Friday, April 10, 2026

The oldest hiking club outing footage?

I recently ran into this film clip showing an outing of the Contra Costa Hiking Club from the 1940s or 1950's. The Contra Costa Hiking Club, now the Contra Costa Hills Club, is located in the greater San Francisco Bay Area. After watching this, I began to wonder if any older footage of any other club outings existed:



The answer to that question is yes… Here’s a clip of the Smoky Mountains Hiking Club from the late 1920s, by Jim Thompson:



Not knowing the exact date of the Thompson film, however, it’s very possible that this 1927 clip of a Mountaineers club outing on Mt. Robson in Canada might be the oldest club outing film (this is actually the first in a four-part series):





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Virtually no one went hiking before the 19th century. What occurred that inspired ordinary people to take a walk through the woods for pleasure? Ramble On: A History of Hiking explores the rich history of hiking, and how it evolved into one of the most popular pastimes in the world.


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