WHY DON'T I SCHEDULE HIKES FAR OUT? Because they yield all kinds of problems. I have NEVER cancelled a hike. Here are some criteria to use to plan a hike say only 1-3 days in advance. I can not do these if the proposed hikes are days or months ahead of time:
1) RAIN - some don't like it . I have full rain gear and I do love it.
2) SNOW - one can't cross-country ski, snowshoe, or sled without it and if you do on plastic or sand it isn't as good.
3) MUD - it is not fun trying to lead a group through mud when they don't have waterproof boots.
4) WIND - if people aren't dressed warm enough or don't have safety glasses to protect you with 20+ MPH winds and sand
5) TRAIL CLOSURE - the National, State, Shirley Heinze, and County parks close trails sometimes with no warning
6) EVENTS - parks will schedule events which could be done after a long term hike was permitted
7) DEER CULLS - often we don't know the dates months ahead of time
8) PRESCRIBED BURNS - parks often quickly do a prescribed burn so we don't know if they are doing one far out.
9) TRAIL MAINTENANCE - a park may close a trail to do maintenance on the trail
10) HERBICIDES/PESTICIDES - a park may do this and limit trail use or expose others to horrid glyphosate
11) PARKING LOT CLOSURES - if we can't legally park we can't hike
12) BATHROOM CLOSURES - this deters many who need them (Kemil Beach closed theirs recently (10/21) because water supply from a well dried up
13) POLLUTION - pollution has closed many beach are parking lots because of pollution from for example US STEEL.
14) ELECTRIC WHEELCHAIR - short term we know precisely if one is available for some visitors
15) INSECTS - if there is a ton of insects like at Cowles Bog where I had to swipe at mosquitos over 100 times or tics or flies in the beach we can adjust the hiking trail or park location
16) LOTS OF RAIN - is good if hiking steep dunes like the Three Dune Challenge and other locations
17) FROZEN BEACH - if it is around 32F the beach surface can be very hard and hiking is easy to see the waves. When it is not frozen it requires 270% of the energy!
18) HIKING GROUP - often other hiker groups can join us spontaneously but trying to schedule far out is like herding cats because everyone is non-comm-ital
19) BOARDWALKS - can be closed down for repair or replacement as on Trail 2, the Little Calumet River Trail, and currently Trail 8 over the Great Marsh
20) BIRD MIGRATION - will lead us to certain locations to see certain species because people and apps tell us something is in the area today or tomorrow only!
21) MUSHROOMS - when they start appearing and with rarer ones we may only have a day or too
22) WILD FLOWERS - when they start appearing and with rarer ones we may only have a few days
23) PLANTS - when they start appearing with rarer ones we may only have a days to see them
24) PARK HIKES - often park hikes aren't published until close to the date to keep crowds down so a hike of mine scheduled in the future could be clobbered by theirs
25) PRIVATE HIKES - when I don't schedule far out into the future it gives me more flexibility in fitting in a quick request
4.16.22