“Goals for 2018:
-Hike more than 300 miles
-Take longer hikes each week
-Include backpacking
-Hike to Guadalupe Peak in Guadalupe Mountains National Park
-Hike in Olympic National Park”
It's time for my first quarterly update to assess the 2018 hiking season...
Statistics:
- 14 hikes
- 97.8 miles
- 9 solo hikes
- 5 companion hikes
- 3 hikes with my dog
- 10 unique locations
- 3 unique states
- 1 unique NPS unit
- Enjoyed all 14!
- 7 miles/hike average
- 202 miles to hit 300 total
- Shortest hike: 3.5 miles
- Longest hike: 9.55 miles
- 114.6 miles to reach my 2017 total
I'm currently headed towards a total of 360 miles, give or take, but still hoping to reach 400 as a super goal. Honestly, I'll be happy with anything over 300 miles as long as they were all enjoyable. I'm running into my usual blockage - finding it difficult to hike locally without dread. I've enjoyed every hike, but the process of getting out is becoming more and more difficult each week. Dallas-Fort Worth has a few great locations, but most of my hiking will require a bit of a drive to spice it up. My 2018 go-to metro location is Eagle Mountain Park with my go-to state park being Dinosaur Valley. As always, I'm open to people coming along though I often dread it because I sweat so much and irrationally fear judgment that probably will not happen anyway.
I've hit my goal of hiking in Olympic National Park and I even climbed up 1800 ft while there. I'm ready to attempt the hike to Guadalupe Peak before summer or in the fall. I've been taking longer hikes, and I really enjoy pushing myself beyond 7 miles - I don't even feel it now until about mile 8. All in all, I am hoping to up the average and find a few new places in the near future. Looking ahead to hike 19, I'll hopefully be trekking between the upper and lower Tahquamenon Falls in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Looking even further forward, we are possibly returning to Alaska this summer in July around hike 28 and 29.
Moving forward, I'm hoping to make more early Saturday morning drive to places a bit further out to get some new real adventure on the books over the next few months. I can easily drive back up to Oklahoma or Arkansas and find a variety of trails within 4-5 hours if I want forested getaways. If I want some desert landscape, I can push myself to drive to west Texas or even New Mexico to explore over the weekend. Either way, the theme for the future is more adventure and less dragging my feet with getting up and out.
If you'd like to hike along, or have suggestions for me, contact me! Hike your own hike and happy trails.