Suggested Hiking Resource

[Jaytrek57]

All great ideas....here's mine...might not be great... but an idea none the less.

I think listing the little used, but highly appropriate things like nearest convience store, outdoor shops, gas station, watering hole COFFEE SHOP or any other significant place that we all use to one degree or another would make some sense...it also may present a unique signature for the suggested hikes format...at least not the "same old/same old".

I for one can help with listing every COFFEE SHOP and watering hole for say...oh I don't know...the eastern seaboard.

Just a thought.

[MichaelJ]

Don't forget nearest rest room or outhouse!!!

[riverc0il]

good call Jaytrek57 and MichaelJ

about Mohamed's Peakbagging site, his site focuses only on 4k peaks in NH whereas i think a lot of recommended hikes should focus on peaks under 4k, or hikes that doesn't even include a summit! especially considering "peakpaggers" generally know their peaks and their trails. 4k'ers already have a list of 48 suggested hikes, lol.

[Stephen]

Originally Posted by MichaelJ

Don't forget nearest rest room or outhouse!!!

"Tree at .001 mi. Tree at .002 mi. Tree at .003 mi..."

[MichaelJ]

Tree at .001 mi. Tree at .002 mi. Tree at .003 mi..."

Trust me ... sometimes planning to Leave No Trace is better.

[Jaytrek57]

Just seeing if my 50th post changes my user status.

[Jaytrek57]

Yes!!

Don't you just love classifications?!?

[coberg]

Originally Posted by Greg

Awesome suggestions. You guys rock. I agree, riverc0il. If we could put a large comprehensive list of Suggested Hikes together, for specifically the Northeast/New England, we would certainly offer something unique. Perhaps we can start with the "classics", Franc Ridge Loop, Jewel/Ammo, etc., but it would be great to have a list of literally hundreds of different hikes eventually.

the8re - any thoughts on a back-end for this? With the description component, it may be time to develop something with a mySQL back-end as oppsed to a text file, like the ski resort profiles. Any interest in undertaking that? The goal would be something very similar to the ski resort profiles, except pulling the data from a mySQL database. It might also be nice to store a few images (pics or maps - TopoZone?) in the database. It would also be great to have this searchable, based on Hike Type, Difficulty, State, maybe length/vert.

So, here's the information I think we should include:

• Hike Title
• Location/State
• Hike Type (Dayhike, Basecamp, Backpack)
• Difficulty (Difficult, Moderate, Easy) - again, purely subjective so no sense in getting too detailed here
• Trail List
• Trail Distances
• Vertical Gains
• WMG (or other guide) Page References
• Trail Map/Cell references
• WMG (or other guide) Book Times
• AZ Member Summary
• Water Sources
• Nearby Campgrounds
• GPS Coordinates
• Waterfalls
• Views
• Hike Variations

That's a pretty comprehensive list. My only concern would be getting enough interest in writing these to include all the above information. I think it's also important to automate this. Perhaps, we can create an online form for entering this information into a database which will sit in a "Pending" state before it's reviewed by an AZ "Editor", and perhaps only give contributing writers access to the form?

Any other thoughts?

I like the list of information y'all would like to include in every hit for this resource, but I'd LOVE to see how you're going to fit all that into a readable response from an inquiry!

[Greg]

Originally Posted by coberg

I like the list of information y'all would like to include in every hit for this resource, but I'd LOVE to see how you're going to fit all that into a readable response from an inquiry!

It's true that we are being rather bold initially with all the info we hope to include and we may need to pare it down some. However, we include a lot of information on our ski resort profiles and I think we have a pretty decent format going to display all that information. e.g.,

http://skiing.alpinezone.com/resorts...ort=killington

I can envision something similar...

[coberg]

Originally Posted by Greg

It's true that we are being rather bold initially with all the info we hope to include and we may need to pare it down some. However, we include a lot of information on our ski resort profiles and I think we have a pretty decent format going to display all that information. e.g.,

http://skiing.alpinezone.com/resorts...ort=killington

I can envision something similar...

So are you thinking of supplying only one response for each inquiry? If so, then you're right, that's an excellent format.