KHChronicles –

• The epidemic has resulted in the Board of Directors’ decision to cease organizing group events for the foreseeable future.     Posted events were revised and cancellations were made.   The new Board of Directors (starting March 30) will keep an eye on the changing status regarding social distancing and will advise the membership, as required.
• We will still try to feature solo member outings on the Facebook Feed and on some feature News posts on the website in the upcoming weeks.   Past events can also be shared.
• In larger cities it is hard to go hiking and avoid people.   in Kamloops we can go in any direction and find a trailhead parking area with no vehicles and we can hike on trails and routes without seeing anyone, if we make wise choices.
• Prior to the shutdown, KHC organized 12 events in a foreshortened month (March).   Some events (2 of 12) were full, but most had open spaces at event time.
• Our thanks to the hike leaders who led events in March – Lisa Boutry, Paulette Gendron and Janine Leduc, Ernie Carson,  Gerry Hoye, Sam Chow and Margo Mercier. Hike leaders were also supported by co-leaders for most events.   The winner of the March draw was Margo Mercier.
• Our thanks to the organizers of the (cancelled) KHC AGM and the Online AGM.
• New membership registrations were trickling in, but with the shutdown new member registrations are unlikely and the link is now taken off the front page, though new members can still navigate to the Membership Registration page.
• We have about 230 members at this time.
• Our thanks to Frith Powell and Margo Mercier for their hard work on forms, fees, waivers, and accounts.
• The President’s Year-End Report is now available on the AGM page or through this link.   Thanks to everyone who has been positive and supportive over the past few years.
• Here is FMCBC’s March Newsletter.
• We wish our members safety and good health in this difficult time.

Trail Choices

To avoid social contact, choose trails that have little traffic, or if you choose popular trails, try to hike early.   Popular single track trails create awkward social distancing problems.

Trails to avoid in prime time include the Rivers Trail, the main trails of Kenna Cartwright Park, the main trails of Peterson Creek, the main trailhead in the Batchelor Hills, the Moonscape Trail, Mara Trail, Tranquille River, McConnell Lake, Battle Bluff, McQueen Lake, Isobel Lake, Riverside-Pioneer Park, and some others.

Less busy trails are found in Lac du Bois Protected Area, the Dewdrop Range, Stake Lake, any of the outer trails in Valleyview or Barnhartvale, Barnes Lake, and many more known to our more experienced hike leaders and members.   We will try to feature some each month.   Barnes Lake is featured here:

• Barnes Lake Trails on the KHC website (only visible to logged in members)
• Barnes Lake Loop on KamloopsTrails
• Barnes Lake on Trailpeak

We may get to a time when we are not allowed to go out hiking at all, even though this decision would be mostly based on urban environments and wide rules to force those who will not comply with social distancing.   If that time arrives, we will change our messaging accordingly.

Online AGM

KHC will conduct its AGM online over March 28 and March 29.    Information is contained in the event listing.    The actual AGM page (motions, approvals, and voting) will be active through an image-link over the weekend.   We encourage all members to participate in this democratic process in accordance with the BC Societies Act.

Directors can be contacted by going to the Contact Us page.   Thanks to all of these volunteers for stepping forward!

New Members

New Members Director Dianne Smith has put together a New Members Page on the website, an introductory newsletter-style welcome to new members.   Once group events resume, Dianne and Lori will be contacting new members to open discussions and a support channel.

Upcoming Events

KHC’s event list has been altered for the duration of the closure period.   Some future events will still be displayed and everything can be adjusted back when things settle down.   We will update the membership through newsletters and announcements.

das/3/20

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Doug Smith

Retired now, I get into the outdoors most days to hike, paddle, camp, snowshoe, run, walk, or explore. More information can be found at: KamloopsTrails.net.

Latest posts by Doug Smith (see all)

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