Well, that year certainly went fast! Lots of great adventures, alone, with family and with friends. I’m usually focused on what comes next, but sometimes it is good to turn around and look where you’ve been.

Last year we had plenty of snow by this point, so there were lots of day hikes and even a few overnight trips on snowshoes. With the lack of snow this year I’ve been limited to remembering rather than doing. Still, that is why we stockpile those memories; They keep us going when things aren’t as great. This winter weekend trip to New Hampshire has been on my mind while working on the pulk I’ve been building. I’d expected to be making regular trips to the Whites by this point, but snow has been sparse there as well.

There were a few Spring trips last year that straddled the mud season’s worst. A trip up the back side of the Hancocks on snowshoes in early May was followed up with a snow free trip up the back side of Carrigain late in the month.

The Summer started with a trip to the Bonds for the solstice. Captured an amazing sunset video that I turned into a time lapse I find very relaxing to watch. There were family trips to Baxter with wife and daughter as well as the annual visit from the Texas boys. There also was a second attempt at the 70 mile loop down the length of BSP and back up via the International Appalachian Trail, this time successfully, albeit quite wet.

With my Long Trail plans delayed for another year the Fall was spent working on redlining the Pemigewasset Wilderness including finally doing a traditional Pemi Loop.

I’m still a bit behind on my Fall trip reports, but there were a few more trips to the Whites and a very relaxing week up in Baxter for a late season trip with some new friends. Of course I did my annual failed attempt at doing the Grafton Loop clockwise and even managed to get up to the Bay of Fundy for the Winter solstice (sunrise video).

If you’ve been reading here since the start you may have noticed I’ve been a bit quieter this year than last. What I haven’t been doing is writing opinion pieces or waxing philosophical. Even gear reviews have been sparse this year, though I have several items in the pipeline currently.  Partially that is because the more time I spend in the woods the less important words seem to be to me. I still passionately desire to inspire others to get out into the world and experience it, so I try to post reports on my adventures that both make people want to go themselves and be realistic about the difficulties and dangers of back country adventuring.

Some of the opinions I’m not expressing here are pretty dang cranky too as I’m not too keen on some of the things I see on trail or in online backpacking communities. That also accounts for some of the quiet as I’m not sure my ranting would do any good and I hesitate to engage in pointless bickering when I could be happier forgetting it all and going for a walk in the woods. We’ll see what this next year brings though. Might be time to go on a rant or two 🙂

Definitely some adventuring on the agenda though! Once again the Long Trail is back in the plans, hopefully in late September/early October. Still hoping to try out my crazy, three week, unsupported attempt. To that end I have a two week, 200 mile, practice trip planned for June that would take me from Stratton to Katahdin. With those big adventures bookending the Summer that still leaves a lot of time on either side and in between for shorter trips. It is good to look back sometimes, but as usually I’m looking forward to what comes next.

Hope you have enjoyed reading here over the last year and that you’ll stop by from time to time again this year to see what I’ve been up to.  It might inspire you to get out there in search of your own path less traveled!