Mosaic Monday #163: 775 Miles alongside Man with Hat

As I was preparing my 2021 re-cap, I calculated 105 miles hiked last year.  It seemed a low number, and I idly wondered how it compared to other years.  Inquiring minds want to know!  So, here's the answer!!!

We moved to Montana in May 2017, and lost no time hitting the trails.  From May 6 through November 24, we traversed 200 miles on 26 different hikes.  So far, nineteen of those adventures have been documented on this blog.

In 2018, we covered 126 miles on 14 hikes between January 25 and October 19.  You have read about 5 of those trails.

The following year, 14 hikes carried us 151 miles from April 18 through September 16.  I wrote about six of the 2019 hikes.

Between March 21 and October 24, 2020, we traipsed 193 miles on 23 separate hikes, and I penned posts about eight of them.

And, finally, 2021.  We explored 105 miles on 6 hikes, and I have told you about two of them.

If you were counting, that's 775 miles in 5 years!  As you might surmise, 2020's significant mileage is owed to COVID-19.  Our travel was limited, and we made up for it with more hiking.  And, you can see that 2021 WAS the lowest mileage we have done so far.  Why might that be?  First, two of our backcountry camping trips were canceled - one because of a wildfire and one because of weather.  Together, they would have added approximately 55 miles to the total.  Second, we have covered the low-hanging fruit; many of the day hikes that are within easy reach are in the books!

The data also shows I have a backlog of 43 hikes that remain unshared!!!  

We are going to take care of one of them right now!!!

Hiking Journal Entry 23: September 17, 2017

Wounded Buck Trail - 9 miles out and back

This day was forecast to be crisp in the morning and fall-ish in the afternoon (high 66 degrees).  And the coming week showed a solid week of rain.  So, we grabbed this as a perfect opportunity for hiking.  We mapped out a 12-mile route that would include 2 lakes - Strawberry and Wildcat.  We should have known, when we tried to find the official trailhead and failed, that this might be a "sigh" outcome!

From where we parked the car (an obvious camping spot), we took a trail that clearly had frequent use, assuming it was the trail.  As we continued, it appeared that the trail route followed an old road, which made sense based on the map we had.

At these low elevations, there was plenty of frost.  In the collage below, the goldenrod was bedazzled by frost, and the frozen puddle was full of suspended butterflies/moths.

After some time, the trail became very overgrown.  So, while it was still visible, it was hard going.  Yes, the path goes through this brush!

The trail followed Wounded Buck Creek as we gained elevation, which we hoped would lead us to the junction with Alpine Trail 7.

However, after three hours, we considered that we could still be three miles from the junction, and that would leave us with no time to go to either lake.  So, discouraged, we decided to turn around.  Yes, it was a "sigh" outcome, but at least I was with Man with Hat!

* the picture above was NOT on the Wounded Buck Trail

** there will be no Mosaic Monday next week; I will see you on January 23!!!

Mosaic Monday

Welcome to Mosaic Monday, a weekly meme where we get together to share our photo mosaics and collages.

Please include at least one photo mosaic/collage in your post.

The link will be open from 1 p.m. Sunday until 11 p.m. Tuesday (U.S. Mountain time).

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