We have a lot of great things coming up over the next month. March is always a busy time, planning for more great trips as the weather begins to get warmer, but we always start the Spring off with our Anniversary Hike.
(Look to the bottom of post for schedule of events)
Of course, many of you are new to the group and don't know the group's humble beginnings. I've reiterated it time and again, but this time I'd like to share some of the plans for this year as well as give a retrospective of what the hike has been every year.
The group on Hike #1, March 23, 1997.
In lieu of having a birthday party for my 17th birthday, I gathered some of my closest friends to hike from Portland PA to Washington NJ on my favorite abandoned railroad right of way, the old Delaware, Lackawanna, and Western Railroad's main line, the Warren Railroad. Even at that age, I knew the history of the line inside and out, and passed the information on to my friends as we walked. Everyone loved it, and said we should do it again. This repeated again and again, and eventually we came up with the premise of doing long hikes, each one connecting with previous hikes we'd done.
To commemorate that first hike, we repeat it every year. The event is well attended and loved by most everyone, and usually coincides with the Annual Hikers' Hootenanny, which has happened most every year since the beginning.
The route of the hike has changed somewhat since the beginning due to developments along the old railroad route, and today Matt Davis and I are pushing to have the entire line turned into a public trail, despite so many oppositions.
This year, we will likely have the same co leaders as last year, and there will be opportunities to do either ten of fifteen miles. Those wishing to do the ten mile version will meet in Oxford, while those doing 15 will meet at Port Colden Mall. All of the snow this year might make some of the normal route less possible, and we'll amend as needed.
Another difference this year is the Hikers' Hootenanny location. Last year, we had the event in the back yard of my home that tragically burnt down in 2010, and had a campfire. This year, we will use that as a fall back, but we are planning on having it at the Washington Theater.
Back in 1998, shortly after starting up the hikes, I joined a group starte S.T.A.R.T. (Save The Area's Regional Theater). It was proposed that the Washington Theater, once the only theater in Warren County, would be torn down in favor of a drive through 24 hour pharmacy. My friend Marco Matteo saw fit to begin this grass roots campaign to save and revitalize the theater.
Years later, Marco is finally in control of the theater and doing the best he can to keep it going. He really makes no money on the project at all, it is a work of passion. Unfortunately, this winter has been harsh for Marco and the theater. A new roof is needed, and he's been forced to shut down because the cost of heating cannot be covered by limited attendance.
The good news is, the theater will re-open it's doors once again in March, and we are planning on hosting the Hikers' Hootenanny in one of the theater rooms! We will hopefully have DJ Ray offering his talents and equipment for the event, and I have been talking with Steve Rogers, Director of Driving Jersey on PBS about showing the new episode in which our group was profiled next year, on the big screen! In keeping with tradition, we will get pizza from Dicolas, but then bring it to the theater where we'll have a social hour and drinks at the beginning. The showing of the new episode will take place, and hopefully we'll do a question and answer session with Steve, then after the showing DJ music and dancing will continue through the night. Marco will be asking a $10 cover charge per person, for our use of the space. It's well worth it and our patronage we will be helping to keep our beloved community theater going.
I was 17 when I began organizing these hikes, and now it's been 17 years since that time, so it seems fit to give a retrospective...
Anniversery hike, 1998In 1998, I still did not expect the hikes to become a weekly event. I'd tried often to rope people in to doing them more often, but people were always a little wishy washy about it. Despite countless people showing interest in the 1998 repeat of the hike, only three of us showed up. In 1997, we had cupcakes and such, and watched the movie "Clue" in my bedroom as an after party. In 1998, we managed to get together a loft party at the Animal Health Center in New Village.
1999 Anniversary Hike
The next year proved to be even more difficult to pull people in. There was interest again, but people just wouldn't show up. Friends were moving away and going off to college, and there was not enough interest there. Co workers would be the only new source of hikers I'd have for a while. We didn't even have a hootenanny that year.
2000 Hike
In 2000, by the time of my birthday, I'd taken a hiatus from group hikes. I missed it a lot, and I didn't realize how much until having that experience again. Conrad, who was on the first one, brought in three newcomers, and so I opted to do the same hike again the next month with good participation. After that, I began trying to have the hikes every week on my day off. Unfortunately, it took a long time to build up a strong enough following.
2001 Hike
By 2001, my brother was joining me on almost every hike. Conrad's cousins had become core group members and other friends started coming out. Still, it was a struggle to get people to come out. We had the annual Hikers' Hootenanny at my apartment with my then girlfriend, Cathy in Phillipsburg. The annual party would be held the night before the hike for several years to come.
2002
By 2002, hosting a weekly hike was becoming easier. We didn't have large numbers of people. The annual Hootenanny was in Port Colden, where I grew up. I began renting the house from my grandparents myself, and the event would be held the night before the hike there every year.
2003
In 2003, we tried something different, by doing the anniversary hike in backwards direction, and doing it in Shop Rite smocks. Theme hikes would become a very fun thing that would be recurring within the group over the years.
2004
By 2004, interest in the hikes was again waning. We'd had over forty people attend the Hootenanny the night before, but only three of us managed to do the hike. I did not even sleep a wink, and ended up sleepwalking some of the hike. My brother, Tea Biscuit, was as interested in coming out on the hikes as often, and I wasn't pulling in many through my job at Wal Mart. I didn't know it at the time, but 2004 would mark a huge change. First, I was featured in Skylands Visitor Magazine which brought in more participants, then I joined Appalachian Mountain Club and went through their Outdoor Leadership Training. With the ability to post my hikes through their club, I pulled in new and dedicated hikers constantly. I began building a very strong following, and after May 2004, I never again posted a hike that no one showed up for.
