To Do in 2021

I always wanted to do hike in/paddle in beach camping up in the panhandle but never got that far north when my mom lived in Apopka.
I am sure you checked but I remember researching this:
 
Cumberland Island's in Georgia, and I can be in Canada in about the same time as Cayo Costa.
 
Cumberland Island's in Georgia, and I can be in Canada in about the same time as Cayo Costa.
Oops, I missed the Florida piece (having not yet hiked there). Was thinking beaches on the south, not statelines. My bad.
 
Due to an unplanned hip replacement my 2021 recreation schedule was up in the air, but 1.5 weeks out I appear to be on an accelerated recovery timeline (I hiked 11 miles last week :) ) so here it goes:
  • Be in sufficient alpine shape to hike/scramble an easy peak in the Sierra by the end of June - Evolution Loop instead
  • Sierra or Winds death march and/or backpacking trip dependent on fire/smoke conditions - Sierra backpacking trip report
  • Escalante/Glen Canyon, Bears Ears, or Grand Canyon backpacking trip in the fall
  • Grand Canyon 20+ miler in a day (Rim-to-Rim or equivalent) in Oct with friends
  • Bridge Mt in Zion
  • At least one overnight bikepacking trip
  • Build a climbing wall/crack simulator at my house and get my upper body back into climbing/canyoneering shape
  • Actually use a reasonable allotment of my "unlimited" PTO
 
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Due to an unplanned hip replacement my 2021 recreation schedule was up in the air, but 1.5 weeks out I appear to be on an accelerated recovery timeline (I hiked 11 miles last week :) ) so here it goes:
  • Be in sufficient alpine shape to hike/scramble an easy peak in the Sierra by the end of June
  • Sierra or Winds death march and/or backpacking trip dependent on fire conditions
  • Escalante/Glen Canyon, Bears Ears, or Grand Canyon backpacking trip in the fall
  • Grand Canyon 20+ miler in a day (Rim-to-Rim or equivalent) in Oct with friends
  • Bridge Mt in Zion
  • At least one overnight bikepacking trip
  • Build a climbing wall/crack simulator at my house and get my upper body back into climbing/canyoneering shape
  • Actually use a reasonable allotment of my "unlimited" PTO

So how did your hip feel after the 11 miles?
 
not sure if I can hit my goal of 1,000 hiking miles this year. My knee isn't healing, even 7 months after my severe injury I still have a lot of pain and trouble hiking more than 8 miles. I guess I just have to accept that I can only walk and hike short trips in the future.
It's a bummer but well, you get to this point in your life, some like me get there early, others later.
 
So far this year, I have only been able to spend four days out in Canyonlands. I also completed some day hikes on Mount Rainier - I’m hoping to get a permit for the Wonderland Trail next summer.

Coming up this year, I’ve got a permit for a loop through the Mineral King area of Sequoia Kings Canyon NP. I’m also planning about a week out in the Inyos and a section of the Idaho Wilderness Trail. I hope to add more to the list as the year goes on, but these are on the radar for the summer. I’ll be traveling to Costa Rica to visit family. I hear that wild camping there is basically illegal, but I’m looking to explore with a lot of day hikes.
 
I didn't even make an initial post in the 2020 thread, but then I knocked out several of my highest-priority items this year. I've been feelin' my age and trying to visit the places that intrigue me the most. Here's my list for 2021.

  • A bunch of stuff near the head of Horseshoe Canyon
  • Lower Price River backpack
  • Suluar Mesa trails in the Book Cliffs (off Gray Canyon and Tusher Canyon)
  • Maybe a Skyline Drive trip from Tucker to I-70
  • Beef Basin and surrounds
  • More stuff in lower Nine Mile Canyon
  • More Arches backcountry
  • Chimney Canyon super secret sneak route
  • The Gulch (again)
  • Spanish Fork Peak
  • Santaquin Peak
  • Maybe some stuff near Desolation Canyon (accessed from above)
I've done a poor job so far this year, only knocking one thing off my list (the Gulch). And since most of my to-do list is desert stuff, it's unlikely I'll get to most of it until it cools off again. I'm adding a couple of things to my list:

