Best Events of 2020

  Most people had a really hard time with this year. For me, being told to avoid people and only recreate outside is like the ideal admonition. And a couple of my adventures managed to take place between the most stringent of the restrictions. Anyway, 2020 wasn't so bad for me.

Chronologically, then... here we go on the best events of 2020.

In February, the finished copies of North Country Quest arrived. Since getting this book done has been on my radar since 2010, when I finished hiking the North Country Trail, this was a really significant accomplishment.

Later in February, I went to Philadelphia for the Flower Show, and to visit with Marie, her son, David, and his family. In addition to the flower show, we took several nice hikes in area parks. It was quite an eye-opener that there were so many places to walk in the big city. The picture is some layered bridges along the Schuylkill River.

After I came home, things were shut down pretty tight for a while, but I hiked close to home quite a lot. Things eased up later in the summer, and I headed east again with Sunny, my trailer, to hike with Marie. I also renewed some acquaintances with other old friends. Marie and I hiked 100 miles during our time together.

After that, I took on a volunteer botany project for the Finger Lakes Trail Association. I did a new inventory of the plant material in a special area called Huckleberry Bog. It was fun for me to do, and also boosted my confidence that I have enough botany skills to actually do that sort of thing.

Just a few days later, I headed for the Adirondacks to help with a North Country Trail trailbuilding project. This was a dream come true for me... to be involved in creating the actual route of the trail in its new corridor.

When I got home, I knew I had some big projects waiting for me. First off, I had to finish the roof. As in FINISH. Got the last of the four faces done, and you have no idea how good it feels knowing that project is done.

One more project that's been hanging over my head for decades. Yes, decades. This time, I fixed it correctly. The well pit cover. Regular readers followed me through that slog, step by step. And if you thought it feels good to be done with the roof, quadruple that and you might be close to how I feel about finishing this.

And there you have it! For a year that has gotten a really bad rap, an awful lot of good things came my way. Can't complain!

In other news: I wrote all morning and worked on a project in the afternoon.

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