I want to talk about the year of 2018. What a weird year. More on that in a coming post. I didn’t reach my goal of 52 hikes in 52 weeks this year. It just didn’t happen. I’m a little ashamed, but mostly okay with the whole thing. The hikes I did, 31 to be exact, were fun and fresh.
2018 STATS
Total Hikes: 31
Total Miles: 181.77
Total Hikes Enjoyed: 31
Solo Hikes: 17
Hikes with Dogs: 9
Unique Locations for 2018: 17
Unique States for 2018: 7 (Washington, Texas, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Utah)
Unique NPS Unit for 2018: 4 (Arches, Olympic, Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge, Santa Fe National Forest — I visited others, just didn’t hike-hike)
Unique State Park for 2018: 6 (Dinosaur Valley State Park, Colorado Bend State Park, McKinney Falls State Park, Tyler State Park, Tahquamenon Falls State Park (MI), Cleburne State Park)
With 31 hikes, I was only 30.68 miles away from my 2017 total mileage which means my 2018 hikes were longer on average
Average Hike Distance: 5.86 miles
Shortest Hike: 2.75 miles (Herman Vogler Conservation Area, Rogers City, MI)
Longest Hike: 9.55 miles (Dinosaur Valley State Park, Glen Rose, TX)
2018 Thoughts
If I had continued onward, I would have reached my goals set in January of 300-400 miles. I have to keep those goals for 2019 by keeping my average hike length above 6 miles. I did a lot of repeat hikes, mostly at Dinosaur Valley State Park and my other local haunts, and that’s okay but I think that’s part of why I burned out so quickly. The year was rainy, very rainy, and when it rains in Texas a lot of the trails are impassable.
I was sleeping in more in 2018, and it’s because I wasn’t sleeping well because I wasn’t taking care of myself. I was mildly depressed, didn’t want to get motivated for anything, and it really showed in the total number of outings I did. I was making excuses to go out the next day or do two on a Sunday, but it was really me just quitting before I started. I’m really going to have to work hard on that for 2019.
2019 Goals
Reach 300 miles
Hike more than 52 times
Count everything - even a mile
Shoot for 400 miles
Hike 10% of the hikes in National Parks
Stop worrying about stats, really… after listing stats as goals
Learn about the land I’m hiking on and process that
2019 Thoughts
I really want to get back to my 2017 mindset of just making sure I get up and out EVERY weekend when humanly possible. I was staying home and doing NOTHING instead of hiking on beautiful days, even very recently. No more. Stats are cool, but what I meant about not worrying about them was just focusing on getting out. 2019 will be the hiking season of GETTING OUT WHENEVER POSSIBLE.
I also want to meet more hikers, and have more meetups. Who’s interested in hiking with me? I’m in Dallas-Fort Worth, so it’s easy to get to many places near and far.
Here’s to a new season of getting outside and learning about the land.