Resolve to Hike in 2010

Eat more vegetables. Stop procrastinating. Lose weight.

These are your standard New Year's Resolutions. Bo-o-o-ring! When do you ever meet them anyway? Inevitably, you've slipped up by January 10 and completely forgotten it by February. Resolution research conducted by Quirkology found that only 12% of the 3,000 participants in their study actually achieved their goals.

May I humbly suggest making a new sort of resolution? One that you might actually want to fulfill?

Make a hiking resolution for 2010. As the folks conducting the resolution study suggest, "Don’t run with the crowd and go with the usual resolutions. Instead think about what you really want out of life."

Your resolution could be about places you want to go, people you want to go with, or the number of miles you want to cover. Here are a few sample resolution from WTA staff members:

Susan Elderkin, Web Content Manager: "In 2010, I will take my children into the wilderness once a month."

Ryan Ojerio, SW Washington Regional Cordinator: "This year, I really will climb Mt. Adams."

Spend an hour dreaming about Washington's mountains, the forests, and the coast. Then, tell me what your goal is! Leave it as a comment to this post. Or, send an email to editor@wta.org with "resolution" in the subject line. Take up to 200 words to tells us about your hiking goal and how you will achieve it. We'll run as many resolutions as we can fit in the next issue of Washington Trails.

Need incentive to share your resolution? Quirkology's study found that women were 10% more likely to reach their goal if they shared it with someone else. Telling Washington's hiking community should count.