The Washington State Hiking Podcast

Hiking resolutions for 2025

• Episode 44

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Jennie Flaming:

Welcome to The Washington State hiking podcast. I'm your host, Jennie Thwing Flaming, and I'm your co host, Craig Romano, Craig and I are happy to have you here. We provide practical and timely, seasonal hiking advice for hikers, trail runners and potential hikers and trail runners of all skill and ability levels that is helpful, accurate, fun and inclusive. Happy New Year, Craig, Happy

Craig Romano:

New 2025.

Jennie Flaming:

Yeah, that's a pretty wild number.

Craig Romano:

It's just, it's inconceivable to think that we're getting that we're a quarter of the way in the century.

Jennie Flaming:

Yeah, right. That is really nuts. Yeah, that means 2000 was 25 years I

Craig Romano:

can't believe it was and I'm still partying like it's 1999

Jennie Flaming:

oh, man. Well, today we're talking about New Year's hiking resolutions. Yes,

Craig Romano:

yeah, it's a great topic. I mean, this is the time we make resolution, so yeah,

Jennie Flaming:

and maybe we could start by talking about first day hikes. And I realize, you know this is going live on January 1, but maybe you're listening to this in the morning and you're ready to get outside today. Yeah, the

Craig Romano:

whole first day hike. This is great. And I'm trying to remember when I first saw this coming to play. Oh, man you know, the whole thing with the first nights, that was the whole thing, I think in Boston, it got really big and started catching on to a lot of areas. Yeah, people didn't want to spend the entire night being inebriated, maybe just part part of the night, and they'd want to do these other things to celebrate. And then the whole idea of of, you know, a first hike. You know that first day. So, so here's where the resolutions come into place too. What better way to to start your resolution you want to hike more by starting on the very first day. And of course, those of us who live in northern climates here, that makes it more challenging. It's far easier to do this in Florida or California. You know, Southern California, yeah. But here in the northern, the northern reaches of the country, you have to be a little bit more committed to go out on those cold, rainy days, you know, could be a sunny day.

Jennie Flaming:

That's yeah, that's true. And since we're recording this before January 1, we don't know what

Craig Romano:

it's gonna be, but I will tell you this, because I'm one of these guys for a long time, I do have a tradition this time of year. Tell me about it. And because I have two passions that I equally love, running and hiking, I do a run, an organized run, every January. 1 been doing it. Oh, my God, you know 30 years or something I've been doing. So that's a tradition, and I usually do almost always, I do a New Year's Eve hike. So the last day of the year I hike. The first day of the year I run. Fun so that, and to me, it's, yeah, it's just coming around. Two things I love, and starting the new year off with a run. And certainly, if I wasn't running, I'd be hiking. So I love getting out. And the other thing too, it's fun because it's January 1. It's in the north. I never know what the weather is going to be like. So again, just to get out there and to do it, and it's always a fun thing to do, the first thing is to kick off the year,

Jennie Flaming:

yeah, yeah. I definitely, yeah. I do a first day hike, and I usually do some kind of beach hike, nice, occasionally, something different. But yeah, I really like that. I know I've mentioned it once or twice in the last month, but EBS landing on Whidbey Island is probably the one I've done the most as a first day hike. And by the way, the Washington State Parks are free on January 1, and many parks have Ranger guided hikes on that day that are totally free, so definitely check out. And you know, if you're listening to this this morning, like, a lot of them are, like, in the early afternoon, yeah, they start late, yeah, too late. Yeah.

