Everyone always says time moves faster as you get older, and I feel like I’m really starting to understand what that means. How is it possible another year is almost over?
As I put this post together and look back over the past twelve months, I’m simultaneously enjoying reminiscing about our adventures but also wishing there had been more of them. As an introvert, I’ve always enjoyed my time at home. So does my husband. But this past year, there were more weekends than normal where I found myself waffling; should we go somewhere or stay home and relax?
Going is always worth it. Even when we don’t want to roll out of bed at 4:00am, we always end up having a good time. But I have to remind myself that it’s important to stay home and take a break sometimes too. It’s a balance I think I’m still struggling with, and something I’m going to keep working on in 2025.
But in the meantime, here’s a look back at our 2024 highlights, with links to the full posts for more photos and stories of these adventures.
January
The year started out fairly ambitiously in terms of hiking, with outings three weeks in a row. What can I say? The Colorado mountains are a beautiful winter wonderland and I was apparently full of energy and motivation.
February
This winter, we once again splurged on a luxurious stay at Della Terra Mountain Chateau in Estes Park, Colorado. We stayed here a few years ago and I’m sure we will again sometime in the future. It’s such a beautiful, quiet, and relaxing place, and few things are more amazing than soaking your tired muscles in your own private outdoor hot tub after a day spent frolicking in the snowy mountains.
While we didn’t do the full hike we intended due to high winds and my foot injury, we still made it part way up the trail to one of my favorite lakes in the park.
March
Once again this spring, my sister and I celebrated her birthday together, this year in Seattle. It just so happened that her favorite band was performing there around the same time, so that was the main purpose of our trip. But we also spent a couple days in and around Seattle itself. It was her first time in the city and my first time back in almost 15 years, and though it was a whirlwind, it was a lot of fun!
I also jetted off to Austin, Texas for a few days for some hiking and exploration with my mom and my uncle. We hiked in the surrounding hill country, spent a day exploring the San Antonio Missions, and just generally enjoyed escaping winter for a few days of flowers and sunshine and warmth.
April
Two weeks after leaving Texas, I was once again on a plane to Texas – this time for the total solar eclipse. Traveling to see the eclipse was my husband’s birthday present this year, and Texas was the destination because I have family there. We went a few days early to spend time with them, and obviously it’s always wonderful to visit family, but all of us agree that witnessing the eclipse was the absolute highlight!
May
After March and April, I was very much ready to spend some time catching up on sleep and just being at home (and also catching up on the work I neglected during those back-to-back trips). But by the end of the month, I was recovered enough to be excited for travel once more. It was a four-day weekend for us, so we headed off to southwestern Colorado and immersed ourselves in red rocks and Ancestral Puebloan ruins.
We also attempted to chase the Aurora Borealis during the mid-May solar storm, driving about an hour northeast to (sort of) escape the light pollution. We were somewhat successful. With an extended exposure on my phone I was able to capture some color. To the naked eye, it just looked like a normal night sky, so it doesn’t really feel like I’ve seen the northern lights. But technically, they were there.
June
By the end of the month, the snow was finally starting to melt enough that I could get up into the mountains. I had grand plans of summiting a bunch of 14ers this summer – plans that didn’t entirely materialize – so I decided to start regaining the acclimation I’d lost after a winter of lower elevation hikes. Mount Sherman is one of the “easier” 14ers in Colorado, and one that I felt comfortable doing on my own, so off I went. It’s not my favorite 14er in the state by a long shot, but it always feels good to breathe the fresh mountain air, and nothing beats the view from 14,000 feet!
July
We started off the month in the desert, which is not really where anyone probably wants to be in July. It was hot and dry and endlessly sandy. But our plan A destination was under construction, we didn’t get the permits we needed for our plan B destination, and this was when everyone was available for our family roadtrip this year, so the desert in July it was. And while I would not return to any of these places in the heat of summer, I did enjoy the scenic, cultural, and historic tour of the region.
Back in Colorado for the remainder of July, I was excited to spend my days chasing alpine summer. It wasn’t scorchingly hot, there was a distinct lack of sand, and wildflowers were blooming by the thousands! I squeezed in quite a few hikes during the second half of the month, including what ended up being my only other 14ers of the summer: Grays and Torreys Peaks.
