To Do in 2026

punkwood

punkwood

Luddite
Joined
Apr 2, 2025
Messages
46
It is with honor that I carry on the "To do" posts maintained by @LarryBoy for the past several years, and others before him.

As the years roll on and our lives become increasingly digitized it is always wonderful to find people still enjoying the great outdoors. I don't have much planned, but it is inspiring to read about plans that others have. I will post about my one upcoming trip below.

So, what does the year have in store for you?


Previous years:

2014: https://backcountrypost.com/threads/to-do-in-2014.2671/
2015: https://backcountrypost.com/threads/to-do-in-2015.3896/
2016: https://backcountrypost.com/threads/to-do-in-2016.5420/
2017: https://backcountrypost.com/threads/to-do-in-2017.6450/
2018: https://backcountrypost.com/threads/to-do-in-2018.7301/
2019: https://backcountrypost.com/threads/to-do-in-2019.8240/
2020: https://backcountrypost.com/threads/to-do-in-2020.9026/
2021: https://backcountrypost.com/threads/to-do-in-2021.9543/
2022: https://backcountrypost.com/threads/to-do-in-2022.10079/
2023: https://backcountrypost.com/threads/to-do-in-2023.10571/
2024: https://backcountrypost.com/threads/to-do-in-2024.10994/
2025: https://backcountrypost.com/threads/to-do-in-2025.11516/
 
As for me, I relocated to Mexico City 1.5 years ago from Arizona with my partner and we expect to be here another 2-3 years. Camping is not really a part of the culture here and backpacking and hiking seem to work differently. We've not really fallen into the groove with these activities here yet and I miss them dearly. Beyond that, it takes a bit of effort to get outside of a city this enormous and to any locations where such activities are done. Quite different than Arizona, where we hiked weekly and aimed for a car camping or backpacking trip monthly, but we intend to figure out some good options this year.

That being said, we are visiting Arizona at the end of January during which time we will set off on a short two night trip in the Superstitions with a group of friends who go back 25+ years, eight of us total. Half of the group are new to backpacking, the other half are varying degrees of seasoned. I may post up a trip report if I think to document it well enough. It should be rather cold at night and there is definitely potential for rain. I am very much looking forward to it.
 
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I don't have many lofty goals for 2026--I accomplished a lot in 2025 that I didn't even specifically set out to do, so after the last year there's not much else I can think of that I need to do. In late 2024 and early 2025 I stopped drinking, started exercising (treadmill and dumbbells) every day, and completely changed my diet. I lost about 85 pounds and got into the best shape I've ever been in, doing the longest hike of my life with ease by July of last year.

So now I've just been maintaining my fitness level and doing hikes every weekend. I turn 50 in 2026 and my only real goal is to stand on King's Peak on my birthday. I've hiked to the highest point in 27 of Utah's counties, leaving only Gilbert Peak and King's Peak, and I plan to finish them in the coming year.

Other than that, these are a few things I'd like to do:
  • Explore more of Arches National Park
  • Hike all of Muddy Creek from I-70 to Lone Tree Crossing
  • Hike Young's Peak & Nelson Mountain (Wasatch Plateau southwest of Ferron) from the east
  • Backpack to the point of Bowknot Bend (west of the saddle) for a quick overnighter
  • Hike to Marsing Ranch along the Price River
  • Hike up Rattlesnake Canyon (up the Green River in Gray Canyon)
  • Kayak the San Rafael River from Fuller Bottom to the Buckhorn bridge (or, if the river doesn't flow enough this year, backpack it)
  • Hike more peaks in general
  • Take my dogs on more trips
 
Udink said:
In late 2024 and early 2025 I stopped drinking, started exercising (treadmill and dumbbells) every day, and completely changed my diet. I lost about 85 pounds and got into the best shape I've ever been in, doing the longest hike of my life with ease by July of last year.
Click to expand...
Serious congratulations, that's huge. I have to imagine it goes a long way in the mental health department as well.
 
For the first time in several years I don't have a spring trip down to Utah's canyon country on the books, and I'm still not sure exactly how to feel about that. March/April of years past has taken me to the Maze, Coyote Gulch, Neon Canyon, Death Hollow, and along about 100 miles of the Tonto Trail, and it feels kind of odd to not have that occupying brain space at this time of year.

I'll put in a permit request for Yellowstone again this year, and if I get lucky again, I'll put a trip together for late July, ideally. A Slough Creek trip up north is still on my bucket list, and I'd guess that's where I'd head this time around if I get a permit. If I don't, though, I plan to block off that same time frame for a trip into the Winds (where I've not been in two years) with Bonneville Lakes on the shortlist.

Beyond that, I'm preemptively dedicating 2026 to getting back into the Colorado backcountry more often. It's right out my door, and I feel as if I've just been driving past it all the last two years to see other places further away. With two young kids (5 and 2.5), I think I've found myself having to plan so far in advance that 'big trip far away' has become my accidental M.O., and I'd like to revert back to being slightly more spontaneous and, ergo, slightly more close to home. I've got a big Holy Cross Wilderness high route on the shortlist (that I didn't get to this year), a Flat Tops route I can't wait to check out, and a West Elk Wilderness trip I've been itching to do, too.

I will add that I'm already a bit concerned about fire season next fall given how abysmal the snowpack is here at the moment, and that'll be something to monitor early and often this upcoming summer. Maybe by being more flexible and keeping my targets a closer drive to Denver I'll get the chance to do these trips earlier in the year than I'd otherwise be able to, selfishly, in the event that it all dries into a tinderbox by July.

Needless to say, I'm excited about these still-developing plans. Perhaps not having the canyon country trip on the books has let the part of my mind that conjures up summer alpine trips get an early start on 2026 already.
 
I'll maybe make it to Tuktoyaktuk.

If that fails, Svalbard.

But odds are high that I'll just end up stuck in Colorado and/or Utah, trying to make the best of the boring scenery (as @Gretchen Millward puts it).

IOW, I have absolutely no goals for the next year and will hope I accidentally end up doing something or other.
 
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