Craig Romano:

The one I do actually starts, it starts at noon. You know, it's one of those things they wanted to let people, you know, sleep in or, you know, so it's

Jennie Flaming:

not too late. You can get out there, you know, the one thing. So I do really like snowshoeing, cross country skiing, snow stuff in the winter, but that's not usually what I do on January 1. I usually do that other times, kind of during the holidays, but I don't know what it is, the kind of beach hike always draws me on January 1. Pretty much always do that. And if

Craig Romano:

you have a tradition, this is great, too. I know half of you out there probably do and half don't, but, yeah, but what are you? And I just tell you my tradition. And again, you know, I'm kind of, you know, kind of a traditionalist in a lot of ways. The holidays. I like to do certain things that kind of measure the time. So, yeah, it's almost the point where I got to keep doing this run. It's the same race I do all the time. It's always great to see some of the same people there. And then the passage of time. Of course, I don't run it as fast as I used to, but to me, because things are changing so rapidly. New Year, but that one thing that's staying constant is seeing the same group of people doing the same thing, and we're doing something healthy to kick off the new year, and you're outdoors. So to me, that's important. So I'd be interested. You know, those of you out there who have traditions, you know, I always want to do the Fiddler on the Roof, snap my fingers tradition, you know, I want to, I'd like to know what you do and why I think traditions are important. Phil, yeah,

Jennie Flaming:

well, you know, in that text, in the in the show notes, that first link there, you can send Craig and I a text, and that's a great just, it's a one way text, so we can't respond, but we would love to hear and maybe next time we sit down to record, we can share some of the answers that we got. So we'd love to hear from you what your your holiday hiking traditions are, or maybe your hiking resolutions, which

Craig Romano:

also, yeah, 2025 Yeah. So going together with traditions are resolutions. And again, this is the time of year that resolutions are made, and we'll come revisit them February 1, when resolutions are broken. But yeah, how many I know in my circles that many of my friends and acquaintances do make some type of hiking, outdoor, running, type of resolution Yeah, and to me, it's kind of just, it's another word for goal. What's your goal going to be? Yeah, for this year. And if you are, you know, goal oriented, then this is perfect. So yeah, if you make resolution everywhere, I'd be curious to hear what those are. And, yeah, more importantly, do you follow through?

Jennie Flaming:

Yeah, yeah. You know, that's interesting, because I'm not super big in general on the New Year's resolution format. I'm kind of impatient, so I tend to not if I want to change something, I tend to not want to wait until January. And you know, for all of my career, I've worked in jobs that were really slow in December and really busy in January. So December is kind of the time that I have to reflect, and once January comes, I need to already be in the habit of doing those things, or it's not gonna happen. But one of the ones you know, hiking and outdoor adventures is one of the areas where I do do that. And I do tend, I tend to do it in December, kind of thinking about 2025, or whatever year it is. So for me, you know, like we've talked about, I'm not, what I care about is being in the habit of being out there. I'm not really a person who's gonna set mileage goals or time goals, even though I believe in that. I think that is really cool. This year in 2025 in September, I'm turning 50. Ooh, it's a big one. Yeah. So I have been thinking about that for a while, and I do feel like this would be a fun year to do a harder hike than I normally do.

Craig Romano:

Jennie for my 50th birthday, I did my first 50

Jennie Flaming:

mile run. Good job. I won't be doing, but I'm glad you did. We can make a 50k yeah. No, it won't be running related. Um, but so that would be one thing. I'm not sure exactly what I want it to be. One thing that is a little bit challenging for me, and where I tend to get tripped up, is like I usually start kind of doing longer and harder hikes, kind of starting in January, February, because I like you, I hike all year, but I do tend to do easier, like, again, the type of work that I do and even that I did before. You know, when I worked in schools, it was kind of the same. You know, fall can be really tiring, and so around the holidays, I tend to do pretty mellow hikes. I If anything, I do more of them, but more chill. So then I start getting back to ramping it up in January. So I'm planning to do that again, um, and then there are certain, like, close to home, snow free hikes that I do. I'm like, Oh, this is the time of year that I do Margaret's way, and this is the time of year that I in the in the traditions, yes, yes, um, but I also, you know, January and February, I also like cross country skiing and snowshoeing, so those kind of mix in, and those are very weather and snow dependent. But anyway, um, so what tends to happen for me in the summer is that when I'm out on the road, working as a guide, it's a lot harder to hike, but then fall is actually my favorite time to hike. So it's like I have this great fitness in like May, and then when I really need it, in October, I've lost like 20% of it. So. So one of the things I want to do this year is figure out how to, you know, I'm not going to be ramping up difficulty over the summer because of my job. You know, when you're working 12 hour days, multiple days in a row, like that just isn't going to happen. But when I have breaks I need, I need a better plan for that for the summer, because I would love to do, like, a week of, I've always wanted to do, like a week of large hikes, you know, during the week, so you're not stuck with weekends. And I like some of the ones that are more mellow, but it would be fun to do some of the harder ones this year. So we'll see how that goes. But that's kind of, I also really, I have a couple assignments that are going to involve hikes in other parts of Washington, which I always love doing. But I like, already know, for example, that I'm going to get to do some hikes in Wenatchee this spring. So not just Wenatchee, but I'm excited about having, like, some structure that will get me into those other environments that are further away from home?

