No secret at all. Billville is a loose collection of hiker friends, most of whom, (but not all) have thru-hiked the A.T. at least once. The folks in Billville get together several times over the course of a year, sometimes to put on feeds or special events for hikers; sometimes we do Trail work or maintenance somewhere; sometimes we just get together and cook. We have several annual get-togethers, including Trail Days and the ALDHA Gathering, where we generally camp together and hang out. We also get together during the winter and take over the Doyle Hotel in Duncannon for a weekend in March. And we get together the weekend after Thanksgiving and re-create the Holiday (some of the Billville people are really good cooks!)
But no....you don't have to be named Bill to be in Billville, nor is there a membership application. We're pretty open-minded and take all comers. We have soldiers and teachers and former military men and bookstore managers and bankers. We have drinkers and tea-totalers. We have observant Catholics and a few pagans, too. We have lots of Red Sox fans and also the occasional (tho thankfully rare) Yankees supporter. We have flaming liberals and also some whacko conservatives. We have Finnish death-metal enthusiasts and we have people who listen to nothing but Cash and Springsteen.
In short, Tin Man, we're pretty much open to anything, except maybe drum circles and contra dancing.
Drop by sometime! Billville is always looking for new faces.
And this goes for everyone else out there, too.
How about gold-blazing (better termed as gold-plated blazing) - those who spend big bucks on all the latest gear, gizmos, bells & whistles?
"More rewarding" is in the eye of the beholder. Some blue-blazes are indeed very pretty. Some are merely road walks that are no more, and are often less scenic than the parts of the Trail that people elect to skip.
But to say that blue-blazes are ALWAYS prettier and more rewarding is a bit of a stretch.
SGT Rock
http://hikinghq.net
My 2008 Trail Journal of the BMT/AT
BMT Thru-Hikers' Guide
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NO SNIVELING
Well what I think would be nice to have someday is a forum or section that is "Alternate trails for the AT" so if someone was to be planning a Diamond Blaze he or she could come on WhiteBlaze and learn about the cool side trails and put them on their agenda prior to a hike. I have already started creating enough content here for someone to plan a BMT through.
SGT Rock
http://hikinghq.net
My 2008 Trail Journal of the BMT/AT
BMT Thru-Hikers' Guide
-----------------------------------------
NO SNIVELING
Black and White Blaze (going to jail blaze) Greenblaze (geiardia) blaze Amberblaze (beer run)
i was hobocentral's field rep
I was hobocentrals' lap dancer.
thats just too funny. i recentl went up franconia ridge and my buddy needed a pit stop. well instead of standing around and wait i slowly moved forward. upon catching back up to me after his pit stop i gave him the trail name" brown blazer"...needless to say i stayed in the front after that mess....