Let me start out this post by just saying that the year 2010 was an awesome year for me! At the beginning of the year I made a list of goals that I wanted to accomplish throughout the year, and for the most part, I was able to complete almost all of them. There were a few that did not happen (some out of my control; like the closing of the White Rim Trail because of a major washout), but I am confident that I can complete those in 2011. Let me run down the list of some of the goals that I accomplished in 2010…
First off, the biggest accomplishment I had this year was losing about 70lbs and getting in shape. I’m now in the best shape I have been is for a long time. I accomplished this by doing a lot of walking, hiking, cycling and mountain biking. I also learned to ski at the beginning of the year and did a little snowshoeing. During this time my love for the outdoors has grown exponentially and hiking has become one of my favorite activities.
I’ve been tracking a lot (but not all) of my walking, hiking and biking through an iPhone app called RunKeeper. Since I started tracking with RunKeeper at the beginning of the year I have burned 125,756 calories. I cycled 423 miles, walked 363 miles, hiked 186 miles, and mountain biked 43 miles.
Since I was in better shape this summer, I was also able complete another goal of mine; which was to climb my first 14er here in Colorado. In July I hiked to the summit of Handies Peak (14,053 ft). I’m looking forward to trying at least another 14er in 2011.
Handies Peak Summit
During 2010 I also grew a lot as a photographer. I attribute this partly to the 30-365 Photo Project that I started back in February. While this project has certainly not been easy, and I’m kind of looking forward to it to being over soon, I do feel that it has helped me ‘learn to see’ a little better. Plus it has helped my technical knowledge of photography and my camera. I plan to continue taking my photography to the next level in 2011, but it will not be with another 365 day project…..I have something different in mind, so stay tuned for that project to start in January.
Sagers Flat
Doll House
Amanda and I have been geocaching for a few years now, but it was always sporadic. This year I decided I wanted to reach the 100 finds milestone and also hide my very first cache. We just to happened to find our 100th geocache on the same day we hid our first geocache. Talk about perfect timing! If you are ever in the Dome Plateau / Yellow Cat area near Moab, go ahead and look for it, you won’t be disappointed by the view!
Early in the year I also set the goal of submitting a photo to the Grand Junction City Hall art display that they do every year in October. I managed to snap a great stormy sunset at the Great Sand Dunes National Park and submitted it for display. It has been on display at City Hall since October and I am planning on submitting a new photo to next years exhibit. It’s kind of nice seeing my photo in print on canvas at work everyday.
Dunes on Fire
I always have a long list of places that I want to go, but it always seems like I keep putting some of them off longer than others. At the beginning of 2010 I put a few places on my goals list that I needed to visit this year. A few of hose places included Hovenweep National Monument, Beef Basin, Rattlesnake Canyon, Negro Bill Canyon and the hike to Double O Arch in Arches National Park. I accomplished all of these, and will definitely be adding a few different locations to my 2011 goals list.
Cedar Tree Arch
Rattlesnake Canyon
Hovenweep Castle Ruins
Hovenweep National Monument
Tower Star Trails
Beef Basin
Late last year I set the goal of buying myself a new Jeep for my 30th birthday. As I’m sure you are all aware, I did manage to buy that Jeep in January and have used it extensively since then on all of my adventures. I actually just rolled over 25,000 miles on the odometer the other day….and I haven’t even had it for a full year yet….
You also might have noticed lately that I have been pretty active on flickr (especially if you follow me on Twitter. I’ve had an account on flickr since 2005, but I never really used it. I started really using flickr a few months ago and am really enjoing sharing my photos and following others (especially the Rock Art groups). I’m hoping to keep it up into 2011, especially since I just upgraded to a Pro account 😉
Before wrapping up this post, I’d like to highlight a few of my favorite trip reports from throughout the year:
2010 was a great year for me, and I’m looking forward to keeping the momentum going through 2011 and further! I already have my 2011 goals listed and will be getting to work on them as soon as possible! See you next year!
