HIKES & EVENTS

Sixth Annual FL Go Gathering

Camping

DATE: Jan 17, 2020
END DATE: Jan 20, 2020

Hike/Event Location: Clewiston FL

Trip Leader(s)


JPHiker
Lake Worth Beach, FL United States

Meeting Time: 12:00 PM

Max # People: 100

Hike Guiding / Event Fee: Yes, but only to cover shared expenses, and I too am paying

Hike Difficulty Level:

Easy to Moderate

(Do you qualify to attend with this hike difficulty rating? Click Here.)

Sign Up To This Trip/Event

You must be a least a guest member to participate. Comments such as "+1" or "bringing a friend" are NOT permitted. All participants must sign-up for the event individually.


Select your mode of transportation, make any comments and then click on button.


You are not logged in.
Please, Log In

Disclaimer: The club and its members take no responsibility and will not be held responsible for any injuries or accidents that may occur during club events. Outdoor sports are inherently dangerous and accidents will happen. By joining the club or participating in any events posted on our website you are taking responsibility for your own safety and well-being. Anyone with an internet connection can post a trip on our web site. It is your responsibility to determine if this person has the experience and competence to lead the trip. We do not certify or confirm the qualifications of any of our members to lead or participate in trips.
Summary

Come celebrate the sixth year of our Annual Florida GO Gathering in January 2020.  As in the past, the folks at Vitambi Springs Resort & Camp have graciously offered to host us for the Martin Luther Weekend (1/17-1/20).  This coming year our traditional camping site, Tamaho Mesa is undergoing renovations, and will not be available.  However, the folks at Vitambi have made available another site for our exclusive use.  This site is called Ft. Orion, and it is a better site than our previous one in many ways.  It has a bigger firepit than Tamaho Mesa, has two bathrooms nearby, an outdoor shower, and it includes the Barracks for our exclusive use.  In addition, it is closer to the Main Lodge, and will be a shorter walk than our old site.  Unfortunately, this new site will cost us a bit more than in the past, though at $30 per person it is still a bargain.  

As in the past, we will be collecting the money from you, as we will be fronting the cost.  The $30 will guarantee you either a primitive tent site (no electricity) or a bed in the Barracks (7 beds), though these are all on a first come first serve basis.  If you are staying with us at these designated sites, you need not contact Vitambi directly, as we will be submitting the names of paid attendees to them.  However, if you choose to make other arrangements, you do need to contact them to make reservations, and please note that these other sites will cost more.  Some of these other sites conveniently abut Ft. Orion, and these are as follows: five cabins, and three electrified tent sites.  There are other facilities that are further away, but are also available for rental directly from Vitambi.

The Main Lodge at Vitambi has a restaurant (Bolo Café & Bar) that serves well prepared meals.  This year they are offering us a meal plan for $40 that includes five meals of your choosing.  Any additional meals can be purchased separately a la carte.  This cost is entirely optional, though highly recommended, as the nearest restaurants outside of Vitambi are a half hour away in Clewiston.  Drinks at the Bar are not included in the meal plan.

At this time of the year Florida generally has fabulous weather for daytime outdoors activities.  Kayaking, hiking, and bird watching venues are not far from the campground, and some Gay Outdoors members are already planning some great activities in those places.  We will be posting these trip announcements individually as we firm up all the details.

If you are planning to participate in this Sixth Annual camping weekend, go ahead and sign up in this site as soon as you can.  At some point in early December, we will send you the address where you can send your $30 check.  

If you are not familiar with Vitambi, here is a short description:

Vitambi is a privately owned gay campground located approximately 20 miles south of Lake Okeechobee and the city of Clewiston, FL. It is easily accessible to most of the major urban areas in Florida, and it is approximately a 90 minute drive from Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, Ft. Myers, and from West Palm Beach. It is about 2.5 hours from Orlando or Tampa. The campground sits in the middle of the vast agricultural area around Lake Okeechobee, and offers an ideal Florida rural getaway with modern amenities in a tropical forested setting. The property is quite large with only a portion developed. The Main Lodge features a full restaurant and bar (Bolo Café & Bar), Wi-Fi access, library lounge, and a general store. Other amenities at the campground include a clothing optional heated pool, a modern shower house, a steam room, and a well equipped gym. There are also a number of hiking trails and a couple of lakes within the property, for impromptu hikes, fishing, canoeing, exploring and wildlife viewing. This region of South Florida is a haven for wintertime bird watchers. Vitambi has a wide array of accommodations ranging from primitive tent sites, rustic cabins, bunkhouse/barracks, RV sites, cabins with full electric, 2 & 3 bedroom rental homes and the Pine Tree Inn with eight private rooms in a dorm style setting with shared areas. All accommodations except for the primitive sites include linen service. For further information on Vitambi and for rates on these other accommodations, please feel free to check the Vitambi website: www.vitambi.com.  Or call their toll free number:  (800) 983-8488.

Look forward to hanging out around the campfire with all of you.

Directions To Trailhead Parking Lot

Check the Vitambi website for directions to the campground from different points in Florida and for GPS coordinates.

