Well, I’m about to fly off to New England for the holidays, which means it’s probably the end of meaningful Southern California hiking for the year.

Although I didn’t get to all of the places I wanted to, I still had some pretty impressive milestones — I went on several long-distance day hikes, qualified for the Sierra Club’s Hundred Peaks Chapter, and had my fair share of backpacking adventures — both ill and well fated.

My mileage for this year was actually a bit lower than last (I’ll blame hot summers, fire closures, and my new discovery of ‘The Beach’ for that one), but I almost doubled my elevation gain numbers for ’06. Peakbagging will do that, I guess.

Total Mileage: 209 miles.
Total Elevation Gain: 89,090 feet (15.2% average uphill grade)
Total Time Spent Hiking: 3 days, 22 hours, 18 minutes.

The site itself has taken off a bit, too. From a lil’ ol blogspot site to some adventures on my former host to the current, sponsored-hosting, I’ve been lucky to find myself a little web-niche and gain an audience of tech-savvy outdoorsfolk — as well as (hopefully) some Angelenos who are just learning our sprawling megalopolis has some great nature nearby. Traffic has been steadily increasing since I launched last November, and I’m grateful for everyone who reads and explores.

2008, hopefully, will hold more improvements and adventures. I want to get my Map working again, and continue tweaking the site design to make information easier to find and access. I also have a nice chunk of Paid Time Off stored up, and want to hit up those elusive Utah National Parks — as well as bag San Gorgonio, San Bernardino, San Jacinto, and (maybe even) Whitney.

I’ll be doing some sporadic site work from New England — and hopefully going snowshoeing, now that they have seasonal weather again.

So congrats to everyone who laced up a hiking boot this year — let’s get ready to do it again in 2008.

Tags: goals, Hiking, motivations, numbers, year in review