2026 Goals: Spring Revisit

It's springtime! I wanted to take a moment, now that I'm fully caught up on my journaling (sans photos) to revisit the hiking goals I set for 2026 and see how I'm doing with them, see if there's anything I want to add, and see if there's anything I want to change. I know I hiked less this winter (especially in January in March) - partially because of diving head-first into dating and also ski season being alive and well, and I don't view that as a negative, but something worth acknowledging! I'm curious if this will be the year where my year-end stats do not go up, and as long as it's over the 100/500/100,000, I'm fine with it! I also know summer is just around the corner and I'm hoping the weather cooperates this summer so I can go borderline crazy. We'll see!

Here is the list of goals I set in January:

1. 100 hikes, 500 miles, 100,000 feet

            In Progress: 28 hikes, 92.3 miles, 14,320 feet.

2. 52 Hike Challenge

            In Progress: January, February, and March all complete.

3. Hike at least two new trails in the Belknap Range.

            No progress yet.

4. Hike at least two new Terrifying 25 Trails.

            No progress yet.

5. Hike at least two Maine 4,000 Footers.

            No progress yet.

6. Hike at least two Downstate New York peaks.

            No progress yet.

7. Complete either the winter or 3-season map of the Blue Hills (again).

            In Progress: Did not make much progress on the winter map, but I feel good about the 3-season one.

8. [NEW] Complete the MA/NY/CT peaks on the Taconic 12er challenge.

            In Progress: Accidentally started this one last weekend with Beebe Hill and Mt. Everett. I have two hikes left outside of VT and I can do them in one hike day.

9. [NEW] Hike a MA Fire Tower hike in Hampshire County.

            Only county I need in Western Mass, might as well go for it!

I always love how many challenges there are. I love not committing to one challenge, either. It's so much fun for me to just chip away at different ones whenever I want to!

I also didn't remember making ski goals, but apparently I did! Here they are:

1. Keep having fun.

2. Actively think about turns 75% of the time.

3. Continue to challenge myself with steeps, bumps, trees, "thin cover," and "variable conditions."

4. Look better than I did last year on closing day(s).

5. Ski as many runs at Jay Peak as I humanly can.

Easy to say I'm crushing the ski goals - yay!

Cheers to more outdoor adventures as we navigate the sloppy season that is springtime!