Our Stories

3 Reasons to join us at the Rendezvous

Posted on July 29, 2015 by Andrea Ketchmark

The Rendezvous is coming September 10-13 in New York. There’s still time to join us for a fun weekend of hiking, learning, and connecting with others hikers and volunteers across the North Country Trail. Check out the full details of the weekend here.

Registration ends August 6, so don’t delay and reserve your spot now! We’d love to see you there.

Here are 3 reasons to join us at the Rendezvous

1. Connect with friends of the North Country Trail from across state lines.

This is our once-a-year opportunity to gather with friends from all 7 of our great trail states. Swap trail stories, share tips on trail maintenance, and make new friends and memories to last a lifetime.

2. Get training

Finger Lakes Trail/North Country Trail — We are excited to have the Finger Lakes Trail host us this year.

Participate in great training like the Map and GIS Practicum with our GIS Coordinator, Matt Rowbotham. In this workshop Matt will walk through the NCTA’s new training materials on GPS’ing the North Country Trail. We will cover GPS units and our preferred data collection methods at NCTA. This will emphasize the aspects of our GPS work that go beyond normal navigation uses of GPS and merely tracking the trail route.You should walk away from this session with a strong understanding of how to use a GPS receiver to help collect and update the NCTA’s map information.

Or maybe you’d like the American Heart Association “Heartsaver” course. Includes adult, child, infant CPR, obstructed airway, and AED. This workshop has a $5.00 fee which is reimbursable for sawyers.

Join the Optimum Location Review workshop, to learn the process for intelligently siting new trail route. NPS staff will walk you through the process to create defensible criteria AND defensible decisions to determine the best route for your Trail. This workshop will prove that planning can be FUN!! To reinforce the fun they’re offering coffee AND donuts.

3. Hike some amazing scenery

This year our hosts are the Finger Lakes Trail Conference, and they have planned some amazing hikes to places like this:

Thursday and Sunday hikes will be relatively local, some self-guided and others led by experienced volunteers, while we will ALL go to the Ithaca area (Friday) and Watkins Glen (Saturday, by bus) for a featured list of rather fabulous hikes to spectacular locations, many including famous waterfalls, or tours to non-hiking features nearby. All registrants will get free maps of the area.

Bonus: The Lodge

Luxurious doesn’t have to mean expensive. All rooms are suites of varying sizes, with most featuring two double beds for four, many with full kitchens! So those of us willing to share a double bed will be able to sleep in a new and gorgeous hotel for only $38 per night, which includes a full breakfast! There are also nearby motels and a campground, so alternatives
exist. Registration will be handled by the FLT staff and volunteers, so we’ll help put roommates together for those not in a group. The Lodge also can entertain non-hikers with a water park, zip lines, a high aerial course, high challenge facilities, mountain coasters, and a spa!

photo credits: Hope Lake Lodge, Irene Szabo. Collage: photos by Vinnie Collins and Mike Ogden