History of the Carriage Park Ramblers —
By Roger Beghtol and Ashok Kudva
In 2001 Carriage Park residents and property owners were encouraged to participate in an interest survey to help plan new community activities. When the results of that survey indicated a high interest in hiking, several residents held an organizational meeting to develop plans for forming a hiking club. Among the group of original hikers were Dave and Joy Lowles, Ashok Kudva, Walter Winkler, Else Drusts, Dick Jones, John and Jean Vice and Wayne Wesson. Dick Jones, a non-resident owner originally from England, suggested the hiking club be called “Carriage Park Ramblers;” apparently in his country, someone who walks in the countryside for pleasure is called a rambler. With little or no opposition, Dick’s recommendation was adopted and continues to be the name of our hiking club.
Without a cadre of experienced hikers to provide leadership, the Ramblers expected to utilize the hiking trails within Carriage Park. Several trails had been constructed by the developer, and it was assumed that they would be sufficient to meet the club’s needs. The fatal flaw of that plan was soon exposed when they discovered that hiking on our limited trail system soon became tiresome; they agreed that is was necessary to expand their boundaries to some of the many nearby public trails. Soon DuPont State Forest and the North Carolina Arboretum were added to the Ramblers’ hike destinations. Later, Edgar Pistor, a resident with considerable international and local hiking experience, joined the Ramblers and helped select numerous new destinations.
From the club’s beginning, it was recognized that each hike would require someone to plan, announce and lead each hike. Several hike leaders emerged from the cadre of Ramblers charter members and soon there were about 10 regular and occasional leaders. It was soon determined that most hikes would also require a sweep. While the leader led, the sweep would bring up the rear and make certain that no one strayed.
In the spring of 2002 the tradition of documenting hikes with photos and captions began. Ashok Kudva assumed the role of the Ramblers’ photographer and his wife, Shanti, did the captioning. That year, 13 hike reports were produced. Those hikes ranged from three to six miles in length, averaging just over four miles each. With one exception, all the hikes were rated easy or moderate. The average attendance was eight hikers, so it had already become evident that hiking was a popular resident activity! At that time, hikes were scheduled at 7:30 AM on the first and third Tuesdays of each month. As the club matured, a revised hiking schedule was introduced. The May 21, 2002 hike report ended with this statement: “Join us on selected Tuesdays (short hikes) and Thursdays (long hikes) at 8:30 AM to enjoy exercise, fellowship and breathtaking views!” Destinations had expanded beyond Carriage Park; many of the same hikes we currently schedule had already appeared on the hike list.
For many years Jim West, the long-time CPHA webmaster, displayed the twenty most recent hike reports on the Association website. In February 2011, with a new website program, a prospect was available to produce an Archive of Ramblers hikes. That opportunity depended upon Jim’s records. Fortunately, Jim had kept all the reports and gladly transferred them to the Ramblers leadership, where all the known reports were incorporated into our Archives. The Archives currently contain nearly 400 hikes with new hikes added as soon as reports are published.
The 2003 Archives contain 23 hike reports, 34 reports were posted in 2004 and 45 in 2005. Starting in 2005 the Ramblers have scheduled one hike every week, mostly on Tuesday’s. With 52 hikes scheduled each year, cancellations due to weather and other issues have sometimes resulted in having as few as 46 hikes during those years. In 2009, the Ramblers hiked 51 times! The Ramblers schedule has now evolved to offering hikes every Tuesday with the first Tuesday of each month designated for easy hikes. Postponed hikes are normally rescheduled for the following Thursday.
In July of 2007 a crises arose within the Ramblers. For a variety of reasons, four of our most experienced hike leaders withdrew from the club. With only five leaders assuming the burden of leading hikes, additional leaders were needed. Without new leaders, we would have been forced to sharply curtail our schedule or, as a worst case scenario, disband the club. Not wanting to accept either of those options, three hikers volunteered to begin leading hikes. Since then the number of leaders has hovered around ten; with hike schedules now developed in four month blocks, each leader needs only to lead two or three hikes within each block.
Currently there are almost fifty Carriage Park residents who participate in Ramblers hikes to some extent. Among those fifty, about twenty are regular hikers – ones who almost always participate when they are home. There has only been one condition for participating in Rambler hikes – hikers must be Carriage Park residents or lot owners. In addition, family and friends are always welcome to hike with the Ramblers. Detailed information is contained in the Guidelines section of this document.
Late in 2010 in response to requests for more easy hikes another hiking group, named Ramblers Lite, was formed. Although not a “walk in the park” these hikes are often easier than the Ramblers easy hikes. Currently, Lite hikes are not scheduled on any regular basis; see the Events Calendar on the CPHA website.
From the time the Ramblers were organized, the group has been successful at offering Carriage Park hiking opportunities, and with the addition of the Ramblers Lite, every indication is that hiking will continue to be a very popular activity at Carriage Park.