Checking in...

2020 was weird for everyone, no doubt, but I did no backpacking or major hiking trip the entire year. The Isle Royale trip, already documented here was the most recent that I've done. I'm not yet sure what 2021 holds either; we have lots of uncertainty about our schedule in particular and things we need to do. Although no doubt, I'll visit a number of beautiful outdoorsey locations, whether I get to hike in them or not is TBD.

To be fair, in 2020 I did that as well. I got to check a number of places off of my list that I'd never been before, some of them having been at the top of my list for the better part of 40 years. I saw Yellowstone. I saw the Grand Tetons. I saw Pilot and Index Peaks. I saw Mt. Rushmore and Custer State park, and much of the rest of the Black Hills. I saw Badlands National Park. I saw Promontory Utah and the Golden Spike area. I saw the Devil's Tower (I did actually do the inner loop hike there; it's small enough that other than the somewhat bigger outer loop, which no doubt doesn't look too much different, I don't have a ton of other options anyway.)

But in no case did I have the opportunity to do more than a few day hikes or drive up and look kind of things. The longest hike that I managed to talk my family into doing with me when I had them with me was a little beyond Inspiration Point at the Tetons. Everyone actually said that they liked the Tetons better than Yellowstone, which I think nobody expected (except for me, maybe.)

Anyway; it's been over a year since I've made a post, so I thought I'd just do a check in. I don't have any specific plans to announce, unfortunately. I'll be going out West at least twice yet this year, but I don't anticipate being able to do more than a few days of outdoorsy sightseeing while out there. We're actually trying to get all the way to the West Coast and maybe see the Redwoods, but when we do, it will likely be in the winter. In the summer, we'll head to Boise and maybe see some stuff either on the way or on the way back.

And it'll be "drive up to a place and maybe spend a few hours there" too, not backpacking for several days, sadly. But that's what I know for sure I can do. If I can fit another trip for me in, I will. I just don't know that I can yet.