Maybe the only thing that the entire country agrees upon is that 2020 has been a spectacularly terrible year. The last time I had a truly outstandingly bad year I set up this blog and spent the following year (2010) hitting the reset button with a project I called "52 New Things". All signs appear to be pointing for another reset year. That time I set out to do 52 New Things --- one for each week of the year -- encompassing all kinds of categories - new activities (like ice climbing), new places (like Nepal), old things new ways (like hiking Camel's Hump, the most famous Vermont peak, in all four seasons) and bucket list items (like skating in Rockefeller Center).
The plan for 2021 should, I think, be simpler for two reasons. One is that over ten years later I'm older and my goals are less ambitious. I am more cognizant now that travel comes at an environmental price, and I am more appreciative of the incredible outdoor opportunities that exist right in my adopted state of Vermont. The other is COVID. It may be that a vaccine will lift us all into some form of normality during the coming year, but right now, the safest outlet for recreation here is to be outside, on our own or with our household or with a small number of other masked, socially distant people. So, those are the parameters I want to embrace for 2021. My plan is to make sure to visit an outdoor destination in my state and walk, hike, ski, skate, swim, canoe, climb, gaze, learn and appreciate my way through 2021.
One of the most fun things about my 2010 year of new things was that I had two friends, Siham and Leah, who created their own lists with significant crossover for us to embark on adventures together. And many other friends joined in for one or multiple new thing adventures. So, if there is an outside destination in Vermont that you've been meaning to get to, how about making 2021 the year? Here's the working list that I've got going right now, roughly divided by the season I think they are likely going to go in.. Let's make a plan!
WINTER
- Winter hiking (microspike and snowshoe) to classic locations like Camel's Hump and Mount Hunger, and hopefully some new destinations I've wanted to see like Duxbury Window and Skylight Pond.
- Nordic skating on Lake Champlain and/or Lake Morey
- Skating on outdoor rinks and ponds
- Cross country skiing - hoping to try out Craftsbury this year
- Ice climbing - in the "stretch" category, Eben put out the idea of a multipitch...
- Skiing at Bolton with Paul
- Going sledding and/or tubing
- Moonlight winter hike/snowshoe/ski and/or skate
- Another very stretchy maybe - outdoor winter camping
- Snow structures - a snow man, snow fort or snow sculpture
- (If Lake Champlain freezes) - a trek on the ice from Vermont to New York
- Attend a winter bonfire
- Visit a maple syrup farm during sugaring season
- Salamander night-time crossing
- Explore some local natural areas that I don't know well including Rock Point Trails and Hubbard Park
- Hike Mount Ascutney, one of the peaks still available to Vermont hikers during mud season
- Visit some historical landmarks I've always meant to check out including the Calvin Coolidge Historic Site and Joseph Smith's birthplace.
- Spend a day visiting covered bridges
- Volunteer picking up litter on earth day and/or on a Green Mountain Club or Crag VT workday
- Plant a garden
- Hiking, with an emphasis on some new hiking adventures including new places (Quehee Gorge, Mount Equinox, Hogback Mountain, Mount Pisgah, Skyline Trail)
- Section hike a part of the Long Trail
- Go paddling (thanks for the offer, Hannah)
- Stand up paddle boarding
- Bird watching
- Go berry picking
- Go foraging with someone who knows what they are doing
- Biking adventures
- Go snorkeling in a Vermont pond or lake
- Camp in a Vermont State campground
- Cook dinner over a campfire
- Go sailing
- Climb a tree
- Go trail running
- Attend an outside farm dinner