Craig Romano:

Yeah, I think it's, it's always, this is a good time of year if you don't. And things like, Jennie, I'm more more like you in that I don't necessarily make a New Year's resolution in that I'm a goal oriented person, yeah, and I've already made my goal for 2025 I made it not that long, long ago. I ran my first 100k Yeah, last year. And then, which is really cool. Thank you. Yeah, and I did that for my 62nd birthday. And I thought, you know, I'm not gonna wait for my 100th birthday to do do my 102nd but I am. I decided 2025, would be the year that I would try my first 100 mile run. That's awesome. So that's, that's my you.

Jennie Flaming:

The last time we talked about it, you hadn't decided which one you were gonna do. Is that still true? Or have you decided? I have decided.

Craig Romano:

I have not officially signed up. Secret. It's not I will announce it when it comes out. Make sure it will be here in the Northwest.

Jennie Flaming:

Is it a trail run?

Craig Romano:

No, no, no, no, no, road run that would be in the pavement that would be difficult?

Jennie Flaming:

Yeah, and there aren't any 100 mile roadways, very few,

Craig Romano:

most of our trail. And this is not an easy one either. This one has 17,000 feet of vertical

Jennie Flaming:

but it has a That sounds great. It sounds brutal. Ibu,

Craig Romano:

I do need, I do need my pacers up, but it does have a 36 hour time limit, so it's kind of kind of generous.

Jennie Flaming:

Okay, so, but we'll tell that allow for a nap.

Craig Romano:

Usually don't nap in the 100. So anything beyond that you do, if I napped during that, I'm not getting up. So, yeah, so that. So that's what I've been boy, so so a lot of my my I've already mapped out a lot of the year as far as my training to keep me going, which means, you know, another couple more 50 mile races, another 100k Yep. And kind of getting those in there. And also, some of you may know too, the other goal that I decided a few years ago, just because, why not? I decided that I want to do a ultra marathon, or a marathon in all 50 states. Yes,

Jennie Flaming:

and we talked about that on the podcast we have, I don't, I don't think we have

Craig Romano:

in it's pretty it's actually pretty popular. There's quite a few people, you do you there's a whole organization you give up. And the coolest thing about it is that it, you know, I love traveling. I love going anywhere. And to me, there's so many cool things no matter where you go. But still, we get drawn to our same places all the time. We love so it's getting me into places that I normally would never even consider, like in May, I'm going to Cincinnati, which to run a race there. But you know, when I start doing the race, there are so many cool things in these places. I'm going to be in Texas and Fort Worth in February, I was in Kansas in October. Just great. And, you know, and I end up going these, I don't just get on the plane, do the run, come back. I actually spend some time there because I want to experience it. So I hike these places and in the cultural so to me, that was a resolution, a long term resolution I made a couple years ago to do, if you know, and I have no time limit, because I'm in no hurry. I'm trying to do maybe five, six of these a year.

