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?