Name: Friday Happy Hour Hike
Start: 2024-11-15T18:05:00-05:00
End: 2024-11-15T19:35:00-05:00

Welcome to Friday “Happy Hour” hike - a quick hour and a half of hiking to start off the weekend. We'll leave **promptly at 6:05** and hike approximately **4.5 miles (\~10,00 steps)**, so please arrive and be ready to start on time!

We do our best to keep track of everyone, but ...

WE DON'T PERFORM A HEADCOUNT AFTER THE HIKE. 🙄

**We meet at the Oak Coves Picnic area** at the PLAYGROUND. Come in the main entrance to the park and take the first left. You will pass two parking areas. The third parking lot is on the right-hand side has a bathroom and a playground.

**A hike with a twist:**
This hike accommodates both "fast" hikers and "casual" hikers by providing a shortcut for the latter, so that both groups can hike the same trail and finish at nearly the same time.

***Here's the twist:*** At the start of the hike there's a short 10-minute loop that returns to the parking lot. The casual hikers will exit the loop early (about 3/4 of the loop) and head directly to the River Trail, while the fast hikers will complete the entire loop and return to the parking lot to pickup stragglers -- around 6:15. After a very brief delay, they will restart the loop and then head to the River Trail -- like the casual hikers did.

The fast hikers typically meet up with the casual hikers along the River Trail, the end of which marks the half-way point of the hike. Each group then completes the hike at their pace. First, they trek to the Nature Center trail, then to the Adena Mound trail, and finally to the parking lot, where both groups arrive more-or-less together around 7:20. This is important during the Winter, as the park closes @8pm.

The fast hikers will average \~3.5 mph and hike slightly over 4.5 miles, while the casual hikers will average \~3.2 mph and hike slightly over 4 miles. Along the trail, both groups will break up into smaller groups to accomplish different hiking goals. Some hikers will go solo to simply enjoy some alone time in nature. If you are new and have concerns about the hike, we recommend joining the casual hikers, who also start at the back of the pack.

***Other twists:***
Keep an eye on the comments section, as occasionally hikers will announce their intentions to arrive early to add some additional miles, or to simply hike at a slower "chill" pace. These announcements can occur at anytime, including the day of the hike.

If you would like to join us, but have concerns about the **twists**, make sure you have a map of the park and a GPS-smartphone.

**Did we mention Happy Hour?**
Some hikers socialize afterwards at the Olentangy River Brewing Co., which usually has a food truck.

🍺 [Olentangy Brewery](https://www.olentangybrew.com/)

🍔 [Food Truck](https://streetfoodfinder.com/OlentangyRiverBrewing) ( November 15th => [Demo's Grill](https://streetfoodfinder.com/DEMOSGRILLE?tab=menu) )

⛅ [Columbus Radar ](https://abc6onyourside.com/weather/radar)(change PAST to FUTURE then replay)

BYOB (bring your own boots)!!!

IF YOU RSVP AND/OR ATTEND THIS EVENT, YOU ARE AUTOMATICALLY AGREEING TO THE WAIVER OF LIABILITY STATEMENT LOCATED UNDER THE 'Pages' SECTION OF THE HIKEOHIO MEETUP SITE: http://4142298.xyz/hiking-555/pages/Waiver_of_Liability/

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Friday Happy Hour Hike

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Friday Happy Hour Hike

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