Year Three of the 52 Hike Challenge

Year Three of the 52 Hike Challenge

One80Out has been talking a lot on their adventure blog about the 52 Hike Challenge that they are doing and working towards completing this year.

I myself am also doing the 52 Hike Challenge again in 2019 but this will be my third year of doing the challenge.

Year one is about excitement of a new tradition and busting out the doors to hike more often and hike in more places.  It’s exhilarating and a wonderful way to carry the theme of getting into the great outdoors with you everywhere you go.

Does the enthusiasm start to wade after doing it once or twice?

Hardly.  Well it could but here’s three ways in which I have a renewed sense of excitement each time I do another 52 Hike Challenge.  My challenge to you is to make this a part of your life for decades to come, not just a one off.

1. Pick an outlandish “Bucket List” hike that you train for and look forward to.  In 2018 I had that hike be Rim to Rim of the Grand Canyon. My best friend since childhood and myself hiked North to South of the Grand Canyon in one day, over 50,000 steps and 30 miles by the time the day was over.  We trained for it and we turned it into a week long adventure in Arizona that my Dad also came along for. It included hiking another mountain in Sedona, camping out under the stars on the North Rim, and icing our knees in a bed on the South Rim.  In 2019 that same friend of mine and two others will be joining us to hike the Salkantay Trek in Peru to Machu Picchu over several days. When you do the “Adventure Series” in the 52 Hike Challenge you get to challenge yourself and excited yourself with the possibilities of the Bucket List Hike.  Go all in on it!
   
   
2. On the same token don’t forget about exploring where you live and finding new hikes and doing them at different times of the year.  The 52 Hike Challenge showed me the beauty of revisiting places in different seasons and and exploring regions close to where I live that I had never done before.  If you keep your eyes open this can be a limitless exercise as there’s always another trail in a different season or another close region that you have never explored.
   
   
3. Make it fun!  As owner of a business called Marketing Fun With Mike this might seem like a duh of course moment.  Seriously though how much fun can you have? Can you do 52 new hikes in year three? Can you hike every single day in February even if you live in Alaska?  Can you get your kids out? Can you get your parents out? Can you get your friend who doesn’t anything on Sunday but watch football to skip watching a game and go explore with you?  

I think in conclusion the 52 Hike Challenge is like all opportunities we are presented in life. See how much you can stretch yourself and others around you.  See what you are made of. See what you can take from it and learn from it every single day. See how it can make you a better and kinder person not just on the trail but off the trail as well.

The 52 Hike Challenge is a great life changing project to take on, especially in year one.  However as I am in year three I have found that if you allow the joy and the wonder to be completely there each year is a new chapter of an amazing untold story.

The untold story of your life.  You will get into it as much as you are able to put into it.  Don’t just do the same 52 hikes on the same 52 days as the year before.  Push yourself into that zone of being uncomfortable and grow yourself and those around you!

Are you doing the Adventure Series of the 52 Hike Challenge?  Put a comment below and let’s chat more about spots or ideas for some of the series.
Thanks for reading and supporting the One80Out family and community!

Because Adventure Travel Feeds the Soul,
Mike Rudd

Mike Rudd is a 3 Time Author, yogi, outdoor and active events curator, marketing strategist, world traveler, speaker, and marketing/outdoors blogger. His marketing energy is located at MarketingFunWithMike and his outdoor adventure work can be found at Hashtag 59. Always spread good vibes.