3 Experiences I Hope To Have On Public Lands in 2019

It is 2019 and time to look forward to what I want to get out of my time outdoors and on public lands this shiny new year. The older and hopefully wiser I get with each passing year, taking time to make a list and plan out where I long to go and what I hope to see garners more meaning every time. Albeit, there seems to be a sense of growing urgency, like some sort of time clock marking the days, but I find myself striving to make the most of my wilderness adventures and not flitter them away on anything less than what I truly want.

This year has been a bit hard to nail down specific things I would like to do, maybe because last year was so over the top. My desire to explore new places is metered by a certain feeling of wanting to stay close to home and delve more in-depth to the places I already love. As I spent time thinking about this post, written in response to the weekly #NatureWritingChallenge, my mind has found itself settling on ideas not specific to locations but rather to the word experiences. How do I hope to feel this year? What impact do I hope to make?

Making More Outdoor Converts

As I have for the last few years, I hope that whatever I do this year, it will involve and include bringing new people along with me. Whether it means having a friend along on a backpacking trip who has never been or new volunteers on a work party for the Pacific Crest Trail Association, I want to make sure that by the end of the year, there are a few new people who have fallen in love with what I do and see themselves doing it in some capacity for the rest of their lives.

Appreciate Origins

The more aware I become of social justice and the impact that of how our country was developed, the more I see the importance of recognizing and appreciating that where I love to play and “explore” has a long history of being someone’s home and personal history. A history often littered with trauma. I hope that not only when I am involved in those activities that I am present to this fact, but that when I share my experiences I acknowledge this in my words and actions.

Slow Down, Explore More

I guess this is part of the stay local, delve deeper part but one of the things I have enjoyed the last few years is that I have hiked the same section of the Pacific Crest Trail both to scout it for trail work but to return later in the summer to lead a work party. Each time I enjoy the trail for a whole set of new experiences and find myself wandering off on various side trails and scrambling up to new peaks. I want more of this and there are so many places like this in my own backyard. Hikes I have done a million times but never ventured much further than the same lake or summit. I hope this summer finds me getting to know familiar places with a fresh set of eyes.

But Where Will I Go?

Well like I said, as of the writing of this post, I do not have any formal plans for hikes this year. I am feeling rather mellow about the next 12 months, in fact. A few ideas of itineraries and a couple windows etched on the calendar. Hopefully, things will be firmed up here soon! And even more, I hope we have a longer span of summer between the melting of the snow and mosquito infestation and the onset of wildfires and the smoke filled skies for some of those adventures.

My mom and I are planning to use my week long break in February to go and snowshoe the rim at Crater Lake National Park. I have been wanting to do this for several years and with a whole week off, it just seems like this might be the year. I have hiked there during the summer and visited the park in June when the snow was still 15 feet high in the parking lot, but never during the winter. And hopefully it will be open by then…

It has been two years since my injury on the North Coast Trail in 2017 and this may be the year I return to finish what I started. You have to take a water taxi to hike this trail but conveniently, I was rescued at the second and only other stop along the coastal trail. So, I just now have to decide if I start again from the beginning and redo that horrible first 16 kilometers, or do I skip it and take up where I stopped. Decisions, decisions. My friend, Elle, who wants to go with me says I can skip it and I’m leaning toward agreeing with her!

I completed the Wonderland Trail around Mount Rainier in 2015 and always said I would go back and do more, possibly some loops that branch off from popular areas. Either I will talk my girlfriends into going for our annual trip or my friend Nikki has said she wants to do the trail and maybe I’ll join her for a few days. Maybe I’ll get to actually see that place everyone talks about, Summerland, since it was socked in with fog and rain when I was there. Yes, you need permits and the process starts in March. But as I discovered when I did it, walk-ups aren’t that hard to get, especially if you are flexible and go during the week. A benefit to my teacher’s schedule I am not abashed to brag about.

My friend Josy from A Walk And A Lark and I hiked in Garibaldi last summer and I will definitely be returning to see more of this stunning Canadian provincial park. Even if I do the same hike to Elfin Lakes we did as a snowshoe, I would completely be happy! I bought a map of the area and will be putting a date on the calendar with her soon (right, Josy?).

For the fourth (or is it fifth now?) year in a row, I still hope to do a traverse of the Olympics on the Pacific Northwest Trail. Last year I said, “This will be the year!” but that didn’t make it so, This year, I am going to be a bit more laid back about it and see if that helps. Elizabeth and I did a few miles on it last summer as part of our Grand Loop, I’m taking that as a sign I am getting closer to realizing this trip!

Another hike my mom and I have been talking about even before my layoff in 2016 was to walk the El Camino in France and Spain. I’m still paying off my unexpected adventure with my son to the United Kingdom last fall but if things work out, I’ll go and do at least part of this iconic trail with her. I don’t know if the whole thing is meant to happen, but it would be lovely to go and see what it is all about. I want to do the Primitivo route, a less crowded and more rural section, we’ll see if I can make that a reality this year. My mom is in great shape but at 72 this year, there is no time like the present for this kind of venture.

And of course, I will be out on my adopted section of the Pacific Crest Trail, from Janus to Pear Lake in Section K of Washington State. I’m working on analyzing my scouting report from last year and aside from brushing, logging and drain repair, I hope to do a real project or two. If you have plans to be on the PCT this summer, maybe I will see you. Look for me in my snazzy new Carthart work overalls I got from Santa, be sure and say hello!