Category Archives: Blog Posts

Posts from our old blog or new posts likely beyond the immediate scope of Harriman Hikers – A New York / New Jersey Singles Hiking Club and its members

NYNJTC Hosting Appalachian Trail Conservancy Conference

Posted on by

… via print version special section of March-April Trailwalker:

New York New Jersey Trail Conference will host the 36th Biennial Conference of the Appalachian Trail Conservancy July 13-20, 2007.

The conference and meetups for the many events will take place at our own home base of Ramapo College of New Jersey in Mahwah, NJ!

Trail events associated with the conference will occur on the Appalachian Trail itself, which runs thru Harriman State Park and other areas of northern New Jersey and the Hudson Valley, NY.

Members of Harriman Hikers are encouraged to participate in this very special happenning headed our way this coming summer.

-HH

The View From The Summit, From The Ramapough

Posted on by

…via Hudson Hikers

http://www.hudsonhikers.org/RamapoughWinter2007.pdf

One our fellow hiking clubs, Hudson Hikers, (Ramapo Chapter of The Adirondack Mountain Club) recently published a newsletter to the internet that contains a poem, The View From The Summit, in which text contains some Harriman State Park landmarks we know well and hold dear to our own hearts:

(Quoting the first verse)

“Happy the Harriman hikers who take to the trail
Health in mind and body shall be theirs without fail
Away from Reeves Meadow hubbub up Rockland’s Seven Hills
And Old Red to Ramapo Torne with serpent lair and scramble spills
Pass by a Bear who must be Russian and a Pulpit without a priest
Pine Meadow Lake’s the spot for summer dip with luncheon feast
Peer at Diamond’s Sebago views and careen down Cascade of Slid
Plod Blue Disc to a Den where bad Claudius Smith once hid
Yet ahead greet Tom Jones to Stahahe of High Peak renown
Yonder cross Island Pond in winter if in Boston Mine you don’t drown”

Read the rest here (note: you will need Acrobat Reader (free)

-HH

Updated CDC Deer Tick and Lyme Disease Procedures

Posted on by

The Center For Disease Control (CDC) has posted a new link on their Lyme Disease Homepage:

Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) Guidelines for Treatment of Lyme Disease

The lingo is way medical and technical but makes for informative reading.

Threat of deer ticks and Lyme Disease should rarely keep anyone in good health from hiking. With proper vigilance tick bites can be avoided, the majority of deer ticks, tho the bite can be annoying and must be cared for to avoid infection, are not infected themselves with the bacteria that produces Lyme Disease and in the case of an infectious bite, with early treatment the risk of infection from Lyme Disease via a tick bite is negligible for healthy adults.

At the same time it is important to be aware that deer ticks and Lyme Disease do, in fact exist, care must be taken to minimize exposure and that if exposed, proper medical steps must be followed.

-HH

Appalachian Trail Conservancy Conference in July

Posted on by

New York – New Jersey Trail Conference (NYNJTC) will host the 36th Biennial Conference of the Appalachian Trail Conservancy at Ramapo College!

Read more in our blog

Just as we do each and every other week of the year, Harriman Hikers will be hiking Sunday, July 15th, however, we will likely meet up at an alternate location that Sunday. More details as how this might affect us we approach the week of the conference.

Technorati Tags:
, , ,

Stabilicers Positive Experience

Posted on by

Stabilicers, manufactured by 32 North, Inc., Biddeford, ME, is the brand name of a foot product made to provide firm footing in icy conditions.

Metal cleats are attached to a rubber shoe sole which is then secured to the foot using nylon straps and velcro.

Such foot products are often loosely referred to as “ice cleats” or “crampons”.

Note: in a more specific sense, “crampons” actually define a different type of long-tined product made specifically for ice climbing, but we tend to use the term interchangeably.

Stabilicers sell for btn $40 and $50 and are available directly from the manufacturer or at many local outdoors stores.

Many members of Harriman Hikers own and wear Stabilicers during the Winter hiking season; after different hikers tried many different products available on the market, the consensus seems to be that Stabilicers, effective at providing traction in icy hiking conditions and while slightly more expensive in the short run than most of the other products, are made to the highest quality standards and therefore are less likely to present the hassle of having to be replaced or repaired.

It was with this information that I went to the 32 North website after a hike several Sundays ago and odered a pair of Stabilicers online. I was pleased and amazed that my order arrived Tuesday!

The next Sunday I wore my Stabilicers on the hike and was a little disappointed when, toward the end of the hike, I discovered I had lost about 10 of the metal cleats, however, thru the duration the icy, snow covered hike, I always had improved footing.

Many other hikers have been using Stabilicers in similar conditions for a number of years without losing significant quantities of cleats so I was curious if my pair somehow were defective.

On Monday, I called 32 North to let them know about the problems I had with my pair of Stabilicers and Doug Norton (the person I spoke to) gave me their UPS account number and requested that I send my Stabilicers to their factory overnight express.

Today, Thursday, I was once again surprised and delighted that my return merchandise order had been processed and returned to my door and I was even more impressed that my Stabilicers had been repaired, but an additional free pair! accompanied by a very sincere hand written letter from Doug thanking me for my feedback and affirming in its contents that the extra pair was not a mistake. Doug mentioned in his letter that my original pair did not appear to be defective and emphasized that “Stabilicers are not intended to be used as crampons for rock or ice wall climbing”.

THAT’S what I call SERVICE and with that I would like to nominate Stabilicers as “Official Ice Cleat of Harriman Hikers”.

signed, a pleased customer,

R. Richard Hobbs | Webmaster and Fellow Hiker

Harriman Hikers

A New York- New Jersey Singles Hiking Club Established 1974