Outdoor Challenges — Getting Lost Together

As the new year approaches many people are thinking about their New Years resolutions and goals for the upcoming year. I changed my frame of mind around resolutions. They are always the same, like save more money, lose weight, go to the gym more, etc. There is nothing wrong with these resolutions, but I need something different. There is a statistic that by February most people give up on their resolutions.. I have been part of this statistic and want to approach the new year with a different mind set, like goals for the year that involved being outside. That is when I started looking for challenges that focused on what I loved. Being outside.

52 Hike Challenge: In 2016 I searched the internet for my first outdoor challenge to complete in 2017. I came across the 52 Hike Challenge and it felt like a good place to start. With this challenge you hike 52 one mile hikes in a year. I felt I could do that, well it was not as easy as I thought, but I finished it with some great friends who did the challenge along with me and provided support along the way.

Mount Monadnock from the North Pack Mountain

365 Mile Challenge: In 2018 I wanted to continue with my outdoor challenges and set out to find something different, this is when I found the 365 Mile Challenge. This challenge is doing 365 self propelled miles, preferable outdoors. This includes hiking, walking, biking and paddling. My daughter and I took on the challenge. It was not as easy as I thought it would be, but I loved the mother daughter time it provided us and the push to get us outside more.

In 2019 I think I was a little over ambitious. Even though I had a few more challenges I wanted to complete, I am happy to have finished two of them. My daughter and finished the 356 Mile Challenge for the second year in a row. My husband joined us for the Fire Tower Challenge. You visit 5 of the 16 Fire Towers in New Hampshire. This was a great way to explore parts of the state we have not been too.

In 2020 I worked on two challenges:

500 Mile Challenge: which was run through a facebook group by a women in my town. She supported others to get out and walk, run, hike 500 miles in a year. I happily finished by doing 550 miles in 2020.

1000 Outside Hour Challenge: This was harder than I thought, the goal is to spent 1000 hours outside. Being outside as much as my family and I were I thought it would be easy, but it was harder than I thought. I only completed 864 hours. It was still a fund challenge.

In 2021 I did another year of the 500 miles challenge and got 601.25 miles. I did another round of the 1000 Outside Hour Challenge and got 916 hours.

For 2022 I plan on doing another round of the 500 Mile Challenge, work on the Views and Brews Challenges and my daughter found a Scoops and Loops Challenge she wants to try. We will see how the year goes.

Below are some challenges I have not done, but are on my list to do at some point.

Views and Brews I’m pretty lucky because my husband is always up for an adventure with me, but when he heard there was craft beer involved he was pretty excited. You are challenged to hike an easy or a hard trail and then go grab a beer at the local brewery. “Our Patch is given to people who have visited at least 21 of the 29 Brewpubs in this State, tried at least one of their beers, and hiked/walked to one of the local attractions listed for that Brewpub. To qualify, you must visit the nearby brewpub in the same 48 hour period as you do the associated hike. So, for instance, you can do the hike Saturday and visit the Brewpub Sunday. Or, you can go to the Brewpub Friday night and do the hike the next afternoon. But remember, drink responsibly!” I did notice there are a few of these challenges in other states.

NH 4,000 Footer Club Living in New Hampshire and being a hiker it is hard to not know about this club. This is where you hike all of the 4,000 foot mountains in White Mountains. This is a huge challenge among hikers in New England. If you are looking for a challenge to push your hiking skills this is the one.

52 with a View The 52 With a View list contains fifty-two mountains with elevations under 4,000 feet and have incredible views in New Hampshire.

Belknap Range you hike 12 peaks in the Lakes Region of New Hampshire. I hope to start this challenge this year.

Sierra Club has a variety of outdoor challenges you can check our on their website.

Additional Information

If you are looking for some trails ideas you can check out my hiking section or some of my favorite books. For a way to track of your hikes I love this Hiking Journal pictured below, stickers not included. I have used this to keep track of my hikes in 2019 and I loved it.

Remember it is also best to do a challenges with someone else to help with motivation. I have done these challenges with friends, my husband and daughter and have loved our times together. This is a great way to spend time with your loved ones.