Quote Originally Posted by bmccasland View Post
Guess I've always been a brazen fool and gone off on my own. Never let "no one to go with me" stop me. Figured if I waited for someone, I'd never get anywhere.

Is there a hiking/climbing store in your area? Hang a business card on the bulletin board - "Looking for Hiking buddy". Or see if there are other type cards on the bulletin board.
I've thought about saying "the heck with it" and going on my own, but I just think it's safer to use the buddy system (not only because of possible weirdos but also just because of the possibility of falling down and getting injured). Plus, that policy avoids getting a bunch of grief from my parents. However, it does make things frustrating for the reason you mentioned "if I waited for someone I'd never get anywhere"--that is my problem. There are a couple of stores in the area (New England Backpacker and EMS) so that's an idea.