• Backpack into lower Good Water Canyon (may not happen this year if we don't get some precip)
• Camp between the lanes of I-70 somewhere in the San Rafael Swell
 
• Camp between the lanes of I-70 somewhere in the San Rafael Swell
love it! probably a great time to dig out the army green bivy bag instead of the bright orange 4-person tent :)

though that wouldn't be necessary if you camped at about 38.860341, -110.865608
 
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So far this year, I have only been able to spend four days out in Canyonlands. I also completed some day hikes on Mount Rainier - I’m hoping to get a permit for the Wonderland Trail next summer.

Coming up this year, I’ve got a permit for a loop through the Mineral King area of Sequoia Kings Canyon NP. I’m also planning about a week out in the Inyos and a section of the Idaho Wilderness Trail. I hope to add more to the list as the year goes on, but these are on the radar for the summer. I’ll be traveling to Costa Rica to visit family. I hear that wild camping there is basically illegal, but I’m looking to explore with a lot of day hikes.
Curious what route the Idaho Wilderness Trail takes between the Selway and Wilderness Gateway. Do you happen to know?

I do think it's unfortunate that the Big Outside guy chose to frame it as a "new" trail, rather than as a couple of alternates to the existing Idaho Centennial Trail. The ICT is in some desperate need of love and attention, and I think that the choice to compete with it rather than cooperate with it hurts the cause of long-distance hiking in that corner of the world.
 
Curious what route the Idaho Wilderness Trail takes between the Selway and Wilderness Gateway. Do you happen to know?

I do think it's unfortunate that the Big Outside guy chose to frame it as a "new" trail, rather than as a couple of alternates to the existing Idaho Centennial Trail. The ICT is in some desperate need of love and attention, and I think that the choice to compete with it rather than cooperate with it hurts the cause of long-distance hiking in that corner of the world.
No, not sure exactly. I need to break out maps to see what I can deduce. That’s a project for this summer. I have not been lucky enough to hike much of the ICT though I have been through some areas on rafting expeditions, and I hiked (very) short sections of it from some of the camps. Admittedly, I am not extremely knowledgeable about either trail. I agree with your assessment of the IWT possibly hurting the ICT if it is perceived as a competitor. I do know that parts of the ICT basically exist only as figments of the imagination at this point as they are so overgrown and covered by windfall. I appreciate your comment to said Outside Guy.
 
I don't have a super-specific plan for the year. I've got these on the short list, however a lot is subject to change.

1. CDT Argentine Spine/Grays & Torreys route
2. Ruby Mtns (I've had it on my list for about five years now and never got around to it)
3. Middle Grand Gulch
4. Allsop/Priord Lakes
5. Trachyte Creek
6. GET or PCT section (maybe)
7. Wheeler Peak (NV)
8. At least 1 randomly-selected coordinate pair somewhere in Utah.
9. The UHT east of Leidy. I know it's not reported to be particularly thrilling, but I do want to see it for myself.

I'd also like to log at least 50 bag nights in 2021.
Safe to say that I did not accomplish too many of my goals in 2021. Got hurt in early March, spent most of the year rehabbing, and still pretty limited in what I can do. Hopefully 2022 is less of a strikeout!

1. CDT Argentine Spine/Grays & Torreys route
2. Ruby Mtns (I've had it on my list for about five years now and never got around to it)

3. Middle Grand Gulch
4. Allsop/Priord Lakes
5. Trachyte Creek
6. GET or PCT section (maybe)
7. Wheeler Peak (NV)
8. At least 1 randomly-selected coordinate pair somewhere in Utah.
9. The UHT east of Leidy. I know it's not reported to be particularly thrilling, but I do want to see it for myself.


I'd also like to log at least 50 bag nights in 2021. (I got 33ish)
 
Mixed results for my meager goals. Those in green completed those in red not. Blue is maybe still doable.

Nothing overly ambitious compared to a lot of stuff I see on here.

