Looking Ahead to 2015

Mount Washington Observatory in Winter, credit silentlandscapes.com

The new year typically means a time of reflection and a time of resolutions. I’ve made my share of resolutions, but they always seem so history-focused. I try focus more on the now, or at the very most the near-future. I’d much rather consider some goals for the upcoming year than try to set empty promises to correct my societal-based, self-perceived, personal issues. As I hinted in my look back on 2014, I like to set my sights on extreme adventures which push me to stay on target on a daily basis.

For example, if I tell myself I’m going to run four times a week and cross train once a week, I will get bored with the regiment in a month and stop doing it. On the other hand, if I focus on running a marathon in May, I’ll start training for it 8 months prior and religiously stick to the aforementioned training schedule. Big goals work for me, not pointless behaviors.

With that in mind, here are some of my goals for 2015:

Complete my first winter hike of a New England 4000 Footer
Possibly related to the above, I’d like to snowshoe to the top of Mount Washington on a clear day
Complete the New Hampshire (13 remaining) and Vermont (1 remaining) 4000 Footers
Attempt the White Mountains Hut-to-Hut Hike in 24 hours
Attempt a solo, 1-day Presidential Traverse or a moonlight Presidential Traverse with friends
Do a multi-day summer hike with friends in the Adirondacks
Hike Massachusetts’s Highest Point, Mount Greylock
Hike some of the Sierra Nevadas while on the west coast for work training

Some of these goals are unlikely (Mount Washington being clear on a day I have off in the winter) or just crazy (Hut-to-Hut). But, I like to go big because if I fail I still achieve something great and learn a lot. I also realize that I have to be in great shape if I hope to accomplish these goals. That’s why I’ve started Hal Higdon’s Novice Supreme marathon training even though a marathon is not on my list of goals for 2015. My training end date is the Summer Solstice with the goal of being in marathon-shape for some of my crazier goals.

Finally, I would also like to continue to write blog posts for the duration of 2015. My goal has been to write a post a week to make sure I continually produced content for you, my readers. Hiking logs are easy for me to write. With nearly 60 mountains hiked last year I have plenty of content in that regard. I’m curious what people are interested in seeing in my posts that are not specific to hiking a particular mountain. Gear, trail food, instructional posts, balancing work/family/adventure?

Hit up the comments below if you have some ideas and thanks for reading in 2014 and I hope you continue to visit in 2015.

References:
“Adirondack Hiking Information.” adk.org. Adirondack Mountain Club. Web. 21 December 2014.
“Hal Higdon Training Program.” halhigdon.com. Hal Higdon. Web. 21 December 2014.
“Hiking the White Mountains Hut Traverse.” wsj.com. Dow Jones & Company, Inc. Web. 21 December 2014.
“Life List: Moonlit Presidential Traverse.” backpacker.com. Cruz Bay Publishing, Inc. Web. 21 December 2014.
“Mount Greylock State Reservation.” mass.gov. Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Web. 21 December 2014.
“Round Top.” summitpost.org. SummitPost.org. Web. 21 December 2014.