Jennie Flaming:

Hi everyone. Jennie here, Happy New Year. I hope you're enjoying this episode talking about hiking resolutions, and if you are setting some hiking resolutions for 2025 let Craig and I help you. We always have in the show notes a link to all of Craig's books and his hiking guides are amazing inspiration, as well as great information. I love, especially this time of year to look through guidebooks, and I have a lot of crags to look through there and pick out, like some ones I want to do this year that are new or new areas of Washington I want to explore. And I also wanted to tell you that I have a cool Hike Planner. You can find it in my online shop. Up, and there's a link to that in the show notes, as well as my Seattle seasonal hiking guide. So for those of you in the Seattle area, it has a chill hike, a more challenging hike, and a weekend getaway in Washington state for every month of the year. So check those out. Enjoy and Happy New Year. Back to the show. Just how many have you done so far?

Craig Romano:

So Texas in next month, it will be number nine. So I just launched on this. Yeah. So

Jennie Flaming:

if you stick with your plan to do five or six a year, it would take you like, 10 ish years, yeah,

Craig Romano:

eight to 10 years. You know, there's a lot of reasons. You know, it requires money. You know, to do these trips requires a lot of planning. I'm not retired. I have a young son. I have a wife. So there's people who can't be

Jennie Flaming:

gone all the time to write guidebooks. I'd

Craig Romano:

still work to keep the lights on exactly so. But the cool thing is, I'm sponsored by the Washington State potato commission, potato team, Potato, potato go to go, go, go. Potato, go. Spud power. And I write, I blog about my adventures of going to all these places. So if you're interested, you can definitely follow along my adventures to all these places and insights. So that's a lot of fun. So that's become a long term resolution for me, and it's getting me to places that I've never been, and I am loving the entire process. Another one of those things, the journey. I'm in no hurry to get to number 50, because I'm enjoying the entire process. It's just it's fun. So with that said, that's kind of being goal oriented and trying new things, I would imagine among those of you out there who who make resolutions, I would think things that you would do is make resolute like to get out more. Yeah, which is definitely not a problem for Jennie and I. We're out all the time because of our lifestyles. But

Jennie Flaming:

you know what? I actually I'm gonna interrupt you there, Craig, because I'm curious. So I pretty much do a hike almost every Friday. Okay, sometimes I swap it out for a different day of the week, but I often end up working on the weekends things like that. So that day, I try to keep for that, although it doesn't always happen for various reasons. But, you know, I'm thinking back on how I started that habit, and it was when I first became self employed, and I tried to do a hike every week before that. But I think, you know, this is like, eight years ago now, and way before we had the podcast. You know, even right around the time I started my blog, and I was also working in high schools then, and I was like, well, what's the point of being self employed? I almost said, unemployed. What's the point of being self employed? If you can't, like, say this is a priority. I'm gonna do this every week. And you know, I have other priorities that I sat around that time as well. And so I enjoy doing it. But there's lots of things, you know. I think all of us have things we enjoy, we don't necessarily do as often as we like. And so one of the things, if it is your resolution to hike or run or camp or more often, is just to, like, get it on the calendar in, like, a concrete way, and then you have to be kind to yourself if you get sick or someone in your family needs something, like, you can preserve that time without being legalistic about it. So I'm curious, like, I know I kind of interrupted your flow there. But I'm curious what thoughts you have about because I feel like getting out more is a really popular one. So I'm curious how you especially, you know, both of us are married. You have a child. You know, we both have other family that we're involved in, and other things that we do. We're both earning money working, you know. So what are tips you have about was gonna

Craig Romano:

