EARLY  HISTORY OF THE

 

ORINDA HIKING CLUB

 

Written in September 2007 by Connie and Ken Doty

 

 

In early 1990 five dedicated hikers got together and planned to form a club that would hike one Saturday of each month. These five people were Dobie and Ann Jenkins, Anne Diller, Bill King and Ron VanDette. Their first hike was in the Homestead Valley of the Briones Regional Park on April 7, 1990. The next hike was on May 5, 1990 in Mt. Diablo State Park hiking from Mitchell Canyon to Eagle Peak. There were eight hikers on this trip and of the current members, Louise Rowland was the only one. The next hike on June 2, 1990 was in Point Reyes from Bear Valley to the Arch Rock loop and was attended by 14 people. Cynthia Landy had her first hike on Saturday, August 4, 1990 to the Marin Headlands. Ron Brown’s first hike was on October 6, 1990 to Cull Canyon Regional Park. Since then he has been a mainstay in our Club and has spearheaded and led numerous hikes. Ken and Connie Doty joined OHC on November 3, 1990 on a hike to Las Trampas Ridge. Since then Ken has organized and led 23 trips.

 

Connie and Ken Doty agreed to lead the first short trip of the Club the weekend of July 24, 1992 to the Sonora Pass on the Pacific Crest Trail to Leavitt Lake on Saturday and on Sunday to Sword and Lost Lakes. At this outing we hikers stayed at the Dardanelle Resort on Friday and Saturday nights. Attending were 30 hikers. This trip proved so popular that a short trips committee was formed to plan future such trips.

 

On the above trip it was suggested that we might plan some long trips and since the Dotys had spent 2 months in France and Switzerland the past year that maybe they would plan the club’s first international trip. It was decided to go to Switzerland in the Grindelwald and Zermatt areas on September 4, 1993 for two weeks. Twenty-four hikers participated. As of 2007, eleven still active members of the Club were on this trip.

 

Because of the popularity of the hikes and so many hikers on our local hikes, in February 1994 it was decided to hold two Saturday hikes each month. Still the membership continued to grow and four day-hikes per month were necessary so the group would not become  too wieldy.

 

On April 16, 1994 the Club had its’ first overnight hike. This hike led by Ron Brown and Ken Doty was from Sunol to Del Valle Regional Parks in the Ohlone Wilderness Area with camping at Maggie’s Half Acre. With 12 hikers, 7 are still active members.

 

The first trip outside of California was led by Dobie and Anne Jenkins to New England in September, 1994. Nineteen hikers were on this trip.

 

From August 5-9, 1996, ten members went on a Llama Trek to the Emigrant Wilderness area. This was a first of its kind and several more Llama treks have been done since then.

 

The next outing outside of California was to the Mt. Hood area in Oregon. Organized by Connie and Ken Doty, ten hikers were on this trip for a week from September 22-27, 1996. These hikes were led by members of the Mazama Hiking Club of Portland, the second oldest hiking club in the United States (1894). It was on this hike that we gained many suggestions for the operation of a larger hiking club. Also we picked up the idea of monthly Street Strolls which were then planned for the OHC.