HIKING WITH US
Please read this before your first trip. It's short, and it will save you and your leader a bad day.

1. Ratings

2. What to bring on every hike

• A daypack with at least two quarts of water (more in summer, and yes, even in October)
• Lunch and more snacks than you think you'll want
• Rain jacket, even if the forecast is sunny. Especially if the forecast is sunny.
• A warm layer: fleece or wool. Hat and gloves from September on, and always for the Whites.
• Map, compass, flashlight or headlamp, whistle, and a small first aid kit
• Sunscreen and bug dope, depending on the month
• Sturdy boots that are already broken in. Not new ones. Not sneakers on an S hike.
• From mid-October through December, blaze orange: a hat or a vest. Hunters are out, and most of them are careful, but help them.

3. About cotton

Jeans and cotton sweatshirts soak up sweat and rain and then stay wet and cold. On a hot day in the Blue Hills that's merely unpleasant. On a windy ridge in New Hampshire in September it can make you dangerously cold in a hurry. Wear synthetics or wool. If you show up in jeans for an S hike, the leader will politely ask you to try an E hike first. We've all seen it go wrong once, and once was enough.

4. Carpooling

We meet at the commuter lot where the schedule says (usually the park-and-ride on Route 9) and consolidate cars. Riders chip in for gas: $5 for trips in Massachusetts, $10 for trips to New Hampshire. Please be on time. Leaders will wait ten minutes and then go.

5. On the trail

• The leader sets the pace and the route, and has the last word, including turning the group around. On S hikes we set a turn-around time before we start, and we keep it even if the summit is "right there."
• A sweep (usually a second leader) stays at the back. Nobody goes behind the sweep. Nobody goes ahead of the leader without saying so.
• We wait at every trail junction until the whole group is together.
• If you need to leave the group for any reason, tell the leader. Never just drift off.
• Carry out everything you carry in, including orange peels. They don't rot as fast as you think.

6. Kids and dogs

Kids are welcome on E hikes and on M hikes with the leader's OK, with a parent along. Dogs are welcome on hikes marked for them, on a leash, and never in state parks where they aren't allowed. Check with the leader.

7. Weather

We hike in drizzle. We don't hike in thunderstorms, ice storms or hurricanes. If a trip is cancelled, the leader will call everyone who signed up by 9:00 p.m. the night before. If you didn't sign up, we can't call you, which is another reason to sign up.

8. Guests and joining

Guests can come on up to three hikes before we ask them to join. Membership is $15 a year for one person or $20 for a family, and it gets you the newsletter and the good feeling of paying for the first aid kits. You also sign the club's release form once a year. All hikers do.