|
Post by trailnotfound on Nov 6, 2019 8:52:34 GMT -5
So I've only recently started participating in the forum here, after years of looking at trip reports and routes. Currently though, the overall site seems to be operating mainly as a forum and an info repository. I hope it's not out of line/sensitive to ask, but is there any plan to resurrect the rest of it? There's not much else out there that serves the same role.
|
|
vdeal
Forum Elder
Posts: 616
|
Post by vdeal on Nov 6, 2019 11:03:48 GMT -5
Trailnotfound,
Mike Juskelis who started the Mid Atlantic hikers website has basically retired from hiking/backpacking - I believe for health reasons. The website stays up for informational purposes it seems and I guess folks can still comment on the hikes. The forums were the result of a huge snafu at the Backpacker.com forums some years ago that wiped out all the historical info and were awful to use at first. I suggested this forum idea to Mike and pointed him at the Freeforums site to use. It continues to run as it was intended.
That being said I agree with your last sentence. The Mid Atlantic is underserved by web resources for those of us who enjoy the outdoors. There is a hunting forum and a fishing one which I read from time to time but nothing that really replicates and adds to the information here. The problem is the lack of participation. There are maybe 6 to 12 of us who regularly post. This has been my go to site for getting trail/site info and conditions for areas farther away from me. I suspect some have stopped participating completely and some have moved to the social media of the Week flavor - whatever that is now. Those are difficult to find and don't present information in as handy of way. So, keep using the site, ask questions and encourage other users to join. Right now Pennsylvania is still covered pretty well and I keep the West Virginia info up to date as well as I can. Let's see if we can build this back up.
|
|
|
Post by trailnotfound on Nov 6, 2019 19:35:41 GMT -5
Awesome, thanks for the response. I think part of the reason I never ventured into the forum (until someone mentioned they were posting here) is because the homepage has a big "Last updated 5/1/2016", which doesn't really inspire confidence in an active community.
The Reddit sub PAWilds is relatively active, but it's just the forum without the resources. I'll definitely keep visiting, though it would be nice if there was a way for people to contribute their own "published hikes", since that's such a great repository of info that would be great to keep up to date.
|
|
vdeal
Forum Elder
Posts: 616
|
Post by vdeal on Nov 8, 2019 10:13:29 GMT -5
trailnotfound, Yeah, Mike should just remove that date to not make the site look so dated. Of course that site is not the same as the forum site. Reddit just appears to be a current incarnation of the old Usenet groups. Back in the day some of us would go there for info -especially the rec.backcountry group. Those are basically gone now. As for contributing hikes - just start a new post in the Regional Hikes section and post it there. We'll see it. I really do wish there was more timely info about local areas. I know the northern half of WV like very few people do but getting info on current conditions or situations I need to be aware of before driving there is nigh on impossible. Oh well, we keep going anyway.
|
|
ki0eh
Forum Elder
Posts: 196
|
Post by ki0eh on Nov 10, 2019 20:38:00 GMT -5
I'm still referring people on those dreaded social media sites to descriptions on Mike's parent site midatlantichikes. I hope it doesn't disappear suddenly, as it's still a great resource. I still miss some of the productive discussions from the old Backpacker forum that this partly replaced. Thebackpacker.com Trail Talk (TT or "the dark side") was, um, somewhat less productive, but still miss it in a way.
|
|
|
Post by va3pinner on Mar 18, 2020 21:00:35 GMT -5
I'm hoping a new schedule will permit me to both hike/post trail reports/ and generally stir up trouble on this here forum will increase. This place has a bad empty echo at the moment......
|
|
vdeal
Forum Elder
Posts: 616
|
Post by vdeal on Mar 19, 2020 14:28:28 GMT -5
va3pinner,
I've been prodding folks to post here for some time with a bit of limited success. Looking forward to your posts and will be posting more of mine. Spring is coming and I will be out, virus or not.
|
|
|
Post by 1camper on May 16, 2020 22:13:11 GMT -5
Yep, this is a great resource I've enjoyed for many years.
