Way back in January of 2016 (that seems like eons ago), I decided to participate in the 52 Hike Challenge. I made this decision on the back-end of my recovery from several minor-to-severe foot and ankle injuries that I sustained during and after my 2015 thru-hike attempt of the Appalachian Trail. My original purpose of participating in this challenge was to aide my recovery efforts by getting me out and moving each and every week. I didn’t know at the time where it would take me. As I sit here at the end of the year, a few days after officially completing the challenge, I’m excited about what it’s taught me and how I can use it to move forward in my hiking career, as well as motivate others (YOU!) to get out into the outdoors. Read on to learn more about this challenge, what it did for me, and what I think it can do for you.
What is the Challenge?
The 52 Hike Challenge sets up a loose set of parameters that encourage participants to hike once a week for a year, or 52 hikes. Their FAQ page tells us that we should aim to hike at least one mile for the hike to “count”, but they encourage you to challenge yourself by doing longer hikes once you are comfortable with that.
The basic challenge just asks that you complete 52 hikes in one year’s time, keeping a hiking log and posting a photo of each hike on social media using specific hashtags (for 2016, it was #52hikechallenge2016 – see their FAQ page linked above for more information).
Whether you are trying to lose weight, gain confidence, or just become a part of a like-minded community, this challenge offers a lot of different opportunities.
How did it go?
I started the challenge with a two-mile hike on January 3rd, 2016 and ended it with a seven mile hike on December 25th, 2016. I had a few hiccups along the way, but it was an incredible journey that took me to new places, introduced me to new people, and helped me gain confidence in my hiking (and navigational) abilities.
- Hike #5 – Siler Bald
For most of January through March of 2016, the mountainous area of Western North Carolina where I live received quite a bit of snow. I don’t do a lot of winter hiking, so I don’t have a lot of the proper gear for hiking in the snow. This, combined with the fact that most of the Forest Service access roads here are closed until mid-March or April really slowed me down. I was behind in my hikes almost immediately.
Once the snow cleared and the roads opened, I caught back up pretty quickly. Then, out of the blue I decided I was going to make another attempt at finishing the Appalachian Trail. At first, my plan was to continue my 52 Hike Challenge logs by counting one hike per week while I was on trail. However, as the weeks (and miles) passed, I began to lose track of what I logged and forget to log altogether. I ended up only counting 3 or 4 hikes from the three months (June-August) that I spent on trail over the summer.
Coming back from that long trip, I knew I had my work cut out for me if I was going to finish the challenge, but I was excited that it gave me something to strive for and something to keep me hiking once I returned home. Unfortunately, within a week of getting back to WNC I became very sick with bronchitis that turned into pneumonia. I couldn’t breathe, much less hike. This lasted for WEEKS before I finally felt good enough to hike again. At that point, WNC and much of the mountainous regions of Georgia and North Carolina were on fire. Dozens of wildfires raged for weeks and shrouded my mountains in a blanket of smoke. It wasn’t safe to be outside for extended periods of time, so again my hiking was limited. I had to drive several hours to find a place to hike that wasn’t affected by the fires.
I really hit the trails hard during the last few weeks of November and into December to make up the hikes I’d missed. I was finally able to finish – with about a week to spare – on Christmas Day with a hike I’d been wanting to do for years.
I was able to complete my hike with my brother, sister, and mom by my side. The day I finished was a beautiful 80° day in South Georgia and I couldn’t have asked for a more perfect setting in which to achieve success.
What I Learned
Through participating in this challenge, I learned that even someone who loves hiking as much as I do can have a hard time overcoming the limitations of the human mind. It’s so easy to say you don’t feel like hiking today, or the weather is too bad, or you just don’t have time. I made a deal with myself that anytime these thoughts entered my mind, I would tell myself that I only had to hike one mile. Just one. Usually, by the time that mile was up, I wanted to hike more.
While my body may not look or always feel the way I want it to, it is capable of amazing things. It carries me over mountains, across streams, down rock scrambles, and lugs my weary soul plus 30lbs of gear through the woods in the middle of a downpour to get to the next shelter. My legs push and my heart pulls me toward the summits of mountains and the splendor they hold. I am strong. I am capable. I can succeed.
Perhaps most importantly I came to realize even more that sometimes the most important part of a journey is those we share it with. While I find joy in my solitary walks, or ones shared only with my favorite adventure dog, I discovered that the hikes I found to be most memorable were the ones I shared with other, like-minded people.
What’s Next?
On January 1, 2017, I will begin a new 52 Hike Challenge. This year I will be completing the adventure series: an addition to the original challenge that includes specific objectives. Those objectives are:
- 5 Waterfalls (even if they are dry)
- 1 Forest (if not possible, go to National Park/ Site)
- 1 National Parks, Monuments, Preserves, Recreation Area or Historic Trail
- 2 Hikes to bodies of water: Lakes, Rivers, or Ocean
- 1 Stewardship hike (pick up trash or join group to help with a restoration project)
- 1 Group hike (if you are regular to one group, visit a new group to meet new people)
- 1 Introduce someone new to hiking (on an easy trail)
- 1 Sunset or Sunrise hike
- 1 Hike from your Bucket list (somewhere you have always wanted to go)
- 3 Reflection hikes (journal at the beginning, middle, and towards the end of your challenge).
I hope these objectives will enrich my challenge experience and get me out and moving in new places and new ways. I’m also setting a personal challenge to include as many people as possible in my treks.
Adventure Like A Girl 