We have exciting news. Carol and I will soon have a lot more time to give to Pilot Butte Summit Seekers (PBSS). PBSS is growing faster than we could have ever hoped or imagined and we're shifting our focus in that direction. This will be our last month hosting at Pilot Butte. Starting in April, the 180+ hours per month that went into hosting will go instead to the nonprofit. We believe this is better use of our time because we can do a lot more for the Butte at PBSS than we could ever do hosting. So we'll host at the Butte this month and then move to a nearby RV park in April.
Here's the really good news. We'll both be hiking the Butte more, not less. With PBSS having our year round attention, we'll be hiking months that we never hiked before. Many have already noticed this happening (we hiked the Butte a lot this winter) and that's only going to increase. We're just switching jobs as opposed to leaving--choosing what we think is best for the Butte.
As many know, we were in bad health when we started hosting (Click Here to learn more). Hiking is the main thing that improved our health. Hiking with so many wonderful people also played a big role. This past year is the best we've felt in over 15 years. So the hiking must continue, but it's great to be able to do things that have a broader impact on our community. Switching from hosting to PBSS is like getting a new job with better benefits. We hope others see it the same way.
So expect to see us on the Butte a lot when we stop hosting. In fact, you'll notice the difference right away. March is a huge fundraising month for SMB. Keeping up with hosting duties, and fundraising on the side, is going to be a challenge and the amount we can hike will suffer. Then all of that changes in April when we'll be hiking a lot more.
No longer hosting at Pilot Butte will be quite a loss. After 10 years doing it, it's hard to imagine not doing it. But we're REALLY looking forward to April when we won't be stretched so thin and can hike the Butte more. See 'ya on the Butte ...
Great to hear the two of you will be spending more time doing good things for the butte. You've been the greatest park hosts and have already done so many wonderful things at the butte. Carol is by far the most generous, caring and thoughtful person you'll meet up with on the butte so it's great she'll still be making the trek to the top. I'm sure many agree and I'll see you again at SMB 2014!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the kind thoughts. It's a busy time, but it's starting to sink in that we have just days left here as hosts. The next phase is exiting for sure, but we'll miss living at the Butte. Kind of like moving out of the best neighborhood ever. To some degree we're used to it because we kind of feel that way every time we go to a new park. It was really cool this Winter at Smith Rock. I think someone from the Butte came buy to hike almost every day (often several someones). All of that makes the transition easier. Hard to really say why there is this gentle sense of loss. We'll be hiking the Butte more, not less. But still there is a sense that something will soon be missing. We'll just have to find ways to fill in whatever that something is. Shouldn't be hard with all the great friends we've made!
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