Arts & Entertainment

A gay old time

LGBT hiking group features weekly activities, bike rides

Published

14 years ago

June 21, 2012

Kevin Majoros

Adventuring, hiking, Great Falls, Maryland, gay news, Washington Blade

Adventuring hikers on a recent excursion to Great Falls, Md. (Photo courtesy Adventuring)

While there are many competitive LGBT sports clubs in the Washington area, there are also clubs that offer a non-competitive atmosphere for those wishing to get some exercise.

Adventuring is an outdoor club for the LGBT community that offers a variety of excursions for people looking to be physically active.

Started in the early 1980s, the group leads hiking trips every weekend all year long. From May to September, the group adds other activities such as biking, camping, backpacking and canoeing.

“Our typical hike consists of five to 20 people,” says Jeff Hughes, president. “Surprisingly the New Year’s Day hike is usually our largest turnout with 42 people showing up this past year.”

Throughout the winter months, the group can be found hiking locally across trails that offer many sights from the rich history of the D.C. area. The trips can range from short to long and from easy to hard.

“We have a diverse group of hikers that includes Civil War buffs and a geologist,” Hughes says. “For people interested in local history, the hikes are a great learning experience.”

During the summer months, the Adventuring hikers often trek out to the more mountainous areas to enjoy the cooler temperatures afforded by the higher altitudes.

Starting in May every year, the group begins a weekly Arlington evening bike ride series on Tuesday nights. The weekly ride maintains a relaxed pace utilizing a 19-mile loop through the city to the Lincoln and Anacostia Parks. At the conclusion of the ride is an optional social dinner at a local restaurant.

Adventuring operates as a nonprofit and there are no member dues. The only costs for their activities are trip fees ($2 for day trips or $4 for overnight trips), park entrance fees and the sharing of driving expenses if cars are necessary.

The group has a monthly newsletter that gives an overview of upcoming events, trips and activities. About 600 are on the email list and about 150 hikers and 75 bikers are active in the group.

Upcoming trips:

June 24 — American Chestnut Land Trust Hike

June 26 — Arlington evening bike ride (weekly)

July 4 — Great Falls (Md.) holiday hike

July 4 — Great Falls (Md.) holiday ride

July 7 — Blackberry ice cream hike

July 15 — Adventuring summer picnic

Aug. 5 — Paw Paw tunnel hike

Aug. 25-26 — Big Meadows weekend

Sept. 3 — Wilson Bridge hike

Oct. 6-10 — Biking in the Finger Lakes (New York)

For more information on Adventuring or to sign up for the free email newsletter, go to adventuring.org.

Up Next

‘Heart’ of the matter

Don't Miss

Calendar: June 22

FUND LGBTQ JOURNALISM

Online Culture

Clavicular charged in alleged rape of teenage influencer

Online personality’s real name is Braden Peters

Published

5 hours ago

September 23, 2026

Joe Reberkenny

Braden Peters a.k.a. "Clavicular" (Screen capture via NBC News/YouTube)

Online personality Clavicular, whose real name is Braden Peters, has been accused of rape.

According to NBC, Aleksandra Vasilevna Mendoza, an 18-year-old influencer known online as Alorah or Alorah Ziva, accused Peters of sexual assault, and the case is making its way through the court system.

The alleged incident occurred on May 23, 2025, when Mendoza was 17.

According to a criminal complaint from the Chatham (Mass.) Police Department, Peters called her an Uber to his family’s home. Once there, he allegedly got her drunk on vodka while they livestreamed on Twitch and then raped her. His mother and grandmother were allegedly in the house.

The documents allege Clavicular committed rape, drugging a person for sexual intercourse, and procuring and providing liquor to a person under 21.

According to court documents acquired by NPR, Mendoza began communicating with Peters on Instagram, where he paid her to appear on his livestreams to help her “make her name known on social media.”

According to those documents, Peters arranged for the minor to come to Cape Cod home to participate in a videostream for his 437,000 followers on Kick, 1.2 million followers on TikTok, and more than 1 million followers on Instagram.

At his home, Peters allegedly instructed Mendoza to say she was 18 on his videostream and to claim the alcohol on camera was water instead of vodka. Mendoza said she felt peer-pressured to drink the spirit and that she became noticeably intoxicated after a couple of drinks.

The allegations go on to state that after stopping the stream, Peters and Mendoza kissed on a couch and then had sex in his bed without her consent. Mendoza said she did not receive a sexual assault forensic exam after the incident. NPR does not name alleged victims of sexual assault.

The charges come months after Mendoza sued Peters in Miami, accusing him of sexual battery in connection with the events of May 2025. The civil lawsuit also separately alleges that he injected her face with a non-FDA-approved fat-dissolving substance during a November livestream in Florida.

Peters is known for his “looksmaxxing” concept of vanity, which is at the core of his online presence. The “looksmaxxing” culture he has helped cultivate combines elements of incel culture and heterosexuality, with the stated goal of attracting the opposite sex. He has gone as far as to say he has undergone “bonesmashing,” or hitting his own face with a hammer; taken anabolic steroids to more rapidly grow muscle; and used crystal meth as an appetite suppressant.

At the same time, looksmaxxing has been described as having elements of homoeroticism, with “looksmaxxers” appearing more concerned with impressing other men than women. Peters has multiple times pointed to openly gay actor Matt Bomer as the gold standard for male facial aesthetics.

Peters’s arraignment is scheduled for Oct. 14.