To Do in 2015

uintafly said:
It's been a while since I have been on this site. Seems to have blown up in the past year or so which is cool.

I'm still trying to stay in ski mode even though good snow is getting harder and harder to find.

Winter skiing/mountaineering to do:
- Pfeifferhorn
- Mt. Hood, Mt. Adams and Mt. St. Helens
- Uinta yurt trip in early March
- Grandeur Peak to Mt. Aire along the Mill Creek ridgeline
- At least 12 more tours before end of April

Spring
- 1 Moab hiking/biking trip with my wife
- 1 Moab biking trip with the fellas
- 1 Canyoneering trip in Zion or Escalante
- Hopefully a backpacking trip in either Escalante or Cedar Mesa

Summer
- Family trip to either redwood forest or glacier
- Gannett Peak in the Winds
- A minimum of 25 nights camping with the little ones
- 1 or 2 Uinta backpack trips

Fall
- Multiple Southern Utah canyoneering trips

It seems like a busy year but compared to some of the lists on this thread it looks a little paltry!
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That's an impressive list sir! Skiing the peaks in the Cascades is the trip of a lifetime, besides your 25 night pf camping, "multiple" canyoneering trips, etc. And with family commitments etc? Bravo.
 
LarryBoy said:
That's an impressive list sir! Skiing the peaks in the Cascades is the trip of a lifetime, besides your 25 night pf camping, "multiple" canyoneering trips, etc. And with family commitments etc? Bravo.
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Yeah I really can't complain considering everything. Hoping for a good year.
 
Figured I'd revisit this and see where I am at. Red is done.
Howells Outdoors said:
I have a lot to do this year.
  1. Salt Creek in Canyonlands (thanks for the cool TR I've seen from @Nick and @IntrepidXJ)
  2. Grand Gulch
  3. Full San Juan River trip
  4. Cottonwood Canyon (the one west of Kanab)
  5. Goblin Valley (I've never been)
  6. Reflection Canyon in Glen Canyon
  7. Heaps and Imlay in Zion
  8. The Jug of Salome Creek in Tonto National Forest
  9. A Big Wall climb in Zion
  10. Some places on the Grand Staircase and on Cedar Mesa.
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Miss Buffalo said:
I finally had a bit of time, so I could plan most of my trips for next year.
I will probably add a few more short weekend trips throughout the year, but the summer will be used for quite a few trips between my semesters.

January: Bluff Balloon Festival
Februrary: Little Finland
March: Spring Break in Death Valley
May 11-18: Galapagos with Dixie State University as a field trip :):):)
Memorial Day: probably Salt Creek Canyon
June 20-July 14: Big Island and Kauai with backpacking Kalalau trail
July 18-August 23: road trip to the Black Hills, North Dakota, Yellowstone, Grand Tetons, and Cirque of Towers in the Wind River Range
Labor Day weekend in Moab
October: Fall Break in Escalante
November: annual Subway hike , Thanksgiving somewhere in the desert
December: not planned yet, but something with snow would be nice, Christmas and New Year's on the Big Island of Hawai'i
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I've finished quite a few of my planned trips and am still on track( blue marked trips). But I changed my October trip to Moab and will probably spent Thanksgiving in the Escalante area. Not sure if this is a good idea, but I need to squeeze in at least one long Escalante weekend until the end of the year
I also added another Big Island photography trip over Christmas :)
 
LarryBoy said:
I'll just post this to publicly shame myself if I fail to accomplish my goals :)

Major (week-long) backpacks -

Hayduke Trail sections 2-3 (Hurrah Pass-Hite, UT) - 125 miles
A week in the Winds (route and mileage as yet unknown)
Hundred Mile Wilderness (ME) - 115 miles
Hayduke Trail sections 5-6 (Poison Springs Canyon - Crack-in-the-Wall UT) - 125 miles

Minor (long weekend) backpacks -

Lower Grand Culch (Collins TH-San Juan River) - 35 miles
Ruby Crest Trail - 40 miles
Delano Peak Loop - 33 miles, maybe more if USFS maps are lying to me

Cumulative Goals -

500 trail miles
50 sleeping bag nights
At least one backpacking trip every single month

Doable? We'll see!
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It was a good year. I didn't get out for a 4th week-long trip, and some of my minor trips were adjusted, but overall I'm very happy with how 2015 turned out. The only disappointment is that I did not get out for a December trip.

