|

December 30, 2017 / Comments (0)

2017 Year in Review

Written by:

Allison is the founder of trailtosummit.com which she began as a way to track and share her first round of the NH 4000 Footers. Now on round 5 (the first round for her dog Ruckus) she has been honored to have taken part of many people’s firsts. She is an experienced trail maintainer, speaker, and passionate member of the outdoor community. In New England, Allison enjoys trekking along the highest peaks, bushwhacking to less traveled areas, and has a fondness for sunrise and sunset trips. Outside of New England Allison has also thru hiked the John Muir Trail and explored mountains in the German and Austrian Alps, Israel, and the Azores. Her goal is to share her passion for hiking and backpacking with others, especially with women, to inspire them to experience the freedom of the trail!

2017 has been the year for a lot of growth in more ways than one! I am excited for personal changes as well as the evolution of Trail to Summit. Here’s a look at the year we’ve had:

 

The first massive change was the addition of new writers! I am so happy to have such amazing voices here. Trail to Summit has shifted to being more focused on helping people find a love for the mountains with a focus on women on the trail. What better way to do so than to have women with different experiences and viewpoints sharing their love here? I can’t possibly relate to or write everything my readers need, but together we definitely can create amazing content for you all! I’m curious, what would you like to see more of in 2018?? I’d love to hear some of your ideas!

 

Meet the Team!

 

Speaking of community, I had the opportunity once again to host two talks this year reaching over 100 people! In 2018 I will be adding a talk specifically for women looking to get into hiking and backpacking. It’ll cover general topics for anyone and specific ones related to hiking solo as a female, having your period on the trail, and other questions that keep some women from getting out there! 

 

As many of you know, by far the biggest change has been growing a new hiking buddy! I’m due in March and planning to keep hiking until I can’t! I didn’t snap a matching photo atop the Osceolas at 4 weeks, but our baby boy has “hiked” 9 4000-footers in the womb. My husband jokes he’ll be sick of hiking by the time he’s born!

Weeks 8-29 Atop Mountains

 

Ruckus has also been working on her 4000 footer list and is at #15!

Ruckus on her 4000 Footer Journey

 

2017 Trip to the Azores

 

This year we’ve introduced a number of series. These include:

Hiking the Belknap Range

AMC Huts (This one is Lake of the Clouds)

Reduce Your Impact

 

We’ve also continued with a few reader favorites including our ‘A Closer Look’ series which interviews owners of small hiking focused businesses.

 

Some of my favorite additions have been articles that feature trail history like this one on the haunted Willey Range Trail and some inspirational stories like Janice’s post on hiking through a mid-life crisis.

 

For the ladies out there, we have a bunch of great female specific articles organized here. 2017 was big on reorganizing and updating the site!

2018 will surely be filled with lots of new adventures! I’d love to hear what you’d like to see on the site over the next year! If you have questions you’d love answers to or topics you’d like to see, let us know!

 

Hope the new year brings you lots of fantastic memories and time spent outdoors!

 

Last modified: December 30, 2017

Join the discussion