One of my favorite outdoor activities is hiking. You can hike for one mile, or ten miles. You can power through the entire hike, or stop to eat snacks and take in the view. There are trails for beginners, families, advanced hikers, backpackers; you name it. If you want to walk in nature, there’s a hike for you.
I didn’t know if I was much of a hiker until I took my first solo trip and hiked in 3 national parks over a week. It was exhilarating and it was exactly what I needed to boost my confidence in my ability to travel and hike solo.
In 2018 I learned about the 52 Hike Challenge where you complete 52 hikes in 52 weeks. The only stipulation was that the hike needed to be a minimum of 1 mile and beyond that, you could follow whatever parameters you wanted. Some participants do multiple hikes per week, others space it out to do one hike every week of the year. Some people choose to never do the same hike twice, while others chose to follow the Adventure Series with different adventure objectives for each hike.
I thought it looked fun but I was starting a new job and traveling so I put it off initially. But when 2019 rolled around, and the challenge still called to me, I decided to try it. I made it my big goal that year to complete the 52 Hike Challenge with each hike being at LEAST one mile. I allowed repeat hikes since I lived in St. Louis, Missouri at the time, so I didn’t have any epic mountains to climb (yes, I know about the Ozarks – don’t @ me), so many of my hikes were in local parks or nature reserves.
After the first handful of hikes, I felt both proud and nervous. Proud that I was sticking with it, but nervous I might not make it to the finish line. So I kept the challenge to myself for the first few months, afraid to say it out loud in case I failed. By mid-year, I was at the beginning of a divorce, moving into an apartment with my dog and figuring out what I wanted my life to look like. It was messy, and scary and nothing that anyone could have prepared me for, but the challenge was something I could anchor myself to. Planning my hikes helped me ground myself when my thoughts were spiraling and the hikes themselves were a fun way to move my body and be in nature.
One particular hike helped me snap out of a funk. One night, I was listening to sad songs, crying, and cleaning my kitchen because sometimes you just need a good cry. I was grateful for my new apartment, but I couldn’t shake the sadness of realizing the future I once imagined was gone and I had to start all over again. The blank slate of my life was, admittedly, terrifying. Thankfully, I had a hike planned for the next day at Cahokia Mounds in Illinois which was a great excuse to step outside and visit somewhere new.
There was some rain in the forecast that day, but I had rain gear so I wasn’t worried about it. When I arrived there was a slight drizzle and a half mile in, the drizzle turned into a downpour. By the mile mark, I learned two things: my old rain jacket wasn’t waterproof anymore and neither was one of my shoes. I sloshed through another half mile when I stopped and just laughed. Laughed at the absurdity, at my soggy sock, at the fact that somehow the other sock was still completely dry. In the pouring rain, I felt more peace than I had the night before. It was as if the hike knew I needed a reset. It was also a reminder that every hike didn’t need to be epic. Sometimes it was just about showing up, even in the rain, and letting nature give me the reset I didn’t know I needed.
When I finally started telling people about the challenge, my friends and co-workers wanted to hike with me, which was surprising. People have their own lives, and not everyone is starting their life over and in desperate need of a hobby, so I assumed I’d be doing this completely on my own. I wasn’t with people for every hike, but I wasn’t always alone. I learned that when you share your goals with your community, the people in your corner will support you along the journey.
I completed my 52 Hike Challenge on New Year’s Eve 2019. I hiked in 5 different states and 4 different countries and am so grateful I chose to pursue this goal in 2019. During a period that I thought would be the loneliest in my life, I found people wanting to share their time with me and I am incredibly grateful for everyone who joined me on those hikes or who was willing to listen to me share endless stories about it. It helped me remember there’s still magic to be found, even when times are dark. In the beginning, I thought hiking was just about miles and trails, but I learned it can also be about hope, community, and starting over. And that’s exactly what I found on those 52 hikes.