2005
My hikes have always been different than those of any other organization. In Appalachian Mountain Club, no one was posting hikes as long as mine, so a lot of people were put off. I was pulling in large groups for popular places like Delaware Water Gap, but my obscure locations, including the Warren Railroad Anniversary Hike, would be overlooked by all but those hikers truly looking for something different.
2006
Even by 2006, interest in the Warren Railroad hike had not really caught on. AMC members would sign on, then cancel at the last minute or simply not show up. Cold weather hikes always pull in less people, but still other familiar locations would always pull in more participants.
2007
By the time of the ten year anniversary hike, either because I promoted it much better or because it was finally catching on, I started pulling in the largest groups I'd ever assembled for this hike. With over twenty participants, we had a fabulous time. Even my grandfather joined for the entire hike.
It was becoming more and more clear all the time that what we were doing was something different, and my already tempestuous relationship with AMC was coming to a head. Overall, it was a positive experience, but a few people did not consider my brand of hikes to be in line with AMC's vision. Additionally, I received attacking e mails from other group leaders accusing me of only leading the hikes to recieve their high mileage award (obviously, this was not my purpose).
2008
The group continued to grow, and 2008 proved to be very similar to 2007. This would be the last time my anniversary hike was offered through Appalachian Mountain Club. September 2008 was my last hike with AMC, as I was removed as a leader.
It was disheartening to me, but I'd already built up enough of a strong following that I no longer needed AMC any more. I was now posting hikes through myspace.com and would soon start with Facebook. Many more changes would soon come. I was also finally working as a Park Employee.
2009
With the departure from AMC, there would be less participants than the previous two years, but the core group members were there, and the group was stronger than ever. Rather than have people who show up once and rarely come back, the group was made up of people who were all regular participants and truly passionate about what we were doing.
Since the previous year, I'd split up with Cathy and things were quickly changing for the better.
2010
By 2010, the group was stronger than ever, with more regular participants coming out on a weekly basis than ever with the AMC crowd. We had a diverse group of ages teens to seventies. We assembled the largest group to date, but I took control by not having a regular party this time. The group seemed to be attending parties more than the hikes, and I wanted a shift. We gathered for pizza at the end of the hike with a mellower get together, and had another party later in the year.
2010 was a horrible year for me in many ways, as I lost my home to fire and nearly lost my life, my best friend Kyle (pictured) passed away, and I found out I was losing my job with Hunterdon County Parks. Still, despite all of this I registered Metrotrails officially as a NJ Non Profit Corporation. No more would we be an informal hiking club arranged through on line groups. It was now official.
2011
The attendance of the hikes continued to go up. I found redemption for all of the negativity that had come my way in so many forms. I became a Commissioner on the Warren County Board of Recreation, and was then named Chairman. Warren County then graciously named me caretaker of the Wiseman House, an amazing cabin in the middle of White Lake Natural Resource Area in Warren County, where I'd work to develop the trail system over the next two years. I also began working for the state park service only one month after losing my job at Hunterdon County. The Annual Hikers' Hootenanny was pushed a month ahead at the Wiseman House, with another hike ending there. At the end of 2011, I started the group on Meetup.com.
2012
Participation remained strong through 2012, and new members began coming out through Meetup.com. It was a slow start to getting people involved, but more and more began to show up. The Hikers' Hootenanny again was held at White Lake a month later, and later in the year we moved to Great Meadows. The bulk of the groups would still be past participants, but we'd have a few more here and there, most of whom were members of AMC who heard about the Metrotrails meetup from other members who knew me.
2013
Last year marked the most successful year in the history of the Warren Railroad hike. Matt Davis and I co-authored "Hiking the Warren Railroad: Mile By Mile", a short guide book to the remains of the historic railroad's route. We sold over 300 copies in only a few months. The Anniversary Hike was the best attended to date, with 72 participants!
Meetup.com was continue to work better for us, and I was given the ability to post my hikes through a couple of other meetup groups that were not my own. It became mutually beneficial to both those groups and mine, as it gave diversity to them and gave me the opportunity to direct them to Metrotrails.
Since this hike last year, I've more than quadrupled the Metrotrails database (though we haven't put it on line yet), and we've recently topped our previous number with 77 participants on our holiday NYC hike.
With current RSVPs, it's very possible that this year we will again have the largest group we've ever assembled.
I would like to personally thank everyone who's come out on our hikes and helped to get us where we are today. 2014 is going to be a fantastic year, and I hope everyone can come on the anniversary hike and experience a bit of what started it all.
Best Regards
M'ke Helbing
President
Metrotrails
COMING UP
3/15: Doug DeGroff leads four mile Point Mountain loop, meeting at main PM lot at 1 pm.
3/16: High Falls/Kingston NY Area Rail Trails and more, meeting at the main lot at High Falls, Rt 2:13, 9 am.
3/22: 17 Yr. Anniversary Hike, see above posting for details for ten of fifteen mile options.
3/22-3/23: Annual Hikers' Hootenanny, Washington Theater at about 7:30 pm.
3/30: Jersey Perimeter Penn's Grove and Fort Mott Hike, meeting Fort Mott SP at 9 am.
April will bring us to more amazing places as planned in Wilkes Barre, Princeton, Lehigh Gap, and below Fort Mott!
There will also be a Metrotrails meeting very soon, as we plan on doing more regular monthly meetings.
