WelcomeThe OTP & Others Hiking and Debating Socierty was founded in December 1989 by a group of Hughes engineers who found themselves recently "retired." See the story from one of those engineers, Mike Gessner. Most members of our group are retirees from local companies. We are not formally organized as a club, therefore we have neither club officers nor rules of order. We are then, by definition, an unorganized and unruly group. Our hikes are primarily located in the California counties of Los Angeles, Ventura and Orange, usually in the San Gabriel and Santa Monica Mountains as well as occasional excursions elsewhere. We hike on Wednesdays at 8:30 am during the summer and 9:30 am during the winter. If you are interested in walking with us sometime send an e-mail to the Hike Coordinator or just show up at the trailhead 15 minutes prior to the hike time.. See directions to upcoming hikes in Schedule. Hike leader responsibility is rotated among the members in turn. Each hike leader is responsible for choosing the hike location, ensuring that no part of the hike is on private property, providing directions to the trail head with a description of the hike, maps and instructions as necessary, and cookies for all at the beginning of the hike. This website was originally created by Mike Gessner, one of OTP's founding members. The website proved to be an invaluable tool to communicate hike history, hike descriptions and upcoming hike schedules. In 2014, Jim Carlin, another early OTP member, took over managing the site from Mike. See the website archive from 2016. In 2016, Phil Rutherford redesigned the current site with additional material, including photos, videos, allmost complete historical hike descriptions, databases, an attendance sign-in page, a car-pool page for West Valley hikers, and a page devoted to the writings of Mike Gessner. The sections below describe the major pages that are accessible from the navigation bars at the top and bottom of each page. HomeThe index or home page is a carousel slide show of photos from some of our hikes. Click on the right or left arrows to advance or retrace photos. Alternatively, click on the circles to randomly select photos. Clicking on a slide will bring up the photo full screen. Clicking the back arrow will return to the slide show. AboutThis is the page you are currently reading. It describes the content of the website and closely mirrors the home page of the orignal website. Site MapThis page provides a complete list of all html pages on the website. ScheduleThe Schedule Page lists the schedule and descriptions of upcoming hikes. AttendanceOn-line roster to let your fellow hikers know if you plan to hike the following week. LeaderThe Leader Page carries the Leader Roster which shows each hiker's ranking. Each time a hiker attends a hike, he/she receves one point. Cumulative points gained determine a hiker's position on the roster. Accumulating ~8 or more point brings the hiker into the "Top Five." When a hiker's name appears in the Top Five, it is expected that the hiker will schedule a hike by contacting the Hike Coordinator. Scheduled hike leaders are requested to submit their hike descriptions to the Hike Coordinator no later than two weeks before the hike so the hike may be posted in a timely manner. DescriptionA collection of over 250 descriptions of trails that the group has hiked, categorized by area. These descriptions detail the directions to the trailhead and instructions for perfoming the hike. Accompanying most of these descriptions are Google Earth photos of the terrain with GPS tracks superimposed. The most recently scheduled hike at that location is provided. HistoryThe history pages list all the hikes taken by the OTP since the first hike on December 19, 1989. Many of the earlier hike descriptions are provided as PDFs. Later hike descriptions are provided as html files.
DatabaseHistorical hikes are sorted by date, hike name and hike leader. Cumulative number of hikes led and length of membership for all current and past members are given. SafetyWe all want to return home, as fit and healthy as when we left. Third party hiking safety material plus the OTP Guide Book, devoted mostly to safety. Site InformationThird party, on-line information for selected hiking areas and trails. News & NoticesWeather, road conditions and ranger station phone numbers. Trip PlanThe Trip Planning page contains information useful in planning hikes:
External LinksLinks to other web sites describing hikes and related information. Photos and VideosA combination of hike photo slideshows and hike videos. Videos are streamed from either YouTube or Vimeo. Mike's PageMike Gessner has "put pen to paper" on many subjects including leadership, safety, favorite desert hikes and his famous ice cream recipes. OTP MemorialWe remember our fellow hikers who have passed on to hiking greater trails. ContactsImportant OTP Hiker email addresses.
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