Where are you excited to go in 2015?

I am looking foward to trips in Colorado, New Hampshire and back home in Ireland.

I'm excited abut some trips in Wyoming and Montana. My plan if all goes well is to take 20 pounds of food and disappear into the wilderness for 2 weeks. No resupplies, no road crossings, just wilderness.

I'm looking forward to my annual late October trip. This year I am going to hit the 42 mile Black Forest trail in PA.
I will surely do many other short over nighters and weekends..but I am really looking forward to the Black Forest trail.

I'm going to explore stuff close by on my own, instead of traveling farther afield to meet up with others.

Mt. Hood
Three Sisters
Trapper Creek Wilderness
The OR side of the Columbia River Gorge
Olympic National Park High Divide

Maybe the Enchantments if there's still time to get a permit

So, basically, a lot of the popular, well-loved stuff in range of Portland.

I’ve been jonesing for the Grand Canyon for some time. I signed up with a MeetUp group. Standard tourist route for this one, but still happy to go. MeetUp groups are a mixed bag, but I know some of the guys on this trip which (at least) half the reason to go even though it’s the standard tourist drill.

HJ
Adventures in Stoving
Hikin Jim’s Blog

I am excited to go back to Switzerland this summer, visit family and do a few backpacking trips in the Swiss Alps. I will probably do both cowboy camping and use some huts; one trip will for sure be in the Appenzeller Alps, one or two in the Berner Oberland region and I am not sure where else yet.

I'm excited to go to Switzerland with Kat. Of course, she doesn't know it yet, I'm waiting til just the right time to tell her….

We'll get along like kats and dougs ;)

Edited after Ken's post…..

And as many a those ⬇️ as I can !

GGG #7
PNW GGG #1
Lost Coast, Cooskie Ridge. Gotta find out where that trail is.
Trinity Alps
Misc. local hikes
Stalking Kat and Doug
I will get out every month this year at least once. Period. That's the exciting part.

Pecos Wilderness. While it may or may not be as beautiful as my normal big trips out west, my wife agreed to go if we went when she gets a window in late spring and this was a local that I think we could get to after Memorial Day that wouldn't have too much snow. She has done weekend trips with me before in the Southeast, but has never been backpacking out west.

The Atchafalaya Basin is the biggest swamp in the USA.

I'll be learning to paddle for sure. I'm hoping to get an Alpacaraft down the line.

I am hopefully heading back to the winds this year if everything goes according to plan. Super excited!

It is actually one of the favorite wilderness areas I've backpacked in.

13k foot peaks, ridge walks, alpine lakes, big horns….and excellent food in Taos when you are done. :)

Don't tell anyone, though, how great it is..keep 'em north of the border in Colorado. ;)

"Don't tell anyone, though, how great it is..keep 'em north of the border in Colorado. ;)"

http://www.pmags.com/enchantment-in-the-sangres-backpacking-in-the-pecos-wilderness-new-mexico

http://www.pmags.com/return-to-the-pecos-backpacking-in-the-land-of-enchantment

lol.

Still putting my plans together for the start and end of summer mountain backpacking in the USA. Hope for some snow to pile up soon as I was planning the Sierras at the start of summer and the Rockies at the end.

Saw some pics taken northern TRT in the last few days entitled "warm winter" (boo- hiss). Looks like the Rockies will be good after snow melts off the passes, though. Add that after hiking a severe drought, I'll let mother nature finalize my plans.

Just received my permit for a r2r2r backpacking trip in the Grand Canyon the first weekend in May and will start applying for JMT permits for July/August starting in February. I'll plan several JMT tune up trips this spring/early summer in the Desolation Wilderness and northern Sierras when most of the snow is gone.

Will be off to Sudan and Saudi Arabia in Feb and Mar. Looking forward to some desert night camping — and amazing history.

It's a joke Ken. Perhaps you are familiar with this concept? ;) Ps. Ii did not realize I am on your stalkee list…cool!

I'm excited to do some of the classic mid-level hikes in the canyon this winter . . Escalante Route, LCR, maybe the Hermit Loop – I kind of skipped straight from the corridor to the really intense off trail stuff and I've been slowly filling in the gaps.

Then, of course, I'd like to top it off with an intense off-trail route – an aggressive, one-way, possibly SUL hike of the Horse Thief Route in 4 days in May sometime. Includes a hitch across the river, a long water carry and ridiculous elevation changes.

After that I'm excited to go places not the Big Ditch. As of yet, unplanned. Maybe the Sierras or Cascades, I haven't been to either in a couple of years.

I was laughing Mags. Fan of the TS.

Bradford is looking for that Pecos info in another thread right now. Maybe you could be useful. Edit :)

Death Valley this spring. Maybe an excursion into Utah as well.

And then later in the spring Peru in the Cordillera Blanca.

Also want to do some shorter hikes from the East Side of the Sierra…just going in for a couple of days at a time, but exploring three or more trailheads.

In February we'll be making the long drive from Alaska to Oregon, so we'll be stopping at a few national parks along the way (Kluane, Banff, Jasper) to do some snowshoeing and splitboarding. Looking forward to that, but not so much the Alcan highway again…

As far as backpacking goes, we're planning for a week in North Cascades, along with shorter trips to the Oregon Cascades, Wallowas, and Trinity Alps. We're also considering the idea of taking on the Sierra High Route (or some variation on it) in September, if all goes according to plan.

I'm hoping to cross Kodiak yet again. A new route, perhaps. From Old Harbor to Larsen Bay. Or maybe go the whole length from Alitak to the city of Kodiak. Something bear-infested, in any case.

For the Spring, hope to land at Old Settler's Music Festival in Driftwood, Texas, with many treks (at least 100 yards each way) between Ben McCulloch campground on Onion Creek and Salt Lick BBQ (with hours-long-lay-overs at various music venues).

http://www.oldsettlersmusicfest.org/

Then, waiting for summer, a whirl-wind tour of as many national parks as can be packed into a few months, think Chevy Chase at Grand Canyon —

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAXU–BJWYY

For summer, PCT in Oregon Cascades. High Divide Loop in the Olympics, too. And a return to the Enchantments would be cherry on top.

Whatcom Pass also? Why not? If only there were a shuttle for traversing North Cascades NP between Ross Lake and Hannegan Pass TH.

For the fall, the best of all: Wind River Range, Tetons, and Yellowstone.

It's a tough life, but someone's got to live it.

Kat == a trip to Switzerland sure sounds great! Have really looked forward to hiking between Kanderstag and the Eiger area one day.

Scotland and the Lakes District beckon, too. So much to do, so little time.