Hiking Club

NEAT Hiking Club is for North End girls and boys ages 9-16. Club members have hiked extensively in Connecticut and New England. The hiking club is designed to encourage group dynamics, develop self-confidence, the ability to set and reach goals, and to teach outdoor education and hiking to kids who have not had a lot of exposure to the outdoors. Over the last four years, the group has gone on approximately 40 hikes, with every participant making it to the summit of the mountain and/or reaching the end of each hike successfully. The hikers have completed a good portion of the Mattabesset Trail and almost all of the Connecticut Appalachian Trail.

Each year in August, the group has taken a three day trip to New Hampshire, where we stay in an AMC lodge and hike nearby mountains.  In 2005 and 2006, the group climbed Mount Cardigan at the southern tip of the White Mountains. Each trip was a great success, and the approximately 20 kids who hiked all reached the 3155 foot summit.

In 2007, the group took on the challenge of Mt. Washington, the highest mountain east of the Mississippi and an altitude of 6288 feet.   This mountain was an incredible challenge and only the most experienced hikers attempted (and reached!) the summit.  The younger and less experienced group still took on the challenging Tuckerman's Ravine Trail and hiked to almost 5000 ft., quite an accomplishment for a young group that has only been on a handful of day hikes!  Two  hikers, who each made it to the summit said:

"My favorite part of the trip was the feeling of accomplishment when I reached the top of the mountain.  I also liked hiking up the mountain and looking down the ravine and seeing hundreds of feet down to the ground.  I liked how everyone was helping others and waiting for the people who were a little slower than everyone else.  I liked the rooms we stayed in.  I pretty much liked the whole trip, but I really did not like the ride home.  That was the only thing I didn't like about the entire trip."

-Gabriel Krom

"It was a great trip. At first I was worried that I couldn't make it to the top but I did and now I feel like I can do anything. It was definitely the hardest thing I ever did. As we reached the top we realized it was in the clouds and in a few minutes we were in the clouds too -- it was cool.  At the bottom of Tuckerman's Ravine we were surrounded by 3,000 foot cliffs that we had to climb up."

-Eric Rojas
 

The hikes were all accomplished with an emphasis on safety, respect for the environment, and on mutual support regardless of ability. Adult volunteers paired with smaller groups of various ability levels to provide to encourage one-on-one child and adult interaction. Each hiker has been able to see their ability increase as they achieve longer and more challenging climbs, and have been able to set and reach attainable goals. Many of the participants had never been hiking before and they have been able to view the natural world in a new and more personal way than ever before. As Tyrell, an 11-year old hiker exclaimed upon reaching the summit of Mt. Cardigan, "this looks like heaven."

The Hiking Club has attracted 15 adult volunteers and approximately 30 children ages 9-16 who participate regularly in the hikes.

The Hiking Club has been funded by the Finish Line Foundation, the Middlesex County Substance Abuse Action Council and the Middletown Substance Abuse Prevention Council along with private donations.
NEAT is a non-profit (501©(3) organization and receives financial and in kind support from Liberty Bank Foundation, the American Savings Foundation, Middlesex County Community Foundation, the City of Middletown (CDBG), the Haymarket People's Fund, the Community Health Center, Wesleyan University, Citizens Bank, and private donations.

North End Action Team, 33 Ferry St. , Middletown, CT 06457 (860)346-4845, fax: (860)704-8533, email: neat@neatmiddletown.org