SEM Open House, Beginner (Pet Friendly) hike
MEETING
TIME: 1 pm
NUMBER OF
PARTICIPANTS (INCLUDING LEADERS): 11
hikers, 9 dogs
TOTAL HIKING
TIME (IN HOURS): 1 hrs 50 mins
LENGTH IN
MILES: 1.8 miles
TOTAL
ELEVATION GAIN (IN FEET): Flat, no elevation gain
DIFFICULTY: D (A=very strenuous;
B=strenuous; C=average; D=easy)
LEADER
NAME(S): Paul Brookes
CO-LEADER
NAME(S): Sue & Kevin Mulligan
TRAILHEAD
PARKING LOCATION & DESCRIPTION: Borderland
Park Visitor Center parking
CAR SPOTTING
REQUIRED?: No TIME REQUIRED TO SPOT CARS: N/A
WAS TRIP
WITHIN WHITE MOUNTAIN NATIONAL FOREST? No
BRIEFLY DESCRIBE
SPECIFIC TRAILS HIKED AND TRAIL CONDITIONS ENCOUNTERED:
We hiked
along 1.8 miles of flat and easy trail by the shore of the Leach Pond as well
as in and around the Quiet Woods trail and Swamp trail.
WEATHER
CONDITIONS FOR HIKE: Clear skies, bright sunshine and mid 50’s.
OTHER
COMMENTS (problems, views, terrain, etc.)
This hike
was part of the annual SEM ‘Take It Outside’ Open House. This was a beginner hike intended to
introduce new members or existing members that have not been active to the joys
of hiking with an easy introductory hike.
In addition,
this was listed as a dog friendly hike with the hope of attracting some members
that have dogs and want something where they can walk with their animals. We planned a slower pace to give the dogs a
chance to sniff and participants time to get to know one another.
Folks were
encouraging to come early and attend the free lunch provided by SEM. We had 11 people attend and 9 dogs. All the participants were screened ahead of
time and agreed that their dogs would be on-leash the whole time, both around
the visitor center and out and on the trails.
Ahead of
time through many information emails we made it clear that none of the dogs
(except for one service dog) were allowed in the visitor center and we setup a
rotation so people could go inside to grab lunch and check out the tables while
others in our group watched the dogs.
I also
developed some specific screening questions to ensure that none of the dogs were
reactive and would behave well on leash with each other. Lastly we had one 5-month old puppy sign up a
few days before the event so I contacted all the participants again to make
sure that none of their dogs had a problem with an energetic bouncy puppy
coming up to say hello.
We also let
the other leaders at the event know about our preparation and encouraged them
to help smooth things over if there were any hiccup’s with the dogs given all
the excitement and food around.
With all our
work ahead of time we expect things to go mostly smoothly and indeed the day
went perfectly with the dogs behaving beautifully and no problems either around
the visitor center or on the trails.
I wanted to
provide these comments to let anyone considering a dog friendly hike know that
it’s a significant amount of additional work to lead a dog friendly hike in a
high volume location such as on a weekend or a popular park so should be
undertaken by leaders that have been successful with pet friendly hikes in less
populated places and have the time to commit to the pre-work with
participants. Having said that, all the
participants had a wonderful time and asked when and how they could discover
more pet friendly hikes. The number of
people that signed up show that providing dog friendly hikes is definitely a need
as well as an untapped opportunity to encourage members to be active that
otherwise may not have been.
IMPORTANT: Contact
Hike Committee Chair ASAP with any medical emergencies or other serious
incidents
