2017 - A Lookback at Your Hiking Numbers

[prizefighter2112]

Seem like I can never get out as much as I want, but here's to next year!

Miles: approx. 190 over about 25 hikes/backpacks. I found the GPS app I used in the first part of the year wanting, so picked up Gaia GPS and feel like it's been more accurate. Due to the crummy app I was using I've only got elevation stats from July, 16,913 ft gained.

My favorite and least favorite hikes were on the same trip. I attempted the Timberline Trail starting at Timberline Lodge with my former hiking partner, and really enjoyed the different feel of the faces of Mt. Hood. However, due to a lack of conditioning (and drive, if we're being very honest) my hiking partner burnt out and we had to be extracted at Cloud Cap Inn. That failure bothers more than I care to admit. Next summer the TT will be mine, oh yes, it will be mine.

Another highlight was getting a last minute trip into Jefferson Park for my first time in early October. Encountered only a handful of other people, and saw a herd of elk frolicking right across from our Russell Lake campsite the second night.

[kepPNW]

Looks like 742 horizontal trail miles, and 32 vertical trail miles, with 54 days and 2 nights out.

2016 was a bit of a backslide for me, as well as others, it seems. Didn't hit the goal of 800+ miles, last year. Rainiest October ever might've contributed a bit. No good excuse for December slacking, though. Ah well.

No way to really narrow down The Best, but the two nights out cowboy camping (one on top of South Sister during the Persieds and the other at Windy Ridge prior to looping the lake) may have led me to think first of those trips...

• 
  G'nite, Oregon!
  
  
  
  G'nite, Washington!

But I also hiked through just a bit of Mt Rainier NP for the first time in thirty years again, and found new inspiration to go back up there often! Couldn't help but just keep muttering, "It's like we're in a park!"

• 
  Favorite new destination. I'll be back!

Try as I might, I cannot think of any hikes I might label "worst." Or even least-enjoyed...

• 
  Any day on the trail beats any day at the desk! Onward...

No complaints here...

[Arturo]

23 hikes.
178.2 miles.
67,086 EG. (817.1 avg ft per mile EG)
Loved Coldwater Peak from JRO.
Disappointed with Silver Star (first time), mostly due to the weather not cooperating.

That was Jan thru Sep 24. Haven't been out since. Need this cold snowy winter to go away quick!

[wsevert]

2016 was a good year.

259 hikes
2,107 miles
390,780 ft cumulative elevation gain

I also did 568 miles on my bicycle with another 13,188 ft of gain but since this is a hiking forum, those don't count.

It's always tough coming up with a favorite hike because every hike is my favorite hike but doing Dog Mtn exactly 1 year ago today in a big-ass ice storm with 50 mph winds might have been my favorite. We were only equipped with microspikes because the reports described how hard packed the snow was but then the storm moved in and we were forced to take the back way through the woods behind Puppy Dog because we couldn't push forward against the wind but that meant the joy of postholing to our waists at times. I've probably never had as much fun as I did that day!

[RobinB]

Fun to see everyone's totals.

It was a banner year for me, mostly on account of finishing grad school and having a whole summer with basically nothing to worry about (except, you know, The Future):

• Days Hiking: 86 (including a month long trip on the PCT)
• Miles Hiked: 1487 (really wish I'd snuck in those extra 13!)
• Favorite Day Hiking: two way tie between (1) Glacier Peak Wilderness, from Lake Sally Ann to Glacier Creek on the PCT, and (2) St. Helens blast zone, during the June paintbrush explosion
• Least Favorite Day Hiking: none, really, though walking through Indian Heaven during Peak Mosquito Hell was a little rough

Spirit Lake and Friends, June 19


Glacier Peak from near Red's Pass, August 4

Happy New Year Everyone

[Don Nelsen]

2016 was a good year.

259 hikes
2,107 miles
390,780 ft cumulative elevation gain

I also did 568 miles on my bicycle with another 13,188 ft of gain but since this is a hiking forum, those don't count.

It's always tough coming up with a favorite hike because every hike is my favorite hike but doing Dog Mtn exactly 1 year ago today in a big-ass ice storm with 50 mph winds might have been my favorite. We were only equipped with microspikes because the reports described how hard packed the snow was but then the storm moved in and we were forced to take the back way through the woods behind Puppy Dog because we couldn't push forward against the wind but that meant the joy of postholing to our waists at times. I've probably never had as much fun as I did that day!

dog posthole.jpg

Severt, you Rock!!!

[Sean Thomas]

Great to see everyone's memories and mileage. I really miss this forum so will have to make a more concerted effort to participate this year:) Here is sort of a long winded year in review for me.

