Brilliant weekend and full of activities…we are rather tired and subdued… life should always be such fun!

We had perfect weather the entire weekend with beautiful, warm (high 70s), totally sunny, gorgeous weekend for camping, kayaking, swimming, hiking, and just plain relaxing at the 14th Annual NH GO Gathering at Branch Brook Campground in Campton, NH.   

What fun chemistry! Take a whole bunch of GOers, spend a few months getting them all pumped up to spend a weekend doing what they love best! Enjoy the reaction and be part of it.  Just the fact that we’re still doing this and having so much fun after all these years speaks for itself.

The weekend was an opportunity to enjoy activities in the White Mountains, share a fabulous potluck dinner, watch fireworks and partake in the camaraderie that always accompanies these events.

One of the major highlights of GO Gathering is re-invigorating our thriving gay outdoors recreation community. Gay outdoor recreation clubs are such a good thing because it's such a great alternative of meeting people in bars or the Internet.

Early Friday afternoon, some of waded across the Pemigewasset River for some swimming and sunbathing. While this occured, we found on older couple paddling who hit this fallen tree and capsized their canoe. We went over to the rescue them by pulling their canoe away from the tree, draining it and got them back on their way! 

A Beer Blast/Meet 'N Greet was held on Friday night to kick off the weekend. A special moment was shared when we launched 5 sky lanterns each in a color of the rainbow into the air in memory of our brothers and sisters who died in the Pulse night club in Orlando on June 12th. Once they lit, they flew into the air and those of us involved with launching them were able to observe them high up in the sky for about 10 minutes before the flames were extinguished. It was a somber moment that brought up discussion of this horrific event during the weekend.

Activities on Saturday included kayaking down the Pemigewasset River, Mt. Tecumseh hike, and swimming/sunbathing at our campsite. Thank you to everyone who ran an event for others to enjoy!

A bonfire was lit each night under a full moon. Saturday night marked the conclusion of the GO Gathering starting off with our Potluck dinner where members continue to outdo themselves each year by cooking up culinary delights on either their camp stoves or grills; or bringing a meal prepared from home. After a group picture was taken everyone huddled around the campfire for banter and laughs. Later, Mike and Jon crossed the Pemigewasset River in the dark and shot off a bunch of fireworks from a sandbar in front of our campsite. One member played classical music as everyone watched and we heard hoots/hollers from across the river from not only GO Gathering participants but from other campers nearby.

We noticed a lot of new faces and as well as many familiar ones. We take that as a sign of healthy and vibrant GO community that is developing its own tradition while evolving.  As always, we would like to profusely thank everyone who attended this year’s Gathering and helped out when something needed to get done.

Highlights for Jon and I was the canoe rescue, kayaking/swimming down the Pemi River, nightly bonfires, sampling the great craft beer brought in, yummy potluck, hearing all the laughter and storytelling in the air, becoming better friends with members we know and those we didn’t know, relaxing at the campsite, the launching of the sky lanterns, and wading across the river in the dark to shoot off the fireworks. Our only regret was not being able to spend more time with each and every one of you. We realize we were not able to spend quality time chatting with everyone. Maybe next year!

THANK YOU to all who attended!

THANK YOU to all who pitched in and volunteered to make this such a fun event for all of us!

THANK YOU to the incredible dishes everyone provided for this year’s potluck. It was amazing all the delicious foods everyone provided using their camp stoves that rivalled any potluck you might have attended at someone’s home in the city!

Mark Your Calendars For Next Year! We are thinking of changing it completely next year by having it at the end of July, making it a day event from the GO Center [our house] in Waterville Valley with access to swimming in the Mad River from our property, potluck, raffle prizes, bonfire and fireworks. We’ll provide a list of campgrounds and lodging for members who wish to make a weekend of it. Please come back and tell your friends to join us.

Mike and Jon

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