Every year I come up with some hiking goals to hike x amount of miles or hike some specific trails. This year I’m doing something different. I’ve talked about how I want to bring more of the inspiration of the outdoors into my everyday life, so I came up with some goals to do just that. None of these goals are big specific challenges like 30 by 30, but rather they are all part of a broader mission to get myself out there trying new things and contributing to the outdoors community. In some ways I am more nervous about this quest, mostly because it requires me to interact with people (not my strong suit), but also because I have no idea where all this will take me. I’m so looking forward to a fresh start, happy 2015!

1. Hike blah blah miles, complete at least one blah blah mile backpack, climb blah blah peaks- ok, I literally just said I wasn’t going to do this. BUT, I’m a numbers person and I can’t help myself. I blah blah’d the actual numbers for you because it’s not important, right? Right. Moving on…

2. Earn WTA hard hat by volunteering for trail work 5 times- to be honest I don’t know about this one. I can hike trails all day long (as long as they are graded, leveled, and clear of debris, rocks and blowdowns), but actually doing real work on those trails? Ugh, that sounds hard.

3. Hike with a stranger- wait, what? That sounds dangerous. Nah, I just want to go for a hike with a new friend I meet on the internet. Nothing bad can come from this.

4. Encourage a young person to discover the outdoors- not sure how to do this, maybe by volunteering for an organization that takes kids out in the wilderness? Again, nothing can possibly go wrong here.

5. Solo Backpack- I think I’m going to give my father a heart attack with this one.

6. Be kind, say hello to every single person I see on the trails- ok, nothing dangerous sounding here, just spreading some trail-loving cheer.

7. Try a new outdoorsy activity- maybe cross country skiing or outdoor rock climbing? We’re creeping back into the danger zone…

8. Organize a backpacking trip with my lady friends- something I’ve been wanting to do for a long time but haven’t done yet. This seriously may be the most dangerous goal on my list.

9. Bring the outdoors into my home- maybe take an outdoors painting class, go mushroom hunting, grow some wildflowers, adopt a wild baby animal, the possibilities are endless!

10. Say thank you to those who inspire me- it was so heartbreaking to read in the WTA magazine that before she died, Karen Sykes felt that she no longer had an impact on the outdoors community as she was aging. Nothing could be farther from the truth. After reading that I vowed to say thank you to all the people who have inspired me in the outdoors.