The Wild Compiled 2022 Season Recap

Time flies so quickly. I can't believe it's already the end of October. While I do have a couple winter trips that I plan on squeezing in this year, I think I can safely call the 2022 season over.

For many of you, this is the first time I'm really introducing myself and my backpacking goals. I moved to Washington State in the summer of 2020, right in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic. I fell in love with the national parks here right away. This is when my backpacking journey started in earnest.

In 2022, I set out on a mission explore all there is to explore in Washington State's 3 iconic national parks (Mount Rainier National Park, Olympic National Park, and North Cascades National Park) with plenty of side quests along the way. My mission is focused on exploring all parts of these national parks rather than just the most popular destinations to share the path less traveled with all of you.

Because I have a 9 to 5 Monday through Friday job, I'm accomplishing my mission by chipping away at these trails hike by hike through day hikes and weekend-long backpacking trips to prove that you don't need to quit your job or wait until you're retired to live your life and have the adventure you've always wanted to have.

Now let's talk stats!

Washington State National Parks Goal Summary

This is how big of a dent I've made in my goal this year:

	2020	2021	2022
Mount Rainier National Park	15.9 mi	32.6mi	125.6 mi
Olympic National Park		50.7mi	43.0mi
North Cascades National Park	9.1mi	38.9mi	23.4mi

Washington State

I'm working retroactively to get blog posts published for all these hikes!

Mount Rainier National Park

This year I spent most of my time hiking and backpacking in Mount Rainier National Park. With a focus on the southern and northern sections of Mount Rainier National Park. Looking at the map, I'm pleasantly surprised at how much of the National Park that I've covered.

These are all the destinations I've hiked in Mount Rainier National Park this year:

06/25/22 Carbon River (17.6mi)
07/02/22 Maple Creek (26.8mi)
07/10/22 Camp Muir (7.4mi)
07/21/22 Crystal Lakes and Peak (12.1mi)
07/22/22 The Burroughs Loop (16.0mi)
07/23/22 Palisades Lake (15.1mi)
09/17/22 The Northern Loop (30.6mi)

Olympic National Park

I'm surprised I didn't make nearly as large of a dent in Olympic National Park as I was hoping to this year. I had a couple of routes drawn out in Olympic National park planned for this year but had to switch plans either because something personal had come up or there were wildfires in the area. I'm hoping to make a much larger dent next year!

This is where I've hiked in Olympic National Park this year:

07/17/22 Dodger Point (43.0mi)

North Cascades National Park

Again, I'm a little surprised that I didn't end up making as large of a dent in North Cascades National Park. The perfect season in North Cascades National Park is extremely short. The North Cascades is pretty snow-ridden until mid-July and becomes snowy again in mid-October.

This is where I've hiked in North Cascades National Park this year:

08/27/22 Big Beaver to 39 Mile Camp (23.4mi)

Alpine Lakes Wilderness

This year was the first year that I hiked in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness, which made for some awesome adventures. I'm in love with this region and I'll certainly be back to explore further!

This is where I've hiked in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness this year:

07/31/22 Jade Lake (20.0mi)
09/03/22 Salmon La Sac to Kendall Katwalk (30.1mi)
10/22/22 Eightmile Lake (6.5mi)

Utah

I took a trip to Utah this year to explore the five national parks in the area: Arches National Park, Canyonlands National Park, Capitol Reef National Park, Bryce Canyon National Park, and Zion National Park. It was my very first time backpacking in the region. While I technically set foot in all five national parks, I'll only share information about the three parks I was able to make a dent in.

Arches National Park

Arches National Park is a surprisingly small park with short, very accessible hikes close to the road. We only had a limited amount of time in Arches National Park, because we didn't realize we needed a permit in order to gain entry into the park this year and weren't able to enter until about 10:30 am that day. Then, we had to leave early because a thunder-hailstorm rolled in. If I had another few hours at Arches National Park, I'm sure I could knock it out!

This is where I've hiked in Arches National Park this year:

10/02/22 - The Windows (1.8mi)
10/02/22 - Delicate Arch (3.2 mi)
10/02/22 - Pine Tree Arch (0.9mi)

Canyonlands National Park

Canyonlands was my favorite National Park in Utah. I visited Island in the Sky with some friends and was able to do some day hikes in that area, but I spent a majority of my time backpacking through The Needles District of Canyonlands National Park.