March - A couple days exploring the Escalante area, hopefully weather will cooperate better than the first visit in March of 2019. First Escalante Trip

May - Return to Escalante area with some family to introduce them to Canyon Country.

August - Camping in Yellowstone or backpacking in the Uintas.


October - Hopefully visit Yellowstone again.

Miscellaneous -

- At least 5 nights in a tent or our casita

- Visit the Newfoundland Mountains in Western Utah from the north.

- A minimum of 5 snowshoeing/winter hiking trips, or if we get cross country skis that will be included

- Catch a cutthroat with the fly rod. I seem to only be able to catch rainbows and browns.
 
  • go to Yellowstone and hike more of the backcountry( there are still 650 miles left that I haven't hiked yet, I did 450 miles so far)
  • Hike to Pine Valley Mountains
  • hike at least 1,000 miles
  • go on a long weekend trip to Lake Powell
  • 1-2 local backpacking trips
  • go winter camping
  • go to the Tushar's
Well, I did pretty well with my goals

  1. Yellowstone did happen, I hiked 150 more miles in the backcountry
  2. Injury-related, which put me out for over 3 months, I only ended up hiking 960 miles
  3. I went to Lake Powel but the low water levels were really disappointing and sad
  4. I had several local backpacking trips in Zion
  5. my winter camping trip happens on the 27th on the West Rim
  6. I went to the Tushers

In addition, I went to Washington and Oregon and climbed Mount Saint Helens, one of my lifetime dreams came true with that
I locally went cross-country skiing and snowshoeing
I went backpacking in the Escalante area
 
  • xc skiing on a lot of weekends this winter. There are lots of trails up Gallatin Canyon and elsewhere nearby that I want to try. Done! Even got one last weekend and probably one more before the end of the year.
  • It's iffy whether my standard April trip to Boulder Mountain/Capitol Reef will work, so I'm thinking I'll try some of the lower elevation stuff around here near Helena and the Missouri River in late April or May. Nope.
  • A few trips near home, Gallatins, Madisons, and Beartooths Done pretty much. Tons of day hikes, an overnighter in the Madisons, and an overnighter in the Tobacco Roots. Still need to see the Beartooths.
  • I'd really like either to get back to the Southern Absarokas or to take my first trip to the Bob Marshall Wilderness in August. Kind of done. It wasn't the grand, big trip I was envisioning, but I did get into the Bob for one night in July.
  • September Yellowstone trip with @scatman and @TractorDoc Nope, due to family events.
  • Probably an October Yellowstone trip to the Bechler area to make up for the failed trip this year Done.

Thanks for bringing this back to the surface, @LarryBoy. I would have forgotten about it. 3.5/6 is maybe my best score yet. Haha.
 
  • xc skiing on a lot of weekends this winter. There are lots of trails up Gallatin Canyon and elsewhere nearby that I want to try. Done! Even got one last weekend and probably one more before the end of the year.
  • It's iffy whether my standard April trip to Boulder Mountain/Capitol Reef will work, so I'm thinking I'll try some of the lower elevation stuff around here near Helena and the Missouri River in late April or May. Nope.
  • A few trips near home, Gallatins, Madisons, and Beartooths Done pretty much. Tons of day hikes, an overnighter in the Madisons, and an overnighter in the Tobacco Roots. Still need to see the Beartooths.
  • I'd really like either to get back to the Southern Absarokas or to take my first trip to the Bob Marshall Wilderness in August. Kind of done. It wasn't the grand, big trip I was envisioning, but I did get into the Bob for one night in July.
  • September Yellowstone trip with @scatman and @TractorDoc Nope, due to family events.
  • Probably an October Yellowstone trip to the Bechler area to make up for the failed trip this year Done.

Thanks for bringing this back to the surface, @LarryBoy. I would have forgotten about it. 3.5/6 is maybe my best score yet. Haha.
Come to Beartooths with Scat and I in Aug.... Check that off
 
Come to Beartooths with Scat and I in Aug.... Check that off
Loop me in on those details! I have a friend's wedding to attend in August, but would be interested in joining if it doesn't coincide.
 
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