Major (week-long) backpacks -

Hayduke Trail sections 2-3 (Hurrah Pass-Hite, UT) - 125 miles Yep!
A week in the Winds (route and mileage as yet unknown) Yep!
Hundred Mile Wilderness (ME) - 115 miles Yep!
Hayduke Trail sections 5-6 (Poison Springs Canyon - Crack-in-the-Wall UT) - 125 miles Nope :(

Minor (long weekend) backpacks -

Lower Grand Culch (Collins TH-San Juan River) - 35 miles Yep!
Ruby Crest Trail - 40 miles Nope :(
Delano Peak Loop - 33 miles, maybe more if USFS maps are lying to me Nope :(

Cumulative Goals -

500 trail miles Yep! Probably got closer to 1000 than 500
50 sleeping bag nights Yep!
At least one backpacking trip every single month Nope :(
 
if i can get the time off from work this summer,i'm planning on hiking the idaho centennial trail, starting mid to late june till the end of august.me and my buddy mountain mike have been planning our resupply, which is a bit challenging, gonna need some local support in a few spots, have a few friends in montana that will help out.weve got 10-12 food drops tentatively mapped out.
if i cant get the time off, i'm inclined to re-hike the benton mackaye trail in the spring, then do another long hike in the fall in either new hampshire or maine.
in between there's always day hikes, and i'll be meeting up with some friends in harriman state park for mlk weekend.
 
Hoping to get a few Firsts this year :) The Plans are:
  1. Have our first Baby!!!!! (talk about a crazy adventure!?) Yeah! Baby Merrell arrived and has been a joy to have in our home.
  2. Go x-country Skiing for the first time Complete! Can't wait to do another trip like this again.
  3. Do a technical mountain climb (Mexican Mountain) for the first time. Nope. Ended up moving that trip the the La Sal Mountains where it was a bit cooler. Climbed Manns Peak instead.
  4. Do a Loop hike in the SRS for the First Time. Nope. Maybe this year!
  5. Float in a inflatable kayak for the first time. Didn't happen either. But I did pick one up this year!
  6. Backpack into the Wind River range for the first time. Oh yeah! This was one of the years highlights
  7. Backpack the Uinta High Line trail for the first time. Ugh. had to cancel this trip. maybe next year!
  8. Backpack Loafer/Santaquin peak for the first time. Didn't happen :(
  9. Backpack Nebo Mtn for the first time To much snow on the top for when I planned this trip. Did the Slate Canyon loop instead.
  10. Navigate a backcountry trip with only a map and compass for the first time. Still need to do this.
 
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2015 was a great year with week-long backpacking trips to Zion, Canyonlands, plus several weekend trips in the Ozarks spent floating/camping. I've got three kids aged six and under, so my travel and bag nights are a bit restricted compared to some on here. That said, the little ones love camping, and we're going to do some shorter backpacking trips around the Midwest this year.

For 2016, I already have some adventures planned:
1. Olympic National Park in May. A 3/4 day adventure in the Enchanted Valley/Anderson Pass followed by a couple days on the Pacific coast beach areas.
2. Glacier National Park in August. 5-day thru hike on the High Divide.
3. King's Canyon National Park in Sept/Oct - 4 day loop at Rae's lakes, then head up the CA coast for some hiking along the Pacific.
4. Multi-day float trip in the Ozarks - 11-Mile River or the lower Current
5. Get my six-year-old twins out as much as I can!
6. Backpacking trip to the Shawnee National Forest in Southern Illinois. This is a hidden Midwestern gem with little traffic.
 
Here's my 2015 results...