|
|
|
Post by scottr on Nov 2, 2022 7:09:29 GMT -5
I'm late to finding this thread, but I've been using the midatlantichikes site for over a decade and am a huge fan (even did some reviews way back). I was starting to write to "M R Hyker" (Mike Juskelis) about contributing to help support/maintain the site, but thought I would look here. Does anyone know what the state of things is? The resource is fantastic and comprehensive, and it would be a huge loss for it to go dark.
|
|
|
Post by agermann on Mar 22, 2023 11:21:27 GMT -5
The domain for midatlantichikes.com has expired and the site is down. This is a huge loss. Is there any way Mike can be contacted about renewing or transferring the domain over? I just wish I had downloaded the rest of the maps and trail descriptions before they were gone forever.
|
|
|
Post by trailnotfound on Mar 22, 2023 13:32:10 GMT -5
The domain for midatlantichikes.com has expired and the site is down. This is a huge loss. Is there any way Mike can be contacted about renewing or transferring the domain over? I just wish I had downloaded the rest of the maps and trail descriptions before they were gone forever. I agree. It's one of the best repositories of trail knowledge out there, and is still referenced frequently all across the internet. If it can be renewed or transferred I'd be happy to help out however I can.
|
|
|
Post by va3pinner on Mar 29, 2023 20:07:30 GMT -5
Any word on the site?
|
|
|
Post by trailnotfound on Mar 31, 2023 13:39:57 GMT -5
I sent an email inquiring, but I don't know if it's even a monitored address. I also don't have any personal history with them, so I'm not expecting much.
|
|
|
Post by brightside on Apr 6, 2023 10:29:57 GMT -5
FYI, the full site can still be accessed using the WayBack Machine: web.archive.org/web/20230000000000*/midatlantichikes.comI recommend downloading a copy as well, the more offline copies that exist the less likely it is that the site will be lost forever. The whole thing only takes up about 370 MB on my hard drive.
|
|
|
Post by va3pinner on Apr 8, 2023 13:48:52 GMT -5
Brightside - Thank you! This is exactly what I needed. I was able to save the page and it has all the info on the site. Very helpful.
I will use this to see if I can save a photo site that is closing April 10 - DPreview.com - This was a great resource for photographers. Thanks again Bruce
|
|
|
Post by cristian0215 on Apr 9, 2023 14:36:22 GMT -5
I have no idea how domains work when it comes renewing expired domains, but I went ahead and paid for it myself for one year. Just to see if it would let me. And it did. The site seems to be up right now, as of 04/09/2023. Hover was the name of the domain registrar. If Mike ever reads this, he can message me.
|
|
|
Post by va3pinner on Apr 9, 2023 16:56:38 GMT -5
I have no idea how domains work when it comes renewing expired domains, but I went ahead and paid for it myself for one year. Just to see if it would let me. And it did. The site seems to be up right now, as of 04/09/2023. Hover was the name of the domain registrar. If Mike ever reads this, he can message me. How much did that cost you if you don't mind my asking.
|
|
vdeal
Forum Elder
Posts: 616
|
Post by vdeal on Apr 9, 2023 18:11:32 GMT -5
The site is still down.
BTW, the Wayback Machine (archive.org) is a great resource that I've used for well over a decade. Items do not disappear from there AFAIK.
Another BTW, Mike Juskelis still has a Facebook page I believe. Maybe someone could contact him there.
|
|
|
Post by brightside on Apr 9, 2023 18:28:22 GMT -5
It's back up for me, and it looks like all the pages are active.
|
|
|
Post by cristian0215 on Apr 9, 2023 18:48:51 GMT -5
I have no idea how domains work when it comes renewing expired domains, but I went ahead and paid for it myself for one year. Just to see if it would let me. And it did. The site seems to be up right now, as of 04/09/2023. Hover was the name of the domain registrar. If Mike ever reads this, he can message me. How much did that cost you if you don't mind my asking. $17.17 with tax. It was cheap enough that I took the risk. The website is an invaluable resource for me so I thought I would at least try. I also messaged him on his Facebook account about it. I’ll update on here if he replies.
|
|