By the Numbers

[Karl]

We are back in Pittsburgh.  Stacy and I both go back to work this week. How to feel about this? More on that later on... First Numbers and Figures!!!!

WHERE

• 52 US National Parks in the first 52 weeks (You know that already)

• 64 US National Park Sites in 52 weeks
• 43 US States
• 1 US Territory

• 9 Canadian National Parks
• 9 Canadian Provinces

WHEN

• 394 Days (add a month after we were done with the parks)
• ~70% of the nights spent in the back of the car
• ~20% of the nights spent in a tent
• ~10% of the nights spent on a bed/couch/floor

WHAT

• 26,049 Photos
• 4 Miles hiked per day (average estimate)
• 11 Backcountry backpacking trips
• 84 Pitches of rock climbing
• 19 Junior Ranger programs completed
• 91 Dehydrated meals
• 4 Sheet cakes
• 1 Dog rescued
• 41 Audiobooks
• 17 REI visits
• 5 Skateparks
• 7 Ferry trips
• 216 Postcards
• 4 Credit card replacements
• 0 major injuries!
• 2 Hostel stays
• 2 BnB stays
• 2 Lodge/Cabin stays
• 1 week tenting in the Caribbean!
• Longest time without a proper shower - 18 days
• Longest day drive (~St. Louis -> ~Salt Lake) - 886 miles
• Coldest night outside ~ (-10°F)
• Longest time of our day hikes (Long's Peak) - 18 hours
• Highest elevation - 14,259'
• Longest length of our day hikes (Upper Kintla lake) - 19 miles 
• 0 Regrets

HOW

• 51,638 Miles for the 52 weeks
• 59,982 Miles for the entire trip
• 22-30 MPG
• 3 Tire punctures
• 6 Oil changes
• 2 Sets of Tires
• 1 Bag of odor absorbing charcoal

• $28,480.29 
• Budgeted $20/day for food
• Budgeted $90/week for gas
• Budgeted $400/month for pay campsites
• Lots of other financial padding in budget (ask if you really want to know)

WHO

• 17 different people took time to visit National Parks with us
• Just under 100 friends and family met up with us, fed us, or sheltered us
• Numerous new contacts and networks of adventure friends were made
• YOU (every single person who went on this trip with us via Social Media)

WHY

When planning, everybody we talked to said "Do it while you can..."  So we did.  Wouldn't you?

So back to the feeling on returning...First comes the pride:

[Stacy]

We are not alone in our wandering ways, nor in our love for the National Parks.  Many others have done tours, are on trips, or are planning escapes as I type... We crossed paths with other liked minded travelers (on shorter and longer trips), who will forever be immortalized as a part of our trip.  I'm just emphasizing the fact that I know we are not unique.  But that doesn't change that I am very proud of how this last year progressed.  Looking back over this past year, it almost seems surreal.

I never believed in the phrase "best year of my life", always having the positive outlook that the best was yet to come.  But, DAMN.... Who knows, maybe this is just the start of a new way of life? Well, we can dream right?  For now we are going to bask in the glory that is our continent and see what happens next.

[Karl]
Then comes the melancholy.  We are going back to the 9-5 life.  The excitement of wild scenes daily, the feeling of freedom, the pure joy from doing whatever we wanted every single day.  That goes back into lockdown.  Now we have to be places at times.  It will be good to have an income and to have a place larger and more permanent than the back of a van (maybe?).  So we're wistful of the past year and the sights.  But while I reminisce, I think back more and more on the little keepsake moments that I can carry forward into this new chapter.  I think about how my relationship with Stacy truly became a partnership.  We grew to need each other because we only had each other.  I will carry that with me.

I think about the other travelers that we ran into in places of solace, at first with rancor, and then with comity.  Where at first I cursed these amateurs hiking in their Crocs and jean shorts for being in my outdoor space, I grew (with help from said partner) to regard these people for choosing the out-of-doors for their recreation.  They are just another supporter of nature and I learned to respect and even embrace them in camaraderie.

That is a wonderful segue into my main upshot.  We met a lot of people this past year.  From every type of outdoors-y person you can imagine to relatives I've never known to Wal-Mart cashiers.  Out of all those hundreds of people, I can count on one hand the number of people I would not want to meet again.  People are wonderful, friendly, and helpful; especially if you take the first step to be so.  Say Hello.  Wave Hi.  Ask someone how their day is going.  Care about your fellow humans, and they may care right back at you.  We met the nicest people everywhere we went, and I plan to pay that courtesy forward.

So as with any adventure, we are sad it's over, but happy it ever occurred.

<3 S
-K