Columbia Walking and Hiking Club holds weekly trail walks

Today's Columbia Tribune has a story about the Columbia Walking and Hiking Club, which started when Christine Goyette was creating a sample meetup group online and accidentally sent out announcements to people in the area interested in walking:

That was two years ago. Today there are 174 locals registered as walkers, though Goyette said the core group for the Columbia Walking and Hiking Club is around 12 people strong.

As the weather starts to hint at spring, Goyette said the group is starting to plan more walks, including longer weekend hikes. But for the determined core group, winter didn’t mean the end of walking.

“In the winter, it gets dark sooner. We would have to walk at 3 in the afternoon” to avoid the darkness, “and no working person could ever attend those” walks. “We tried other sports, but that didn’t work. So I thought, ‘Hey, we are still doing the walks. Let’s just bring flashlights,’ ” Goyette said.

Goyette said the group walks the MKT Trail for an hour every Wednesday. . . . 

[P]erhaps the open invitation for anyone to join is what contributes to the richness of the group.

“We have college students, and then we have a very active 60-year-old. There are older couples, kids, dogs, ... really a whole variety of people,” Goyette said.

The Columbia Walking and Hiking Club's home page and list of upcoming events is here.