I did it— 52 hikes in 52 weeks! Remember in January when I first posted about doing this challenge? I feel that I rarely keep up New Years Resolutions, but I did this one! It was definitely a commitment, but I enjoyed doing it.
172 miles and 34,329 feet of elevation gain!
This was a fantastic challenge for Brighton and I to do as we moved to Seattle— We got to see so many new places and it pushed us to get out there and explore every weekend. There were times when I wanted to stay on the couch or blog (ahem, oops), but it was important for us to push ourselves to go even when the weather was less than ideal. I enjoyed bringing out many visitors on hikes when they came to visit us and including them in our journey. I tried to include photos below when our visitors hiked with us.
Top 10 Highlights of the Year
- Hiking in the Swiss Alps
- Meeting a PCT hiker and giving him all of our snacks to help him through the last leg of his journey
- Getting up close and personal with Mount Rainier at Summit Lake & Naches Peak Loop
- Visiting Artist Point in the winter
- Taking Koda for most of the hikes — She’s a great companion!
- Sharing my new state with all of our visitors
- Getting spooked a couple times (May Valley Loop & Cherry Creek Falls) by wildlife when the trails were a little too quiet
- Hiking in Banff for my birthday — Peyto Lake Overlook rivals our views from Switzerland, it was that gorgeous!
- Visiting my first lookout shelter with 360-degree views
- Checking off a few new national parks off my bucket list— Black Canyon of the Gunnison, Mesa Verde, North Cascades
Top 6 Favorite Hikes
- Wengen—Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland
- Peyto Lake Overlook, Banff, Canada
- Artist Point, North Cascades National Park, Washington
- Summit Lake, outside of Mount Rainier National Park, Washington
- High Rock Lookout, Ashford, Washington
- Cape Flattery, Neah Bay, Washington (Northwesternmost point of the contiguous United States)
The 52 Hikes
• Hike 1/52: High School Trail (with Mom)
• Hike 2/52: Franklin Falls
• Hike 3/52: Snowshoeing at Crystal Mountain (with the Pacific Northwest Outdoor Women)
• Hike 4/52: Lake 22
• Hike 5/52: Artist Point (with Michele)
• Hike 6/52: Oyster Dome
• Hike 7/52: Middle Fork Snoqualmie River Trail (with Cate & Henrietta of PNWOW)
• Hike 8/52: Guillemot Cove
• Hike 9/52: Twin Falls (with Katie)
• Hike 10/52: Little Si
• Hike 11/52: Heybrook Ridge
• Hike 12/52: Wallace Falls
• Hike 13/52: Coal Creek Falls
• Hike 14/52: Rattlesnake Ledge (with Demi)
• Hike 15/52: Barclay Lake
• Hike 16/52: UNESCO Bourg-en-Lavaux, Vineyards
• Hike 17/52: Wengen to Lauterbrunnen (Part of our photoshoot in Switzerland with Amanda)
• Hike 18/52: Adelboden/Engstligen Falls
• Hike 19/52: Oeschinensee Lake
• Hike 20/52: Aareschlucht (Aare Gorge)
• Hike 21/52: May Valley Loop
• Hike 22/52: Thunder Knob & Diablo Lake (with Erica)
• Hike 23/52: Talapus Lake
• Hike 24/52: Beckler Peak
• Hike 25/52: Hurricane Hill (with Kelli)
• Hike 26/52: Cape Flattery (with Kelli)
• Hike 27/52: Teneriffe Falls (Kamikaze Falls)
• Hike 28/52: Mount Catherine
• Hike 29/52: Summit Lake (with Tyler, Brighton’s coworker)
• Hike 30/52: Naches Peak Loop
• Hike 31/52: Winchester Mountain
• Hike 32/52: Tumalo Falls
• Hike 33/52: Painted Hills
• Hike 34/52: Fort Ward Park (with Brighton’s family)
• Hike 35/52: Heather Lake
• Hike 36/52: Sheep Lake
• Hike 37/52: Snoqualmie Falls Lower Falls
• Hike 38/52: Lake Valhalla (with Amber)
• Hike 39/52: Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park (with Kelli)
• Hike 40/52: Mesa Verde National Park (with Kelli)
• Hike 41/52: Capilano Suspension Bridge Park (with Demi)
• Hike 42/52: Cherry Creek Falls
• Hike 43/52: Weeks Falls
• Hike 44/52: Tradition Lake Loop
• Hike 45/52: High Rock Lookout
• Hike 46/52: Johnston Canyon
• Hike 47/52: Tunnel Mountain
• Hike 48/52: Peyto Lake/Bow Summit Snowshoe
• Hike 49/52: Sulphur Mountain Boardwalk
• Hike 50/52: Stone House (Witch’s Castle)
• Hike 51/52: Cedar Butte
• Hike 52/52: Walsingham Park (Florida)
Lessons Learned
- When in doubt, bring a rain jacket, especially in the PNW
- Hiking will almost always recharge me, and I will always thank myself for getting out there
- It’s important to unplug and reconnect with nature, Brighton, and Koda
- It doesn’t always need to be a hard or difficult hike to get the benefit of the experience
- There are a crazy amount of hikes available to us where we live (Seattle area)
- Your coworkers will know what you’re doing every weekend after the conversation goes like this every Friday (Them: What are you doing this weekend? Me: Thinking about going on a hike. Them: Oh, right. You hike every weekend.)