As for mileage and eg, this year I covered less miles than I have since 2010! I lost track a little bit toward the end but I estimate about 1,300 give or take a few. I've always been too lazy to keep track of eg I started the year with the goal of going about 2,300 miles, which would have had me just over 10,000 for the past five years, a goal I've had ever since my dad died(to do 10,000 in a five year period). I started pretty strong but hurt my left foot after running that stupid Klickitat Trail and sort fell off the wagon after that until things picked back up later in the year. I also spent countless days cleaning out and working on my grandma's old house during the summer and that sucked an unbelievable amount of time and energy out of me(it was a hoarder house thanks to another family member). By the time I realized how far behind I was I just sort of gave up. Maybe at some point I'll get her done DN, mileagemike, Severt style I did enjoy a few camping trips with friends and family, went water-falling with Tim and Melinda and friends a few times and even met up with some old high-school friends for a few adventures and car camping trips, which although also kept the mileage down, were ultimately some of the most rewarding trips of the year:)


Picking a favorite is really hard! This year I got much slower lol, as I started writing a book about self supported ultra adventures called "Long Distance Day Trips, A Guide to Power Hiking and Ultra Running in the PNW". It's been really fun! I started bringing my dslr, and a pen and notebook on each adventure and at first was blown away by just how much slower I was when I was really attempting to process everything I was seeing/experiencing and attempting to put it on paper. It's been a good lesson for me though, and that's that time in the outdoors, no matter how it was spent was just as valuable whether it was spent pushing forty miles in a day or taking the dogs to the beach all day. It was really a year of learning to find a comfortable balance between it all. If I had to pick it was probably a solo adventure in the Dark Divide Roadless Area that looped both major ridgelines in the divide(Juniper and Langille Ridge). It was about 38 miles and 11,000 feet of elevation gain and I didn't see a single person all day. Several miles of rough cross country in and out of the confluence of Yellow Jacket and McCoy Creeks tied the massive loop together while I summited Langille and Jumbo Peaks, while passing very close by Juniper and Sunrise Peaks as well. Just an amazing landscape up there, and another loop/excursion that I have never heard of anyone else doing before, let alone in a day trip(it would make a great backpacking trip too!). This is me on Jumbo before I dropped back down to the meadows and cranked out the last long stretch on Juniper Ridge:


dark divide 2 by Sean Lawson, on Flickr


The hardest part may not have been the rough cross country though as some of the motorcycle ruts were pretty brutal, this was somewhere along Juniper Ridge about 30 miles in:


dark divd 3 by Sean Lawson, on Flickr


As for best experience of the year it hands down had to be going to the Philippines in November to see Joie's dad/family. We had a few hikes and climbs planned but they were closed due to military activities in various parts of the country and bad weather. We did travel to a place called Donsol, Sorsogon to swim with Whale Sharks in the wild. It wasn't peak time for them to be in the area so we spent three hours on a boat and didn't see a thing. On our way back to shore one of the guides spotted a pod of dolphins just a few hundred meters from the boat. We followed alongside them for a while and it was absolutely incredible to see them fly through the air, one of the best experiences of my life by far:


15032702_10210686839984135_6581791586704859901_n by Sean Lawson, on Flickr


While in Donsol we also visited an underground river that was some 200 kilometers long and full of bats and stalagmites(it was nuts). It was in a pretty remote place but Joie was able to get some info out of one of the boating guides who told her about its location. It cost a whopping 5 American dollars to have a man and three of his nephews raft us through the cave to a remote swimming location for about two hours. Each of them splits 80 peso's while the tourist office(a hut built of bamboo) takes the rest of the profit. That means they were essentially making less than 50 cents when the conversion rate is concerned. We tipped them each 500 pesos before we left and they were blown away! Another experience of a lifetime I will never forget! Here's to wishing everyone a wonderful 2017 full of lots of adventure and time well spent in the outdoors. You all continue to inspire me to get out and get after it!


15032832_10210682455554527_2924798578848829761_n by Sean Lawson, on Flickr

[mountainkat]

Wow, I enjoy seeing everyone's stats for the year. Good job, everyone!

I joined OH a year or so ago, after lurking for a long time. I always enjoyed reading people's trip reports, but, have yet to post one of my own. I hope to do so in 2017!

For 2016,

Total miles hiked: 1,653 (personal best)
Total elevation gain: 372,600 ft.
New hikes: lots!

There are no worst hikes for me, it seems! Even spraining my ankle while out by myself was a good day out on the trail.

I had so many great hikes in Oregon and Washington that it is difficult to choose a favorite hike. Seeing the Napeequa Valley in Washington was a long time goal, and that happened this year. Such an amazing moment to stare at that scene! The summit of the Matterhorn in the Wallowas was another really great day. And, I spent 5 nights in the North Cascades, Washington backpacking the Copper Ridge Loop. I could spend a whole summer backpacking that region!

Since I never got around to posting a trip report, I have included a few photos. Happy trails in 2017! And thanks, kepPNW for helping me add photos to this. It worked!


Hiking to the top of the Matterhorn in the Wallowas


Early summer Santiam Lake


Copper Ridge Lookout in the North Cascades, WA


Mt. Hood from Paradise Park on a fall loop hike through Mississippi Head

--Kathy

[Chip Down]

Sean: Please do (stay active here). You've posted some inspiring TRs that have motivated me to get out there and do crazy stuff.

Mountainkat: Copper Ridge looks fun. I could spend a couple hours there soaking up the scenery.