say for me, it's it's not really, I shouldn't be in the in the running here, because my whole job has me outdoors, yeah, and that's something matter of fact, it's on. So sometimes I make the resolution I need to stop being out there so much because, I got a thing, well, actually, in that I love, because I run and hike all the time. I mean, six days a week, you know, at least I love cycling and paddling that I don't do. So sometimes I keep saying, every year, I need to, I need to bike more. I need to. So again, the whole thing that I find with a lot of this, because, yes, life gets in the way, and you have to definitely make it a priority by putting putting things down on paper. First of all, committing yourself instead of just saying it and then the follow up and the thing. And to make it easier, you need accountability. And to do that means, you know, tell your resolution to somebody else who's going to hold you accountable to it, and do it with somebody else. And this is you hear all the time. You know, we. Running clubs and hiking partners, and say, when you have someone else there, you know, it's raining out, they're going to call you up. Hey, you know, Craig, I'm waiting for you. You know, put the coffee down. Come on out. So, yeah, so I think it's important, because we all know, by February, people you know, dropped you in, because it takes a while to get into the mode. And even you say, I'm going to hike every once a week and give yourself, don't, maybe you don't want to put it on that one day, because life happens. And of course, in the summertime, you have a lot of flexibility because the days are long. So you can break after work in the evening. Yeah, exactly. So to do that and then and then again. And don't be, don't be really stringent on it. And a prime example, so I do the hike a thon for Washington Trail Association every year, and I make my goals very much like resolutions, and one of them I've made a couple of times, and this is the toughest one, because I my mileage goals and those sometimes, you know, to do over 300 miles a month, and that may seem daunting, but sometimes, you know, I can bang out a lot of those miles in just a couple days and get that. The one that is the hardest for me to do every year is when I say I'm going to spend every day on the trail this month, the whole month of August, and that gets the point where, you know, I'm doing so, my God, I just don't want to leave today. I'm tired, but, you know, I can just go out and do one of my local urban trails just for a two mile walk. And that counts, because I'm being on the trail, right? So in the same token, you're going to say, I want to hike once a week, you know, 52 hikes,

Jennie Flaming:

or even once a month, I think is a great right, goal, right? And

Craig Romano:

Is really difficult. It could just this be the opportunity you're tired, or life's getting in the way, to just do something close, and again, it might be something you've been overlooking all this time, yeah. So I think that's a really good resolution. The other ones, you know,

Jennie Flaming:

an example like that. So my husband, who's who's not really a hiker unless he's getting paid, which I think we've talked about before, but he and, you know, I'm a born and raised Seattleite, he moved here with me, and recently he took me to a park with a trail that I had never been to, which is five miles from our house. Which which Park? It is the park that is surrounded by the Boeing factory. So there, so you may not have been there either, No book, no. It's called the Cedar River Trail Park, yeah, yes, in Renton, but it's not the Cedar River trail that goes from Renton to Maple Valley. I mean, it connects up to that, but I've known about that one forever. So this park is literally in between the runway and the airplane factory. And I had no idea you could even get in there, like you drive through this gate, and it definitely looks like you're going into top s Boeing stuff, but there's a little sign that's like, you know, rent and rowing club with an arrow. And if you drive down there, you can park, and there's like a half mile trail, um, again, it connects up to other trails. But down there, like right next to, um, the where the Cedar River goes to Lake Washington, right there at Boeing. And, you know, it was, it was absolutely pouring rain, and we were gonna go out for a walk somewhere, and we got some coffee, and then we went there. So that's just, uh, if the weather hadn't been terrible, we probably wouldn't have done that, right? And so I had no idea that was

Craig Romano:

there. So that's, and that's a great segue for when you make these resolutions to get out, you may not want to hold yourself to a specific mileage or something like that. And again, what you just said to another great resolution, too, if you're constantly going to the same place. I worked with this woman once she was, she was in great shape hiker. All she did was pretty much the same trail. Like, everything, yeah, other trails out there, right? So make those resolutions to see to find these places. Because, again, I find this everywhere. We tend to have our favorite places. We overlook places that are. We drive by. We literally drive by them there. So make that a point. I'm going to discuss. You know, do six new trails this year, or, you know, or one whatever, and just a way of breaking you out of the habit of constantly going to the same place to see something different. So I think that's a great resolution. Yeah, absolutely.

