To Do in 2024

TractorDoc said:
Mrs. TractorDoc must be tired of living vicariously thru my Yellowstone trip reports because she said she is going with me in 2024. This will be more of a day hike based trip; I've not drawn her to the dark side of backpacking yet (and doubt I ever will!).

I would like to get another backcountry trip in the GYE this year too. There are rumblings of a return to the Teton Wilderness amongst some of my past hiking friends and I'm doing my best to invite myself along. Hidden Creek is a destination at the top of the list.



It would be great to cross paths and maybe share a campsite for a night. I'll pack some extra Circus Peanuts for you. . . but I'm leaving the caviar in the car this time. :)

Weekend hikes in the surrounding area should continue. . . after falling into sloth mode for the winter I'll need to start training with the heavy pack again in order to handle what @Bob might be planning.
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Give me some dates. Actually found Joey, trying to get something interesting with him as well ...
 
TheMountainRabbit said:
Not as focused a list as in prior years, but certainly not due to lack of options! Should be a good year.
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That's a lot of adventure packed in. That Silas Canyon trip was a great trip. That entire area of the Southern Winds has great fishing and relatively easy trails. Just don't pick the off trail route I separated my shoulder on!
 
I should add that I do intend to do some bikepacking this year, if even just a couple overnights. Have a friend that I know wants to at least do some things locally, and we've talked about doing some cool stuff outside of the area (part of the Great Divide MTB Route is high on the list) but we'll see what actually happens. At the very least, I have a short/quick overnighter from my doorstep that I want to do as a gear/rig shakedown.

There are a couple nice overnight loops in Utah that I'd really like to do, if things look right I'm going to take my bike along and try at least one of them on my usual spring trip there this year. Wouldn't mind doing a longer trip in Utah too, but I'm not sure that will happen this year.
 
b.stark said:
Looks like I have a possible trip to Africa... it's not going to be a backcountry trip, but I guess it will be interesting to see that part of the world if I do go.
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Where in Africa? I did some hiking in Madagascar and Ethiopia.
 
I'll hit up some off roading trails in Moab this spring.
Capitol Reef for spring break with the fam
Kings Peak with a church group
And since it's been 4 years, I'm due to do the Highline Trail again, so I'll be doing that this summer, but this time I'll go west to east...very excited to do that actually.
 
fossana said:
Where in Africa? I did some hiking in Madagascar and Ethiopia.
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South Africa. It's something my parents are arranging so I'm not sure there will be much hiking, but we'll see how things end up. If I can manage to sneak some hiking in, that will be a big bonus.
 
Unfortunately, I am as disorganized for what I am going to do as I have ever been heading into a new year. Assuming that my foot is good to go come March, then these are my tentative plans:

- March, April and May, get back into hiking shape, which just means local hikes/summits here in the Wasatch. Hint, hint @Ugly. :)
- There is a chance in June that my son will come to visit from Portland. If he does, I may plan on doing something with him, but that is still up in the air at
this point.
- Plan to summit Mount Nebo for only my second time on my 60th birthday in July. Hint, hint @Ugly. :thumbsup:
- There are some whispers out there that there might be a Hidden Creek trip in the Teton Wilderness planned sometime between mid-July-ish through mid- August that I might be part of. There is a trail off Majo Pass that awaits the Scatman. :scatman:
- Early September, my wife and I are planning three nights in the backcountry at Grebe Lake in Yellowstone (basecamp with day hikes). I'll probably open
this up to BCPer's if anyone would like to join us.
- Late September, my usual September Yellowstone trip, this time up Specimen Creek in the northwest corner of the Park. Again, this will be another three
night stay with day hikes thrown in for good measure. I will probably open this one up too to anyone who might be interested. At this point, I believe
we would have room for four more people to join our group.
 
scatman said:
Unfortunately, I am as disorganized for what I am going to do as I have ever been heading into a new year. Assuming that my foot is good to go come March, then these are my tentative plans:

- March, April and May, get back into hiking shape, which just means local hikes/summits here in the Wasatch. Hint, hint @Ugly. :)
- There is a chance in June that my son will come to visit from Portland. If he does, I may plan on doing something with him, but that is still up in the air at
this point.
- Plan to summit Mount Nebo for only my second time on my 60th birthday in July. Hint, hint @Ugly. :thumbsup:
- There are some whispers out there that there might be a Hidden Creek trip in the Teton Wilderness planned sometime between mid-July-ish through mid- August that I might be part of. There is a trail off Majo Pass that awaits the Scatman. :scatman:
- Early September, my wife and I are planning three nights in the backcountry at Grebe Lake in Yellowstone (basecamp with day hikes). I'll probably open
this up to BCPer's if anyone would like to join us.
- Late September, my usual September Yellowstone trip, this time up Specimen Creek in the northwest corner of the Park. Again, this will be another three
night stay with day hikes thrown in for good measure. I will probably open this one up too to anyone who might be interested. At this point, I believe
we would have room for four more people to join our group.
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I am up for hiking, hiking rehab, any of those... so that sounds perfect.

