Outdoor Challenges for 2024

I really like the concept of 2024 miles in 2024.

In the past, I’d have a goal, sometime each year, to “hike my age” in miles, in a day.  It’s been 15 years since I’ve done that and now I’d definitely have to go metric and do it in kilometers – when I last did 62 miles in a day, I was 1/3 my age.  So 62 km = 38 miles.  There’s a tradeoff of making it as easy as possible versus interesting.  Easy = flat paths around town.  Interesting = in some scenic mountainous setting but that makes the 38 miles harder.

Attempting to bend my future life according to an arbitrary challenge (2024 because it’s 2024) has never been my own style. And frankly, I don’t think life works that way. (See, “I got covid” earlier). I’ve been lucky in life: I was always able to finesse trips into the wild near term. This meant, the weather would likely be good (big, big plus for me); I’d be healthy the snow pack would be manageable. A lot of those six or seven day trips over the long season–I’m in California–meant six good months of hiking with good weather and all the rest. But what if I set a goal for myself, got covid, and came no where near to accomplishing it?

No goal, no problem.

All joy.

My goal is to let go of goal driven backpacks (and other things), and just enjoy backpacks for the simple pleasures of communing with rocks, trees, water, flower, sky… whether it be 100 miles or 1 …

I booked a flight to Tucson and will be nobo on the AZT march-April. The same goal as many years past to do my best in the BMO and finally complete a traverse of a little known wilderness in Montana.

I’ll do the same as I’ve been doing n recent years, about a 1500 miles a  year in steep, rocky terrain with a good portion of off trail. Lots of photography, gourmet snacks and gourmet drinks. During 2023 we photographed and identified 63 species of wildflowers and captured some intriguing wildlife. This passion will continue through 2024 and beyond.

I’m new to backpacking.  I’d like to spend at least 5 nights out and do my families first multi day.  Up to now it has been just overnights.  Which are still fun.

I’m with DWR. I’m trying to get out as much as possible. My goal is to be present and enjoy where I’m at. I have a new hiking partner who goes slow but is nice to spend time with. I’m happy whenever I am out, particularly with them.

I’ll add that a core belief here at BPL is that being outside helps people be better people and this corresponds anecdotally to my experience.

I am teaching at a different school this year and I have doors on both sides of my classroom and access to outdoor spaces. I love getting my students outside whenever possible for small group discussions or brainstorming. I don’t have any data about the outcomes but subjectively they seem happier and I know I do as well.

I’m with JScott and DWR D.  Challenges?  I ran my own company for 25 years.  That was enough challenges for me.  Now I look for ways to have fun. If it ain’t fun, I try like hell to avoid it.  But then, I think working on trail crews is fun…

More days/nights out, but my Oregon backpack was cut short by wildfire smoke.  Luckily I got to hike the highlight (around Crater Lk) before the smoke, reminiscent of Los Angeles smog circa 1970, inundated the area.  Got me thinking more daily miles.

That’s daily miles in spite of the aging process requiring an action plan if almost daily cardio>stretching>circuit weight training.  Then gear-wise looking at a tougher, smaller volume kit that obstacles can’t tear into.  The 35L I used was great but  is quickly becoming a McMansion for summer mountainy trips.   Starting a 30L kit for ‘24 after seeing some hikers post their 20°F FF sleeping bag based 3-night kit .. stuffed into a REI Flash 22 on Reddit (down jkt, NeoAir inflator, simple WPB bivy, .. BRS stove, mug, dollar store poncho, 3 dehydrated dinners, 3 Nutella stuff burritos, energy bars— and obviously strong shoulders.   How’s that for a New Year’s weight loss resolution?).

Anyways got me thinking (I’ll need a padded hipbelt option for water carries, plus my torso is long .. so no overpacked 22L daypack for me).   Turn my other gear towards winter..

This November my son and I, with the dog of course, did a 15 day unsupported trip where we saw zero people past the last gas station, and traveled less than two miles on trail.

The area we chose has very difficult terrain, but the beauty, remoteness and vast route potential beckons a 20 day trip in 2024

I would love to summit Mount Blue Sky from my front door in east Denver. ~120 miles roundtrip. It’s doable by bike the whole way, but I prefer foot travel, so I’ll devise a route to ride and walk up with an overnight kit.

A challenge helps me get out particularly in winter, like right now when it is minus 20F overnight and barely warms throughout the day. January will be worse, likely down to minus 30 and maybe minus 40. That 2024 in 2024 challenge requires me to get out there no matter what (as does the dog).  I wish I loved going out and hiking 5 miles in minus 30, but I honestly don’t. The goal gets me over “If it ain’t fun, I try like hell to avoid it.”

Wow that sounds brutal. I have similar but different motivation issues when the low is 104°

watch movies while on the treadmill… that’s what I do on bad weather days…

As a teenager we lived for two years on the Turtle Mountain Plateau on the Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation ten miles south of Canada in North Dakota. -40 in winter was common and thankfully there was usually no wind when it was that cold, again usually. Going out to visit friends at night was surreal and snowflakes do all have six sides and seemingly no two are alike. Ice crystals hung in the night air. While I was there I got into it and after I was able to get away from that geography as well as the parents I left it all behind at sixteen years of age and never returned.

After an intense thirty years of precision navigation off mostly USGS quads for stereo aerial mapping photography through wind and weather and restricted air spaces I doubt I’ll ever find a single bigger challenge in this lifetime but we still find them valuable and useful at times. We hike all year round and simply start before sunrise in the times of intense heat. That is actually one of the favorite times of year for us but again I got into the insane -40° of the north too. lol Like all of you I just love being out in wilderness where you see and experience so much.