Today marks the 52nd consecutive weekend I’ve been out hiking.
I never set out to hike every weekend for an entire year. It was perhaps mid-November when I noticed I had been out for a hike every weekend (and sometimes more) since mid-September, so I decided to keep it up. The resulting quest has been a remarkable forcing function – sometimes pushing me to get outdoors even when I felt too busy or too tired to identify, organize, and execute on a plan. In retrospect, it was always worth the effort. Always.
Fortunately, my sabbatical in London presented many interesting opportunities, and our worldwide travels often included hikes in interesting places. My 52-week streak includes hikes in England, Scotland, Wales, France, Netherlands, Svalbard, Australia, and New Zealand; and in the United States in Vermont, New Hampshire, North Carolina, South Carolina, Colorado, Montana, and Wyoming. (See all posts categorized Hikes.)
It all began in mid-September last year, when I took my first excursion outside London to complete the Box Hill circuit, a popular route that led me up and down some steep trails and over hills with pretty views. This was also my introduction to a lovely English custom – popping into a pub for a pint at the end of the hike!
Actually, if one ignores three September weekends missed while I was settling into London, I had earlier hiked almost every weekend in June, July, and August (including many hikes in Greenland and Iceland, as well as California, South Carolina, and New Hampshire). If I can get credit for several mid-week hikes sprinkled throughout the past year, perhaps we can consider those gaps filled.
Today
Right, so what was today’s hike? After enjoying so many trails in so many places, it was time to give back. I joined a Lyme group planning to wade and rock-hop their way down Grant Brook, from the center of town to its outlet in the Connecticut River, cleaning up any trash or debris. (This effort is part of a watershed-wide cleanup day, Source to the Sea.) Because the mouth of Grant Brook is just a mile upriver from my home, I decided to walk to the meeting point, join the group as they followed the brook downstream, and walk home. My route included bushwhacking up Lyme Hill, following trails down Lyme Hill, following rural dirt roads toward Lyme’s town center, following the brook back toward the river, and walking River Road home. A delightful day! See the photo gallery.
Hike stats: 52nd consecutive weekend hike
Distance: 7.2 miles (12km)
Time: 4h30m (including slow work along the brook)
Gain: 1,047 feet (319m)
David Kotz 