IN THE NEWSLETTER THIS MONTH
SOME HIKING POINTERS
Hiking Workshop Review
Joining and Organizing CORE Events
Navigating the CORE Calendar
CORE WEBSITE PROBLEMS
Calendar Event Broadcast Service Down
Mobile-Ready Feature Switched Off
SAFETY TIPS
INTRODUCING THE #NEW #CORE #BLOG
Subscribing to the CORE Blog
UPCOMING EVENTS
CORE AUGUST MONTHLY MEETING
Presentation: Adventures in Ireland & Scotland
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JULY ACTIVITY SCOREBOARD
July was a great month for hiking and other activities. There were 17 events posted on the calendar, including urban walks, tennis and dinner outings, scrambles and hikes of various levels of difficulty.
Highlights included here are Pigeon Mountain at the height or alpine flower season and a somewhat alarming spotting of a Grizzly sow and her cub on a trail just beyond Rawson Lake in K-country.
Pigeon Mountain in mid-July – Lots of Flowers |
Rawson Lake – Grizzly Bear mom and her cub |
SOME HIKING POINTERS
Hiking Workshop Review
The July monthly meeting presentation was conducted by Carol and Stu. Carol gave a review of the Hiking Workshop that a number of members attended in May 2014. The workshop provided lots of valuable tips to help coordinators access risk, keep group members safe and the group cohesive. For a copy of this presentation, please contact a member of the CORE executive. A few take away points are below:
CORE’s Mission Statement:
“To provide a welcoming cohesive organization within which adult members can participate in the responsible enjoyment of outdoor recreation, primarily hiking. Members participating in group activities shall be cooperative, safety-conscious and committed to group participation; originality, initiative and enthusiasm are appreciated and encouraged.”
Accessing risk:
A trip can have a low probability of risk, but the consequences of the risk could be high. And, vice versa, a trip can have a high probability of risk, but the consequences could be low.
Stick together and have a Lead and a Sweep
– The faster and slower groups should each have a lead and a sweep.
– Pace is set by the people in the back, not by the people in the front.
Joining and Organizing CORE Events
The second presentation was by Stu and focused on “hiking etiquette” as well as how to navigate the CORE calendar. Some take-away points:
READ THE HIKING GUIDELINES
Resources – Guides and Instructions
Go to the Resources webpage on the CORE Website and Read and follow the guidelines – FOR YOUR OWN AND OTHERS’ SAFETY
– Choose the right event for your skill level
– Always register with the coordinator for an event, in case details change
– Stay with the group at all times, let the coordinator OR YOUR GROUP LEADER know where you are
– The original event coordinator is responsible for the safe return of all people who signed up for the outing
– if some participants wish to proceed further than originally planned, they must be a group of four and have the approval of the coordinator
– Coordinators, read the Coordinators Guidelines, found at
https://corehike.org/wp-content/uploads/Forms/EventCoordinatorsGuidelines.pdf
For further guidance on joining or leading hikes, please contact the CORE Executive Trip Coordinator.
Navigating the CORE Calendar
CORE Calendar -Adding a new event
Details of how to navigate to and post events on the CORE Calendar are posted on the CORE website, and are mostly self explanatory. However, there are a few little quirks that deserve some attention.
– When filling in the “duration” boxes, do not select “All Day”. This causes problems with the event Broadcast emails.
– When filling in the Event Text box, keep the entry short (under 14 words recommended). Give it a title that indicates the main destination, event type, elevation, difficulty and approx. duration.
– Put the rest in the Details field, including Coordinator contact info.
– Broadcast the Event only once. And if you subsequently edit your event, do not broadcast it again unless you have made major changes.
CORE WEBSITE PROBLEMS
Calendar Event Broadcast Service Down
You may have noticed that you have not been receiving any CORE Event Broadcast emails lately. Our “Broadcast” Email system is currently out of order. We’ve tried to correct the situation, but we’re not receiving the proper support from the provider. Instead: To get info about upcoming CORE events, please go directly to the calendar. Thank you for your understanding.
Mobile-Ready Feature Switched Off
For you Mobile device users, the mobile-ready feature of the website has also been turned off (not intentionally). You can still go to the CORE website on your Mobile, but you can’t navigate off the Home page. We suspect this is also related to a “reset” executed by our service provider a couple of weeks ago. Our Webmaster is looking into this issue.
YOU CAN STILL ACCESS WWW.COREHIKE AND ALL ITS FEATURES ON YOUR DESKTOP.
SAFETY TIPS
Just another reminder to check for bear activity on the Wild Smart website when you are preparing for a hike. For up to date info, go to http://www.wildsmart.ca/news/category/bear-activity/
BEARS CAN BE ENCOUNTERED ANYWHERE, ANYTIME!
Be aware of your surroundings, know how to reduce the likelihood of encounters, and be prepared should an encounter take place. Always use caution by paying attention to signs of bear activity such as scats, tracks, and digging. Make lots of noise while hiking; hike in groups when possible; carry bear spray; and obey warnings and closures.
INTRODUCING THE #NEW #CORE #BLOG
Your CORE Communications Coordinator (with massive help by our wondrous Webmaster) has initiated a CORE Blog. It will provide the medium for publishing the CORE monthly Newsletter starting with the July posting. Part of the impetus for this is Canada’s anti-spam legislation.
http://fightspam.gc.ca/eic/site/030.nsf/eng/home
So the August News Letter will be the last one that we Broadcast out a notice to CORE members. Instead the Newsletters and other missives of import will simply be posted on the CORE Website, and IF you want an alert when new posts are available, you can subscribe to the CORE Blog.
Navigate to CORE Blog
Links to the Blogs are presented in a box in the Hot on the Trails window on the CORE Home page.
Select the applicable title to navigate to a particular Blog.
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Subscribing to the CORE Blog
Subscription Follow Button
Anyone can subscribe to the CORE Blog by selecting the Subscription Follow button located on the upper right hand corner of each Blog post.
Just select this to set up a Blog feed account with a Subscription Manager (SpecificFeeds). You can unsubscribe whenever you want. A post describing all the detail with screen captures on the subscription process has been set up to give the faint-of-heart a preview of what it looks like, at:
UPCOMING EVENTS
August is almost half way through, but we won’t talk about Larch hikes just yet. There are still quite a few events coming up in the latter part of the month, including an “Ice Cream Walk” Saturday Aug 15, and of course the famous Hailstone Butte scrike (hike with a bit of scramble) August 29.
As we’ve already mentioned the CORE event Broadcast email is temporarily out of service, so check the CORE calendar often for these and other event updates. And please remember to register with the event coordinator if you plan to join any of the events, and also let her know if you plan to bring a non-member guest.
CORE AUGUST MONTHLY MEETING
Tues. August 25 – 7 p.m.
Join us at our new home in the Scarboro Community Hall, 1727 – 14 Ave SW. The theme for the evening will be:
Presentation: Adventures in Ireland & Scotland
Stirling Castle |
Calanais Standing Stones |
Slideshow by Cliona Curran on her travels. Cliona Curran has been a member of CORE since 2008. She recently visited Ireland and Scotland, and has captured highlights of her trip for this month’s presentation. Join us as we walk through sites and scenery of SW Ireland along the Iveragh Peninsula, Cliffs of Moher, as well as some of the city of Dublin. Explore the Scottish Highlands, the outer Hebrides Islands and central Scotland checking out a few sport rock climbing routes, the more than 5000-year old Calanais Standing Stones, and the famous Stirling Castle.
