More than 40 gay outdoors enthusiasts camped at Branch Brook Campground in Campton, NH for our annual NH Gay Outdoors Gathering.

Friday was off to a rocky start with raindrops during the day that turned into a steady drizzle around 10:00PM but that did not deter members from driving up and setting up their tents. We had partly sunny skies for the remainder of the weekend. The GO Gathering has been an annual event since 2003. This year's GO Gathering's biggest turnout to date.

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.

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.

Activities in the day included a Zipline tour, hikes to Mt. Osceola and Mt. Tecumseh, kayaking down the Pemigewasset River and swimming/sunbathing on the sandbar across from our campsite. 

A Beer Blast/Meet 'N Greet was held on Friday night to kick off the weekend. Campfires were lit each night under a moonless sky with where we could view millions of stars above and some passing shooting stars. A variety music was played on a boom-box.  

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. Gay outdoor recreation clubs are such a good thing because it's such a great alternative of meeting people besides bars or the Internet.

We noticed a lot of new faces and as well as a great many familiar ones. We take that as a sign of healthy and vibrant 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 us was the Zipline Tour with Alpine Adventures, nightly campfires, sampling the great micro-brew beer that was brought in, yummy potluck, hearing all the laughter and storytelling in the air,  becoming better friends with members we know, welcoming newcomers, wading across the Pemi River Saturday afternoon for some sunbathing/swimming while watching kayaks/canoes colliding with each other, and wading across the river once more in the dark to shoot off the fireworks,  Our only regret was not able to spend more time with each and every one of you. Maybe next year!

Next year's GO Gathering will be held in the same campsite on August 21-23. Please come back and tell your friends to join us.

~ Mike and Jon

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