Jennie Flaming:

And that also helps with, like, because some days there are going to be things that limit your time, or there are all kinds of reasons why I really agree that, like, you know, anything to break it up, right? Don't worry too much about how long it is, unless, I mean, if you're training for something, then, then you do have to pay attention to that, and then otherwise, and

Craig Romano:

that could be a resolution as well. You can see, this is the year I'm going. To take up trail running, or I'm gonna do my first 15 mile hike, or 20 mile or I'm gonna do my first backpack. Yeah, you know, and the same thing, it's one of these things, you need a build up to it, to prepare. It's not something you're just gonna do the next day. The other thing I was just thinking, too, which is really important, again, we've been thinking things that for our own personal enrichment and stuff, and seven, this kind of ties in. But, you know, it's still, it's the holiday season. We still have a little bit here. What about a resolution to give back? Yeah, this is the year that I'm gonna do trail work. Yeah, it's amazing. My son, he just turned 10, so he's nine years old, and my wife, they just did a trail they did trail party, and he loved it. He was moaning about it when my wife signed him up. And then when he did, he got to, he actually got to use a power tool, nine years old, and electric stuff. And he came back, and he loved it. And the whole thing, you know, giving back. And said, so again, you know, this, this, you know, think about that. I'm going to get involved with an organization that gets back in, you know, conservation group, or I'm going to plant trees. I'm going to do trail work, yeah, you know, again, anything it's gonna go commit yourself to do it, do with other people, you know, group. There's so many ways you can look at this instead of just, you know, a lot of people, it's just another year, right? You do the same thing. We all get caught in those ruts, sure. And sometimes, matter of fact, that's the whole the thing that got me into this 50 state craziness, right? So I always love traveling, and you know, I'd been out here for years now, and I absolutely love Washington, and I do all the hike hikes. But I started realizing, you know, there's so many places that I haven't been back to, I haven't gotten to yet. And then when COVID started, and you started reassessing, and I turned 60, and I ended up with, I realize there's not much time left anymore. Yeah, and I made this resolution, I need to start getting out to have 50 stay. I need to get to these places, because life is too short. And if you do it that way, start thinking every year it's like, oh, this is one more I'm gonna I'm gonna turn dark here now. This is one more year closer to my death. Um, you know, time is not infinite. You know, I mean, time is

Jennie Flaming:

infinite, but my time is not. It's actually true for everyone, no matter what, exactly.

Craig Romano:

So if you think every year I'm one more year closer to the end, I need to get some stuff done. I know we get it's so easy to kind of get into the rut and we got into this funks and everything. Pull yourself out. And I tell you every time I do these things, I'm just it just fuels me. And I'm definitely on the right path. It's like, I've got to do it. And the only thing I just get more and more anxious about, it's like, there's so much more out there I got to do, and there's not enough time. Yeah, so if you're like me, I mean, you will never run out of resolutions and things to do, but you can just make it an easy resolution too, like, I'm just gonna go visit a park in Tacoma this year, yeah? But it's a great opportunity to expand your horizon. Yeah,

Jennie Flaming:

I agree. You know, speaking of that, I was thinking of a couple other goals that I have that I should mention. They're not really for 2025 but they will take much longer than that, but one of them is to go to every public shoreline around the Salish Sea. It's a lot. That's a big goal. It is a lot, yeah. And the other one is to visit every Washington State Park. That's a good goal, yes, yeah. And, you know, it's interesting, when I was in high school, my English teacher, my my last two years of high school, is from a small town in eastern Washington, and he had a goal for himself to visit every county seat. Yeah, that's a great. Also taught Washington state history, and there's some

Craig Romano:

really cool county courthouses and everything, yes, so that's a great. You only have 39 to get to. So yeah,

Jennie Flaming:

yeah. And it's funny, because when I worked for Pacific Science Center, kind of right after college, one of the jobs that I had involved traveling around the state of Washington, and at the time, that program was funded by the legislature. And so we went to all 39 counties, and I went to almost all of them. There were a couple that I didn't but I've since been to and I think that kind of, you know, we've talked before about how amazing Washington is, and how much diversity there is looking

Craig Romano:

this is, this is the whole thing with the counties easier version than the 50 states, because we, there's a bunch of us, a few years back that wanted to run a race in all 39 counties. So fun. And let me tell you, when you get to places like know that before, yeah, like Columbia County, Garfield County, you've got one opportunity a year right to get out on top of it, but again, it'll get you to a place you probably never would go to,

Jennie Flaming:

right? And you know, I've been to about half of Washington State Parks, but when you think about it, that's pretty nuts, because I feel like I've spent a lot of time there. I was born here, but there's still lots I haven't been pretty

Unknown:

good. I state, state park system. Yeah, yeah.