Trip Leader

JPHiker

Outdoor Fitness Level: Moderate


Lake Worth Beach, FL


United States
Invite To Be Your Buddy Send Email

members signed up for this event

smithdj66

Outdoor Fitness Level: Easy to Moderate


Morgantown, WV


United States
Invite To Be Your Buddy Send Email
guest member
bithlojoe

Outdoor Fitness Level: Easy


Lakeland, FL


United States
Invite To Be Your Buddy Send Email
emsinjp

Outdoor Fitness Level: Moderate to Strenuous


Jamaica Plain, MA


United States
Invite To Be Your Buddy Send Email
joepny654

Outdoor Fitness Level: Moderate to Strenuous


Schenectady, NY


United States
Invite To Be Your Buddy Send Email
FLRoy

Outdoor Fitness Level: Moderate


Tarpon Springs, FL


United States
Invite To Be Your Buddy Send Email
mercury1

Outdoor Fitness Level: Strenuous


Fredericton, NB


Canada
Invite To Be Your Buddy Send Email
sega52

Outdoor Fitness Level: Easy to Moderate


brunswick, GA


United States
Invite To Be Your Buddy Send Email
shredmann61

Outdoor Fitness Level: Moderate to Strenuous


Venice, FL


United States
Invite To Be Your Buddy Send Email
Deltons465

Outdoor Fitness Level: Moderate


Sarasota, FL


United States
Invite To Be Your Buddy Send Email
marcuscolina

Outdoor Fitness Level: Moderate to Strenuous


Ft. Pierce, FL


United States
Invite To Be Your Buddy Send Email
theanimaldr

Outdoor Fitness Level: Moderate to Strenuous


west palm beach, FL


United States
Invite To Be Your Buddy Send Email
markflopez

Outdoor Fitness Level: Moderate to Strenuous


Fort Lauderdale, FL


United States
Invite To Be Your Buddy Send Email
fitnessgerard

Outdoor Fitness Level: Moderate


Kew Gardens, NY


United States
Invite To Be Your Buddy Send Email
vwgreg

Outdoor Fitness Level: Moderate


Enfield, CT


United States
Invite To Be Your Buddy Send Email
HenryGriesbach

Outdoor Fitness Level: Strenuous


Clarkston, GA


United States
Invite To Be Your Buddy Send Email
guest member
floridaoutdoors

Outdoor Fitness Level: Moderate to Strenuous


fort lauderdale, FL


United States
Invite To Be Your Buddy Send Email
PaceAlong

Outdoor Fitness Level: Moderate to Strenuous


Bristol & Isla Bastimentos, Bocas del Toro, Panamá, NH


United States
Invite To Be Your Buddy Send Email
Discuss This Trip/Event
floridaoutdoors Posted Jan 5, 2020 at 11:40 AM

Not sure I can make it but hope to visit for at least a day. For those of you in Florida, I am the president of Florida Great Outdoors and we have been a non-profit club for over 27 years. Given the changes of Gay Outoors, please consider to join us (free) at https://www.floridagreatoutdoors.org/ Follow the yahoo mail link, that is our contact with our over 700 members. We do not allow junk, all posts must be approved. Primarily in south Florida but we have events all over the state.

JPHiker Posted Jan 5, 2020 at 10:26 AM

Some people have asked about the cost. Please be aware that Vitambi charges us as a group, and that the $30 per person is a calculation on my part assuming that at least 10 people will be camping (or using the Barracks) with us, in order to break even. You do not need to pay Vitambi directly, as I have covered this already. If you've made other arrangements with Vitambi, then you do pay them directly for that.

JPHiker Posted Jan 5, 2020 at 10:23 AM

It does seem that the email glitch of the website has not been fixed and some people indeed have not received the email on where to send your check. So, in any event, if you have not sent your check for one reason or another, please hold on to it, and pay me in person when you see me.

marcuscolina Posted Dec 10, 2019 at 4:18 PM

Hi Everyone! Looking forward to meeting all of you. This is will be my first GO Gathering, but not my first GO activity. I am looking forward to the biking, VITAMBI, camping, sugar-cane tour and to just to get the hell out of my office...lol. I'll be coming from the East Coast side of Florida and probably won't arrive to VITAMBI until 5ish. If you need a ride, please message me. Message me if you have any questions, - Be well, Marcus

theanimaldr Posted Dec 6, 2019 at 6:15 PM

Hey guys, we are going to stay for 2 nights at vitambi 1/17 and 1/18 all booked. Looking forward to meeting everyone and make new friends! Matthew and Sam

JPHiker Posted Dec 5, 2019 at 10:22 AM

I will soon be sending an e-mail to the participants with the address for sending your $30 check. Some times e-mail from the GO website don't go through, so if you do not get one in the next few days, please contact me by clicking on the mail icon on my profile. I do get the e-mails, at least most of the time.

JPHiker Posted Dec 5, 2019 at 10:19 AM

Hi Guys: We are a few weeks away from this exciting camping weekend. I have just posted a couple of events separately. One is a biking or walking event on a portion of the Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail in Clewiston, co-led by the incomparable Shredmann (aka Ron) for Saturday. I have also scheduled a tour of a sugar cane farm and mill for Monday. As of now Sunday is still open, so if you would like to organize something, please feel free to do so.

joepny654 Posted Oct 12, 2019 at 9:14 AM

I have no tenting eqp Carlos so need the barracks.

emsinjp Posted Oct 8, 2019 at 5:24 PM

Looking forward to yet another fun gathering at Vitambi!

Hiking, backpacking, camping or vacation adventures, GayOutdoors [GO] has been the LGBTQ outdoorzy community leader for the last 22 years. We are an informal group of diverse hiking enthusiasts in the United States with a shared love of the mountains who prefer hiking with friends. We invite you to join us on our hikes, to post hikes for other members to join you and to share your hiking photos, stories and advice.

Become A Member

If you find it invigorating to hike along a mountain trail with friends not knowing what’s just around the corner, to get some fresh air, to stop and soak in the views on a summit, and to soak your feet in a mountain brook after a hike, give us a try!

BECOME A MEMBER







Powered by Ecomsolutions.net - ColdFusion Experts