Photo: Corey N.
Good Evening Fellow Hikers And Climbers!
At the beginning of 2020, we had high hopes and big goals for the year. Our two big challenges we had posed for ourselves were intended to inspire our existing club leaders, new club leaders, and members to get out on hikes around the state and experience a wide variety of the precious public lands we have here in New Mexico.
Then, March came around.
When COVID-19 first hit, we held the same uncertainty as other groups as to what to do. But as the danger became more clear, we had to take steps to protect our members. We did what we felt were the responsible things and began to cancel scheduled hikes, cancel our general meetings, and ultimately put a pause on all club activities. This pause remained in place for a few months and we resumed activities in late June.
Since June we have continued doing club hikes. Some of our leaders (as well as members) still aren’t comfortable with going out with any sort of group, and we have not put any pressure on them to do so. Our active leaders have been doing so completely through their own volition They, along with all participating members, have been operating under the guidelines presented by the Governor and the CDC, evolving our activities alongside the evolution of these guidelines. As of October 30th (the date this post was published), we have not had any known cases within the club, and we continue our hikes in as safe of a manner as we are able. The guidelines we follow can be found on our COVID page.
So, with all that being said…welcome back to the blog! We’re unlikely to cross everything off on our challenges, but despite the hurdles of the year, we are going to celebrate the places we are able and lucky enough to visit and still share it.
Enjoy!
-Corey Norman (Outings Chair)
Socially distant on Sandia Crest
Photo: Bomi P.