As for my 2024,
-There are always two goals to get me out: at least 1 night sleeping outside every month, and at least 31 bag nights
Including:
-More consistent hiking this year, I need to get back into short, during the week, early morning hikes and after work evening hikes
-A couple of winter desert trips, including one in late winter/early spring that should be 5-6 days, maybe the Needles again in Feb... too early to tell
-April- I have a week in the Phoenix area with all my siblings, some hiking, but unsure what else yet
-Wind River trip
-Uintas a few times, some weekends and potentially a week long through Henrys, into Painter, over Anderson and then over into Red Castle and back out
-One of these trips or maybe another will be with my younger brother. I want to get him into the Winds, so that might get combined
-Big Fall trip- it might be WA again this year, it could be Bitterroots and Glacier, or we might combine this with the Winds. I am easy going like a breezy day this early into the year to see how things pan out
-Open to other trips :)
 
b.stark said:
South Africa. It's something my parents are arranging so I'm not sure there will be much hiking, but we'll see how things end up. If I can manage to sneak some hiking in, that will be a big bonus.
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There's some interesting plant life down there. Hope you can squeeze in a hike.
 
scatman said:
Unfortunately, I am as disorganized for what I am going to do as I have ever been heading into a new year. Assuming that my foot is good to go come March, then these are my tentative plans:

- March, April and May, get back into hiking shape, which just means local hikes/summits here in the Wasatch. Hint, hint @Ugly. :)
- There is a chance in June that my son will come to visit from Portland. If he does, I may plan on doing something with him, but that is still up in the air at
this point.
- Plan to summit Mount Nebo for only my second time on my 60th birthday in July. Hint, hint @Ugly. :thumbsup:
- There are some whispers out there that there might be a Hidden Creek trip in the Teton Wilderness planned sometime between mid-July-ish through mid- August that I might be part of. There is a trail off Majo Pass that awaits the Scatman. :scatman:
- Early September, my wife and I are planning three nights in the backcountry at Grebe Lake in Yellowstone (basecamp with day hikes). I'll probably open
this up to BCPer's if anyone would like to join us.
- Late September, my usual September Yellowstone trip, this time up Specimen Creek in the northwest corner of the Park. Again, this will be another three
night stay with day hikes thrown in for good measure. I will probably open this one up too to anyone who might be interested. At this point, I believe
we would have room for four more people to join our group.
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Ill line it out for you.... you can fill it inbetween.

Since the snowpack is going to be low this year ??? Times subject to change
early June - Slough Crk loop
late June / early July - Finish the Wyoming Range.
late July / early or August - Yellowstone - (either the Hidden epic or the Eagle Pass / fishook Crk Loop or the Yellowstone Pt Loop).
The Hidden Crk epic could be the ending.
late August - Bear Basin, WindRivers
early September - Yellowtone with the wife (have to do that one)
mid September...... instead of 3 nights up specimen crk how about 5 nights on the Gallatin Crest ending at Specimen crk

Oh, i forgot you can work a little in between
 
To do in 2024 -

May: We have a 30 mile Capitol Reef backpack trip planned for early May.

June: 8 Day, 225 mile motorized rafting adventure down the Grand Canyon. This will be fully guided through a commercial outfitter but still very much in the “backcountry”.

July: Nothing on the calendar yet.

August: I’m eyeing the highline. If that doesn’t come together then maybe the Grand Sawtooth loop.
 
TheMountainRabbit said:
  • Brooks Range, Alaska - this was supposed to happen the last couple weeks of June, but it looks like Africa has supplanted it. If I can re-schedule I will, but might be bumped to 2025.
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Got some good news today - looks like a 10-day trip to the Brooks Range may be officially on the 2024 calendar (just a bit later in the year). Super excited to get back up there again!

Not sure how it's gonna affect other plans yet though.

Good year ahead... now to just stay healthy and injury-free. :see_no_evil:
 
TheMountainRabbit said:
Good year ahead... now to just stay healthy and injury-free. :see_no_evil:
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This! We are not big on trying to schedule a full calendar of trips, being more inclined to simply let things evolve as we go.
However, plans that were "on the books" in 2023 for a 6 day hut based ski traverse last March, and a west coast biking and kayaking trip in June, were both derailed after I cracked some ribs in a February ski crash, and later re-injured them in an early summer mtb tumble. So for 2024- my only goal so far is to stay injury free!
 
I'm leaning towards the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness for our big fall trip this year. @Bob shared a route with me that he's done, but I'm open to suggestions. We usually stay out for 10 days, but the mileage doesn't have to be backbreaking. We don't mind taking our time.
 
My goal this year is to complete the Crystal Creek/Phantom Creek (aka the Steck loop) in Grand Canyon NP. I've had to back out of doing this trip several times previously - it has now become my official white whale. Hopefully I can sort through the new backcountry permitting process and get it done this year!
 
fossana said:
There's some interesting plant life down there. Hope you can squeeze in a hike.
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Thanks! It will be interesting to experience a totally new landscape and culture at the very least, if the trip does come together.
 
  • N Rim esplanade trip in March
  • High route(s) of my own concoction in the Sierra and/or Winds
  • Variation on Allen's Dirty Devil N route
  • TBD route(s) in Escalante/Glen Canyon and Cedar Mesa
  • TBD dual sport trip, possibly part of the Backcountry Discovery Route
  • Random things off my outdoor backlog
 
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