At the end of last year, I published a blog announcing that I was going to take part in the 2026 Southern Appalachian Highland Conservancy Winter Hiking contest.
I signed up because the money went to a good, local conservatory cause, it popped up in my Instagram feed, and I wanted something to get me outside a bit more during the colder months. Per the website, participants would compete to see who logged the most winter miles and were encouraged to post these miles on Instagram. I thought perhaps I’d get some new hike ideas. And I maybe—maybe even naively—thought I’d easily be one of the people who logs the most mileage. Winter hiking never scared me. In fact, I really like it.
Now, the website did state that anyone, anywhere, could participate, and that anywhere—including walks in your neighborhood—could count. So, I don’t want to sit here and pretend that I didn’t know that. Because I did. I guess I just thought people would use those walks supplementally, not as the main events.
I didn’t log any hikes until the second week of January because the first weekend of the month, I was traveling down from PA, and during the week, I devoted the bulk of my time to writing and applying for work. My first hike was a 7-mile jaunt through the DuPont State Forest, and I remember going to log it afterwards, and thinking that, ya know, I would probably be somewhat behind, but that all in all 7 miles was decent, and if I averaged 7-10 miles a weekend, I’d be sitting pretty.
But then I saw that there were like 25-30 clearly retired folks who’d already logged something like 90-100 miles because they walked in their Raleigh neighborhoods every day. And a handful of other folks pushing that who did things like walk the Asheville and Brevard greenways, and the whole thing just felt…less fun?
I’m not even that competitive, and I’m glad it looks like the SAHC has raised a ton of money, but maybe next year, have categories for people who actually hike and don’t have all day to just walk the trails in their neighborhoods? Or just carry on and ignore the suggestion of someone who maybe is frustrated with the state of his own life, so is looking for something to be aggrieved about. Up to you.
AshevilleExplorer 