Backpacking
Overnighter: Grove Creek & Battle Creek Loop (May/June) - Done
Overnighter: Slate & Slide Canyon Loop with a summit of Provo Peak (June)- Done (early July)
Multi-day: Red Castle - King's Peak - Henry's Fork Loop (June/July/August) - Nope - replaced this trip with a return visit back to Middle Basin in September w/ @Blake Merrell
Overnighter: Timp (August) - Done (mid July w/ @WillisBodillus)
Overnighter: Rock Canyon - Little Rock Canyon Loop (May/June/July/August) - Done
Overnighter: Deseret Peak (June/July/August) - Nope - replaced this with a solo outing up Naturalist Basin in mid-June
Overnighter: Capitol Reef - Spring Canyon, Frying Pan Trail, or Pleasant Creek (April/May or September/October) - Done (3 days/2 nights in April)

Car Camps:
TBD - Only did one real car camping trip with the family during the fall down in Escalante. Camped down off HIR road. Highlights were experiencing Upper Calf Creek, Devil's Garden, and a nice set of dino tracks all for the first time on this trip Wanted to squeeze in Peekaboo and Spooky Gulch but the kids voted out of it when told how long it could take. TR on this one to come soon as well.
 
As expected, my knee didn't cooperate for getting much of my list done. But despite having insanely weird health problems throughout the year, I'm still stoked about 2015 and even more stoked for 2016. Here's how I did...

  • Maybe a New Years or mid-winter boat trip with a big beach bonfire if I can recruit some company. Did it. Ended up in the ER, but I did it.
  • An early spring backpacking trip to an undisclosed location Did it and ended up in the ER AGAIN. Totally awesome though. Yay morphine.
  • Thousand Pockets Nope
  • West Fork Bowns and it's 7 caves (maybe as an overnighter) Nope
  • Bishop Canyon Did some of it (floating)
  • Explorer Canyon Came SO close! Damn, quickmud.
  • Forbidding Canyon/Anasazi Creek (maybe as a point-to-point to Rainbow Bridge or Oak Canyon) Nope
  • Long Canyon Picked up Dan there after an epic backpacking trip, so I'm calling that half way. Haha.
  • Smith Fork Nope
  • Forgotten Canyon Nope
  • Moqui Canyon Boated it but that doesn't count.
  • Wilson Canyon Nope

But on top of that I did lots of awesome things that I didn't have on my list like witnessing ridiculous flash floods. Some that were just really cool and some that I'm happy to have survived, once in a lifetime kind of floods. I also backpacked an awesome route that would be hard to do without those floods and finally saw the Cosmic Navel. And the Green River Lakes yakpacking, that was awesome and I've been dreaming about it for years. I got a little sick of the motorboat and took the summer off from it so that definitely affected what I did compared to what I thought I would do. 2016 was so good despite being kind of a turd in other ways. I'm feeling way more optimistic about my knee and it's capacity to get me around in 2016, but I have some other things on the table that are making me unsure about my plans for the next 6 months.

So who's going to start the 'To Do in 2016' thread?


Nick said:
I don't really know what to expect out of my shiny new knee this year, so I'm not totally sure what to plan for. My physical therapist says that the full recovery takes a year, but over the last week I've seen so much improvement that I could almost see myself backpacking in a month or two. Definitely going to be ready for at least some light stuff in the spring.

But with the uncertainty I'm tentatively planning small for now, mostly boat trips with hikes up various side canyons in Glen Canyon. I'll probably spend close to a week out there at least once a month May through October. One of the best parts about that plan is that my wife has become comfortable enough with the boat that she is going to let me take off for long day hikes and even some overnighters while she stays with the boat. That's been the tricky thing about having it and wanting to explore; you can't just park it like a car and take off for a few days.

Here's my list so far:
  • Maybe a New Years or mid-winter boat trip with a big beach bonfire if I can recruit some company.
  • An early spring backpacking trip to an undisclosed location
  • Thousand Pockets
  • West Fork Bowns and it's 7 caves (maybe as an overnighter)
  • Bishop Canyon
  • Explorer Canyon
  • Forbidding Canyon/Anasazi Creek (maybe as a point-to-point to Rainbow Bridge or Oak Canyon)
  • Long Canyon
  • Smith Fork
  • Forgotten Canyon
  • Moqui Canyon
  • Wilson Canyon

If the knee cooperates, I'd also like to get in a fair amount of good old fashioned land-based backpacking, but that will have to get planned on the fly. Fingers crossed...
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Nick said:
As expected, my knee didn't cooperate for getting much of my list done. But despite having insanely weird health problems throughout the year, I'm still stoked about 2015 and even more stoked for 2016. Here's how I did...

