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Peak Experience for Tanglewood's Elderhostel Participants
News Articles

Elderhostel participants hiking Mt. Katahdin.Tanglewood’s Elderhostel program introduced two new hiking programs this fall to explore the natural and cultural history of Maine’s North Woods.
"Maine’s Mount Katahdin and Surrounding Peaks" and "Day Hikes on Maine’s Appalachian Trail" were specifically designed with active baby boomers in mind.

Participants learned about the flora and fauna of the region, both common and endangered, legends and legacies of the mountains, trails and parks, and about the historical and contemporary issues surrounding conservation and economic development.

Additionally, participants reached the summits of Saddleback, Bigelow, Moxie-Bald, Sentinel, South Turner, North Traveler and Katahdin — described by a ranger at Baxter State Park as the most rugged day hike east of the Mississippi.

One participant said, “We are at a point in our lives where it is important for us to seek out challenges." Another Elderhostel participant said, “We also recognize that reaching the summit is not the most important part of the experience.”

Tanglewood 4H Camp and Learning Center is a program of the University of Maine Cooperative Extension, and in partnership with Elderhostel has been offering programs that explore the natural and cultural history of Maine from the Midcoast to the North Woods.

Elderhostel is the world’s largest not-for-profit educational travel organization for adults 55 and older, and annually serves more than 160,000 participants in 8,000 programs worldwide.

Recent years have seen a demand for more active outdoor programs as the baby boomer generation typically leads a more active lifestyle than previous generations of so-called “seniors.”

“There is good reason that today’s active adults resist the label of elder or senior citizen — their active lifestyle no longer fits society’s image of what it means to be a senior,” said Laura Sebastianelli, director of the adult and family program. "Take for example that on Sept. 19, nine of 13 Elderhostel participants climbed to Katahdin’s summit, and of those, seven also crossed the Knife Edge — a hike that is just short of a technical climb and the most exposed ridge in the Northeast.”

For more information about Tanglewood’s Elderhostel programs, visit tanglewood4h.org or elderhostel.org.

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Last modified on April 23, 2008->

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