It's better Outdoors

THIS IS A ONE WAY HIKE!

The Green Ribbon trail runs from Upper Gwynedd Township to Whitemarsh Township, almost 13 miles, and most of it follows along the Wissahickon Creek

We are going to meet at Parkside Place at 8:30am and start hiking by 8:45

We have about 12 miles to hike - we are not doing the last (approx) 1 mile as we are going to cut over to Bethlehem Pike and finish our day at Halligan's Pub for some food/drink

THIS IS A ONE WAY HIKE! That means once we get to Halligan's pub, you need to get yourself back to your car - there are 3 options:
Uber/Lyft back (ride with others to split the cost)
take the 94 bus that stops right by the pub
organize some car pools - I will not be doing this directly but feel free to post comments about it and I will start a google sheet when it gets closer

Will cancel for rain so watch the forecast, but I won't make any decisions about go/no go until Friday night if there's a chance of rain

Make sure you can keep up - we hike about 3 miles and hour
This is a LONG hike and a long day, we can't go slow or continually wait for people that can't keep up so, sorry, but If you find yourself falling way behind, you'll have to guide yourself to the end or out to a street and Uber on your own

Generally this is an easy hike, besides the distance, as there is not much elevation, but you'll need to make sure you can hike 12 miles - that's far...and if you haven't done 12 miles before, it's longer than you think

PLAN FOR WET/MUDDY CONDITIONS!
This trail is known to hold water and have some mud, especially if there was a recent rain but even if there wasn't it can be muddy in spots.
Plan to wear footwear that is going to get wet and muddy. Waterproof boots are the best option but it's your call. Do NOT wear flipflops. There will be several stream crossings which are required to continue on the trail and if there's a lot of water, we may have to cross IN some shallow water (you can either let your footwear get wet or take them off to cross)

Breaks/bathrooms:
there are bathrooms at Penllyn Woods Park - mile 5, we'll stop for a quick break here
and Four Mills Nature Reserve - mile 8, we'll stop here for about 15 minutes
those are the only planned stops though

Note: I have never done this trail before so this is my first time and I do not know what we'll see along the way - let's explore!

More information about the Green Ribbon Trail can be found here:
https://wissahickontrails.org/explore-the-watershed/find-your-trail/green-ribbon-trail

the map is here: https://wissahickon-trails-prod.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/attachments/cld3imhfqgo1sjzupvcoogirc-green-ribbon-trail-20230112.pdf

here's the trail on AllTrails (but AllTrails tends to lie so don't rely too much on this):
https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/pennsylvania/green-ribbon-preservation-trail

We are going to do a night hike through Wissahickon for about 7 miles

YES, I'm allowing lights this time since we won't see the moon
but ONLY RED LIGHTS, no white lights allowed

"But what if I don't have a red light?" - go buy one, they aren't that expensive

We'll be doing the rocky, leafy, rooty, twisted trails of the Wissahickon so be prepared for any condition or hazard
WILL CANCEL FOR RAIN/DRIZZLE
pace: about 3 miles an hour (I consider this my average pace and we should be able to do it since we'll have lights with us)

Meeting time is 7:30 at the start of the Wissahickon Bike Trail on Ridge Ave across the Street from the Wissahickon Bus Station
We start hiking at 7:45, with or without you
We should be hiking for about 2 - 2.5 hours

For those that want to meet early and get food/drinks/chat, we'll be at the Wissahickon Brewery from 5:30 to 7:15

Parking: You can park at the Gustine Recreation Center, Wissahickon Brewery or Regal Movie theater lot

PLEASE READ ALL THE DETAILS BEFORE SIGNING UP
EVENT IS NOW FULL

This is a very limited space event so there are some rules to sign up:
1. you must have your own kayak or stand up paddle board to join us (no rentals available, no non-paddlers camping with us)
2. first 16-20 to pay get in, an RSVP doesn't guarantee your spot
3. answer the pop up questions when you RSVP
4. you need to read the rest of this post before signing up, I'll know if you don't ;)

We are going to paddle Havre De Grace for the weekend!
specific plans/details to come
generally: we'll paddle Saturday and Sunday morning, have Saturday afternoon for a hike and spend Sunday afternoon checking out the town

I have 8 campsites booked at Susquehanna SP for us
but tents have to be confined to the tent pad area which means:
only 1 8+ person tent per site - if you have a tent that takes up the whole site you have to pay for 2 people, even if you are by yourself
only 2 4-person tents per site
may squeeze 3 2-person or 3 1-person tents per site
a 6 person tent could work if you plan with a 1 or 2 person tent person
I'm going to try to arrange this as efficiently as possible to allow for the most people - so if you have a smaller tent option, please plan to use that
Exact site assignments won't be determined until we get there since I don't know what they look like or how they are laid out - we'll put people where it makes the most sense, if someone has one large tent for one site, they get the smallest site, a site that will have 3 tents will get the largest site
ONLY 2 CARS PER SITE - so try to car pool if possible

For those that miss out on the camping spots or that don't want to camp but still paddle with us, I will be posting day trips for the paddle so people can join us just for the day - stay tuned, probably post in April

NO ALCOHOL ALLOWED in MD state parks

Cost:
$45 per person
refundable for any reason until April 1, after April 1 someone needs to take your spot
pay via venmo to: @Gary-Kiefer (please make sure this goes through as 'sending to friends/family' NOT 'paying for goods/services'
if we can get more than 16 then I should be able to offer a small refund

Food/Drinks - all food/drinks for the weekend are on your own to bring

There ARE restrooms, running water and even showers at Susquehanna SP

Directions/Campsites etc - details will be sent to the YESs the week of the trip so make sure you are getting emails from meetup or you could miss it

NO GUESTS - everyone that comes must be a member of IBO to join us, if you want to bring a friend, have them join the group, it's free

When you RSVP, make sure you note the size of the tent you plan to use, if you are sharing the tent with anyone and confirm that you have your own kayak or paddleboard

If you've read this far, like you are supposed to, you only owe $40 for the weekend, not $45 - if you sent $45 already, I know you didn't read this first and I'm going to buy myself a beer with your extra money. Thanks.

Bring your own (BYO) Standup Paddleboard or Kayak and join us as we paddle from the Lapidum Boat Ramp on the Susquehanna River, near Havre De Grace, up river to the Conowingo Dam

WILL CANCEL FOR RAIN

No rentals available
NOTE: $4 PER PERSON DAY USE FEE APPLIES!
Cash only - so please make sure to have cash with you

The planned paddle is about 4.5 miles UP river, but we'll see how strong the current is that day (how far we go depends on conditions)
It's probably going to be about 1.5 hours of paddling before we turn around (so at least 3 hours total time on water)
Then we'll float/paddle back to the boat launch - bring drinks and snacks as we tie together and relax on the float back

The end time is an estimate, there are no guarantees

Afterwards, those that are not camping with us are welcome to come back to the campground with us to hang out a bit or you can go into Havre De Grace