Jennie Flaming:

How long it takes? Um, maybe next year, in January, you can check in with me at how far I've gotten on those.

Craig Romano:

And if you have a boat, contact Jennie, because some of those state parks you're gonna be a little challenging to get to. Yes,

Jennie Flaming:

a few of those. Quite a few of those. I've already been to you with, um, the Washington, the UW sailing club. Nice, yeah, but not all. So yes, if you've got a boat, call me or text me in the the show. We'll make this

Craig Romano:

resolution happen. Yes, cool. But we'd be curious to hear what some of your your goals and resolutions are, because again, I think it just, you know, if you just go with a good attitude, not get up tight, then I got to do this. It's just a great way of looking at life, getting through in realizing that even when you think you've seen it all or done it all, I mean, again, I've never in 27 books I've hiked, oh god, I've lost track. Now, 35,000 miles of trails alone in this state, and there's still trails I have not gotten to. So So again, every year I look through and I will sit there and go, I still can't believe, matter of fact, there is one extremely popular hike in this state that I'm not going to talk about right now. We'll leave ever that I have never done. So if you think you know what it is I have not done this,

Jennie Flaming:

I know what it is because we've talked about it before. So maybe

Craig Romano:

that should go on the 2025,

Jennie Flaming:

reason why you're gonna have to do it some project, yeah, yes, there is to do it this year, right? I

Craig Romano:

do. I do. And it's a self it's a self inflicted deadline guide

Unknown:

I don't have, I don't even feel sorry for you so, but the point is, I purposely

Craig Romano:

did it too. I realized that I need to do it. And why am I holding I

Jennie Flaming:

will totally do that hike with you. And what I will do is I will start, and you will start, and I'll go for maybe a mile before you get up. I'm not gonna run up the thing up, and then I'll finish with

Unknown:

you. Okay, sounds good. Yeah, sounds good. So if you're, you know, it's one of those things, um, I'll put it out there later. You

Jennie Flaming:

are we gonna talk about it after you do it? Or is it gonna stay a mystery? No,

Craig Romano:

no, we'll finally come up with, I was thinking it was one of these things I was gonna do out of these five statements, which is not true, you know, like, I've hiked in the Paraguayan Pantanal, you know, which is true.

Jennie Flaming:

So there was, that was a crazy so, like, these crazy

Craig Romano:

things. And then, no, that can't be. It could be, which

Jennie Flaming:

of these famous Washington hikes has Craig not ever done? Yeah, so I

Craig Romano:

do something like that. So yeah. Again, it goes, like we were talking on earlier cast about how many people live in Seattle, maybe their entire lives, and have never been out to Vashon, right? You know, same thing. How many people in New York City have never been out to the statue of how many people here in Seattle never been to the space deal, actually, when I moved probably quite a few. Yeah, people that see the mountain all the time, they've never been there. I mean, so again, whether they're just not in charge, just you just kind of assume it's always there. Yep, we do that with a lot of things, yeah, and you realize, again, life is short, it's ticking away. You got to do it. Yes, absolutely. So 2025, is a perfect year to

Jennie Flaming:

do these things. Yeah, it sure is. Well, Happy New Year. Happy New Year and Happy New Year to all of you. Thank you for joining us for this episode of The Washington State hiking podcast. Hey, do you have

Craig Romano:

questions for Jennie and I to answer in future episodes? If so, the link right below the tip jar lets you leave a voice memo for us. We'd love to hear from

Jennie Flaming:

you. And if you are enjoying this ad free podcast, please help support it by contributing to our tip jar. You don't need an account, and there's no commitment. It's the first link in the show notes. We also have links in the show notes to our work, both Craig's books, my website. If you would like to support us further. Hey

Craig Romano:

again. Thanks again for joining us, and we look forward to the next episode. You

People on this episode

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Jennie Thwing Flaming

Host
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Craig Romano

Co-host