Mission for 2018: more hikes!

The beginning of the year is usually the time to look back at the past year and make some resolutions for the year ahead. I’m no exception, although this is the first time I write an article like this on this blog.

I wanted to write a slightly more personal article because 2017 was somehow a turning point. Or an eye-opener. In 2017, I fell in love with hiking.

Yes, I know, it’s a very cliché and weak statement. Especially since I have always loved hiking. There was nothing that made me happier when I was little than when my parents took us up Mount Rigaud. A good majority of the first articles I wrote for this blog talk about places I enjoyed hiking (such as the Larose Forest, the Mer Bleue Bog, or the Garry Fen Trail). So, what has changed this year?

In May, I spent a few days with my brother in Banff. We did not have specific plans, we just wanted to do the more hikes possible. And that’s what we’ve done. From Tunnel Mountain to Sulfur Mountain, on the banks of Emerald Lake and Lake Minnewanka, or along Kicking Horse River and Bow River, we have hiked dozens of kilometers without ever getting tired of it.

And something happened. Something clicked. A wonder that did not fade. The realization that beyond the spectacular landscapes that I saw, I had a real pleasure to be on a trail. I never wanted it to end. I wanted to hike more and more, despite my sore legs. Even the fall that got me a nasty hand fracture during a hike in Canmore did not diminish my enthusiasm.

So, I came back from Alberta with a new obsession. Obsession that I was able to channel by throwing myself into the #Canada150 challenge of the Rideau Trail. And again, even though the Rideau Trail landscapes are not nearly as spectacular as the Rockies, I felt the same exhilaration to find myself on a trail.

And then there was Taiwan and its beautiful trails between jungle and mountain. And I realized that now for me, the pinnacle of the perfect trip was that.

So in 2018, I want to continue on this momentum. I want to do more hiking on weekends, possibly finishing the Rideau Trail. And center my future trips hiking opportunities. I’m looking a lot at the Tour du Mont-Blanc, a popular long-distance hiking trail in the Alps. There is also the Inca Trail that leads to Machu Picchu in Peru. We’ll see. For now, all I want is to discover new trails, no matter where.

Happy new year!