August
August was the month of backpacking, though only two of our three planned trips actually materialized. I’d finally scored a permit in Rocky Mountain National Park that I’d wanted for years, and I was super excited. Naturally, the weather had other plans. Afternoon thunderstorms I can handle. An entire weekend of torrential rain and lightning on a hike that’s mostly above treeline… not so much. It pained me to cancel the permit, but I know it was the safe decision.
Luckily, the weather the following weekend was much better! Getting a permit for Lone Eagle Peak was also something that had been on my list for a while, and we had a challenging but absolutely beautiful weekend with friends, complete with one of the best backpacking campsites of all time!
(For anyone scrolling back up to the top of the month and wondering if I can’t count, I promise I can. Our final backpacking trip began on the last day of August but was mostly in September, so it’s below.)
September
Third time is the charm, as they say. Such was the case for us and summiting Kings Peak, the highest point in Utah. We initially planned this trip for 2021 but had to cancel last-minute due to suffocating forest fire smoke. We re-planned it for 2023 and had to cancel last-minute due to rain, snow, and lightning. Finally, this year, we made it. And, in what I have to assume is a reward for our previous cancellations, the weather could not have been more perfect. We had an amazing campsite and perfect conditions, and Kings Peak is now my favorite of the state high points!
We also squeezed in one fall colors hike at the end of the month. Colorado really put on a show this year, and it was so so pretty!
October
Not to be outdone by the mountains, the plains decided to put on a show this year as well. So often we get an early freeze, or snow, or a windstorm that blows all the leaves off the trees before they’ve had a chance to change color. Not this year. Even just a walk around the neighborhood had plenty to offer.
But the highlight of the month was probably the evening we spent at FlyteCo, a restaurant/brewery located in an old air traffic control tower. They give sunset tours once a week, and we could not have had a more beautiful evening for it!
We also went off in search of Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS, though it was a Tuesday evening so we didn’t want to drive too far. I’m sure we could have seen it much more clearly without light pollution, but with the help of a night sky app, binoculars, and a long exposure, we were actually able to see it from the city!
(Please excuse yet another collection of terrible iPhone night sky photos. I promise, it’s there, just below center in both photos. Perhaps my goal for 2025 should be to buy a real camera.)
November
As usual, our annual Thanksgiving trip was the highlight of November. We couldn’t get the full week off this year, so we just ventured to Moab for four days instead. That was fine with me; there was one hike outside Moab, one hike in Arches, and one hike in Canyonlands we didn’t have time for on our previous visits, so this was a perfect opportunity to finally complete all three. I’m in the process of writing about these hikes now; the posts should be ready to go in the next month or so. In the meantime, here’s a photo from each.
December
We spent the holidays with family this year, and together we decided to forgo gifts and splurge on something we’ve all wanted to do for years: a winter tour of Yellowstone National Park! Our trip began with a 90 minute snowcoach journey to Old Faithful Snow Lodge. After dropping off our luggage, we spent the afternoon wandering through Upper Basin and watching 4 major geyser eruptions. That night, we joined a starlight snowcoach tour beneath the light of the Milky Way. We spent the night at the lodge, explored a little more in the morning, and then rode a snowcoach back out of the park (and, as the cherry on top of an amazing trip, we even saw some wolves). It was everything we could have hoped for!
I’ll be writing a more detailed post on our experience soon, but for now here is a sneak peek.
2025
I’m not entirely sure what’s on the docket for 2025, but as usual I have more ideas than we’ll ever be able to squeeze into a single year. Some friends and I are planning a short getaway, in which the main goals are to eat, drink, play board games, and probably laugh so much we cry. My husband and I will be going on a national parks roadtrip with my inlaws. And, as usual, we’ll take advantage of holiday weekends to do some exploring.
We keep saying we need to travel internationally again (and we did go to Canada in 2023, so technically we have traveled internationally) but there’s just so much to do right here in our own country that international trips keep taking a back seat. But maybe this will be the year we finally pull out our passports again. Time will tell.
Thank you so much for following along with me for another year. I’m so thankful for this community we’ve built here on WordPress. Wishing you all a wonderful end to 2024, and here’s to another year of adventures in 2025.
Cheers!
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