  • Maybe a New Years or mid-winter boat trip with a big beach bonfire if I can recruit some company. Did it. Ended up in the ER, but I did it.
  • An early spring backpacking trip to an undisclosed location Did it and ended up in the ER AGAIN. Totally awesome though. Yay morphine.
  • Thousand Pockets Nope
  • West Fork Bowns and it's 7 caves (maybe as an overnighter) Nope
  • Bishop Canyon Did some of it (floating)
  • Explorer Canyon Came SO close! Damn, quickmud.
  • Forbidding Canyon/Anasazi Creek (maybe as a point-to-point to Rainbow Bridge or Oak Canyon) Nope
  • Long Canyon Picked up Dan there after an epic backpacking trip, so I'm calling that half way. Haha.
  • Smith Fork Nope
  • Forgotten Canyon Nope
  • Moqui Canyon Boated it but that doesn't count.
  • Wilson Canyon Nope

But on top of that I did lots of awesome things that I didn't have on my list like witnessing ridiculous flash floods. Some that were just really cool and some that I'm happy to have survived, once in a lifetime kind of floods. I also backpacked an awesome route that would be hard to do without those floods and finally saw the Cosmic Navel. And the Green River Lakes yakpacking, that was awesome and I've been dreaming about it for years. I got a little sick of the motorboat and took the summer off from it so that definitely affected what I did compared to what I thought I would do. 2016 was so good despite being kind of a turd in other ways. I'm feeling way more optimistic about my knee and it's capacity to get me around in 2016, but I have some other things on the table that are making me unsure about my plans for the next 6 months.

So who's going to start the 'To Do in 2016' thread?
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But you did some really awesome boat trips and went out more than I did. I really enjoyed all your trips and often wished I was there.
I guess you'll hike and backpack more in 2016 than I will be able to do.
 
- June 24th-30th in Zion/Bryce with my wife. Done, except we ended up doing Zion/North Rim instead of Zion/Bryce
- Long weekend backpack in Shenandoah NP including Old Rag Mtn and Rogers Mtn. Done - Although I decided on a different section of Shenandoah instead.
- Finally climb Mount Mansfield in Vermont and Mount Greylock in Massachussets Mount Mansfield - Done Mount Greylock - Not Done
- 3 day Pemi Loop (Pemigewasset Loop) in the Whites, NH Not Done
- 3 day Great Range Traverse in the ADK's, NY Did 2 days, but bailed out early
- My annual 2-3 day kayak camping trip down the Delaware River. Done
- 7 night backpack in the Grand Tetons with some BCP peeps. I think we did 5 nights due to the weather

- As many impromptu day hikes and overnighters in my local spots as time permits, Catskills Done, Shawangunks Done, Kittatinny Mts Not Done., etc. and maybe a kayak camping trip in the ADK's Done - did a 5 day paddling trip on the northern forest canoe trail.

Didn't do everything that I listed here last year, but I DID do a few things that I didn't plan on at the beginning of the year including a beach backpack on Assateague Island in MD, Mount Moosilauke in the White Mountains, a couple of trips to the ADK's, and a last minute trip to Vermont.
 
Jimmy said:
2015 was a great year with week-long backpacking trips to Zion, Canyonlands, plus several weekend trips in the Ozarks spent floating/camping. I've got three kids aged six and under, so my travel and bag nights are a bit restricted compared to some on here. That said, the little ones love camping, and we're going to do some shorter backpacking trips around the Midwest this year.

For 2016, I already have some adventures planned:
1. Olympic National Park in May. A 3/4 day adventure in the Enchanted Valley/Anderson Pass followed by a couple days on the Pacific coast beach areas.
2. Glacier National Park in August. 5-day thru hike on the High Divide.
3. King's Canyon National Park in Sept/Oct - 4 day loop at Rae's lakes, then head up the CA coast for some hiking along the Pacific.
4. Multi-day float trip in the Ozarks - 11-Mile River or the lower Current
5. Get my six-year-old twins out as much as I can!
6. Backpacking trip to the Shawnee National Forest in Southern Illinois. This is a hidden Midwestern gem with little traffic.
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I got to float a bit of the Current River last Summer, which is far from my usual stomping grounds. Really beautiful. Lots of wildlife and clear water. Springs were great too. Son got stationed at Ft. Leonard Wood or wouldn't have probably ever thought to check it out.
 
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