With so much hatred still lingering in our country let's get a message of hope out to our gay teens! If it resonates with just one teen, it will have been worth every effort! Our primary objective of this hike is to record interviews of willing participants that will provide gay teens encouragement that their 'life will get better.' Once we raise and fly the rainbow flag on the summit we will take participants and tape the interviews quietly away from the main group. So please be prepared to stay on the summit for a prolonged period, i.e., dress warmly.

Brian will take the best interviews coupled with shots from the hike to produce a video for GayOutdoors to post on the It Gets Better website for all to view.  Ideas of thoughts to share include how hard was it for you to grow up being gay [particularly in high school/college if you knew at the time], how you came to accept who you are [a friend, resource, group/club] and how your life is today. Again, the overall message would be to provide hope and encouragement to gay teens that their life will get better through time. To get an idea of what people are saying, we highly recommend you visit the website [link above].   

WE NEED AS MANY GUYS AS POSSIBLE TO INTERVIEW TO MAKE THIS A SUCCESS. DON'T BE SHY. ALL OF US HAVE A STORY TO TELL.

Pawtuckaway State Park is one of the gems of the NH state park system, with a tremendous variety of scenery contained within its 5,500 acres. It's the best wild area in the whole SE part of the state. Highlights of the hike itself is the famous Pawtuckaway Boulder field [great for scrambling], the Devil's Den cave and views from the South summit [1,011 feet]. We will continue pass the actual summit until we hit some ledges with some open views where will be recording. The total mileage is only 3.5 miles with 530 foot gain however please be warned that this will take much longer due to video taping.

Dress in layers, hat and gloves. Bring lunch and snacks. Because we may be idle longer than usual on the summit it may be good idea to have a thermos so you can drink something warm.

WHEN YOU SIGN UP, UNDER COMMENTS, PLEASE LET US KNOW IF WANT TO BE INTEVIEWED!

Please note that we are using a rear entrance to the park on Reservation Rd. off of Route 107 (Raymond Road) in Deerfield.  We are not using the front entrance to the Park on Mountain Road off of Route 156 in Nottingham.

We recommend you print this map from Pawtuckaway State Park so you'll know EXACTLY where to meet us.

Take I-93 and in Manchester take Route 101 East towards the seacoast. Take Exit 3 and follow Route 43 for about 10 miles [this is a very rough estimate]. You'll see the site for the annual Deerfield Fair on the right and perhaps 3 miles later [again a very rough estimate] take a left on Route 107 South. Follow Route 107 South for 4.2 miles and take a left on Reservation Road [easy to miss]. There is a sign at this intersection for the Longview School.

The Pawtuckaway State Park map you should have printed will be very useful at this point. Follow Reservation Road [there are sometimes park signs to help you guide the way] and once the road turns into dirt, follow it about 0.3 miles until you see the North Mountain Trail sign on the left. It's beside a closed orange gate and there is parking in pullouts alongside the road. One of the vehicles there will be a blue Toyota FJ Cruiser.

This Map Quest Link from Manchester to the trailhead might also help you although the directions are a bit different than above.

Jon and I will be carpooling from the Burger King Parking Lot off Exit 9S on I-93 in Manchester if anyone is interested. We'll be driving a blue Toyota FJ Cruiser. We'll be leaving at 10:15 AM. Let us know if you'll meet us there.