2019 Hike It List

Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a great holiday season. Here in the Midwest we’ve had some pretty mild weather so far which is great as I have some plans for myself through January. I decided not to set any actual resolutions for myself this year; but to instead keep up what I know works for me. (Low-carbing, hiking and enjoying my friends and family!) Instead of resolutions – I have set up a 2019 to do list I have dubbed my Hike It List. (#hikeitlist2019)

First things first! I have partnered up with and enrolled myself in the 52 Hike Challenge! (This is a sponsored link!)

The task is simple, the challenge is persistence – make it a goal to get outdoors a minimum of once per week for the next year! Think of all the places you can explore by making it your year of adventure! Best of all it’s FREE to join. (There are also a few options you can purchase which come with fun things like stickers, patches and more!) Click here to find out more!

—

On deck for the Hike It List; finishing the River to River Trail (or as I’ll often refer to it; R2R). I am 32-ish miles in to the 160-mile trail that stretches from the Ohio River to the Mississippi in Southern Illinois. If we finish before September (when we started), it will be technically considered a thru-hike! What better than to complete my first thru in my home state. By the end of January I should have between 60-70 miles done as we have a 3 day section planned in a few weeks!

—

For Christmas this year, instead of opening lots of little presents, my parents gifted my entire immediate family (8 adults and 3 kids!) a 7 day trip to the Smokys. They rented a 12-person cabin in Sevierville, TN to accommodate the craziness.

On the Hike It List: Turkey and I plan to return to Leconte Lodge this year for a 2019 shirt and to log our second trip up this amazing mountain. Mt. Leconte was my first real summit 3 years ago which gave me mountain fever. I also want to take my family on their first hike in the mountains so I have planned a couple laid back trails for us to do together.

Also, I want to add Charlie’s Bunion and Andrews Bald on to mine and Turkey’s itinerary. He and I will be doing a lot of hiking on that trip; but the rest will be spent getting in some family time lounging at the private pool we have at our cabin and with touristy stuff like Dollywood, the Ripley’s Aquarium and hopefully some alpine coasters!

—

This past October I went on a great trip with my newfound pals at True North and spent a lovely weekend on the Ice Age Trail. I would love to get some more time in with not only them but on the trail! I had such a great time and Wisconsin is absolutely beautiful.

So Hike It List item: Devil’s Lake!

—

Next up on the list for mid-October is completing the Georgia section of the AT in it’s entirety so we can be officially done with one state! The mileage is 78.6 miles from Springer Mountain (the southern terminus) to the North Carolina state line. We decided we are also going to do the 8 mile Approach Trail at Amicalola Falls bringing our backpacking trip to a total of about 90 estimated miles. We plan to hike this section in 12 days.

We live only 8 hours from Amicalola Falls State Park, so making the trip there won’t be too intense. Our last AT section hike was in Shenandoah which is a 12 hour drive so it’ll be a little easier on us.

I already have potential shuttle plans, I just need to figure out if we’re going SOBO or NOBO, map out daily mileage, and figure out resupply stops. I LOVE planning section hikes!

—

Well, here lie our adventure goals for 2019!

A couple things I’d like to type out loud so I can try to bring them to life:

– I don’t want this year to feel like anything else but easy and breezy.

– I would love to finally meet my friend Mike this year sometime!! There are so many people I am friends with on social media I am itching to connect with outdoors. Mike has been a constant source of inspiration for me since we “met” awhile back. He’s delightful. Subscribe to his incredible blog!

– I hope to find my pace and my focus again. I lost myself there briefly but I am returning to my version of normal.

Thanks for following along as per usual. Heres to a great 2019!

J