September Outdoor Goals Review

September was full of transitions in our family. All of our schedules changed as work and school re-entered the equation. This meant a lot less time to spend together. It was hard on all of us since we had all grown so close during the past 6 months together. These outdoor goals have become even more important to my health and the health of my family.

My oldest started school in the second week of September at the same school he went to last year. It is a nature-based school and so they spend almost the entire time outside whenever possible. This increases my confidence in my decision to send him to school as I know that being outside and social is the most important thing for his long-term health. He is so happy to be back at school and I love watching him flourish once more but I surprised myself with how emotional I got saying goodbye to summer and sending my sweet boy back to school.

My son's first day of school, September 2020 — Left: Photo his teacher took the first week of school.
Right: First day of school photo – September 2020

I’m still struggling to adjust to this new schedule and having my husband back to work but focusing on these goals helps.

In case you need a reminder of my goals:

Spend an average of 1 hour/day outside with my kids. Setting this as a daily goal motivates me to make an effort every day instead of getting behind and then trying to play catch up. I’m hoping that we will surpass this goal, but for now, I am keeping this as an attainable goal. Plus, I made the goal in the winter and my youngest does NOT enjoy the cold. Since then, I have surpassed any expectations of myself and would love to hit 1000 hours outside this year.
Hike/walk the year in miles. That is 2,020 miles during the year, an average of 5.5 miles/day. I am recording my miles every day to keep track of this.
52 hikes in 52 weeks. This includes the trail runs that I have started to enjoy.

These outdoor goals are helping me on my journey to achieve better mental health after postpartum depression and better physical health. I feel so much better when I am on track so I continue to pursue them. You can follow our journey daily on Instagram!

Are you ready to crush some goals?

Goal #1: 1/hour outside every day in September

September had gorgeous weather for us to play outside. We had our usual romps in the woods, mud play, and chalk drawings. N discovered climbing into the dirt kitchen sink as a new favorite activity and going on mini adventures with me to local farms, short hikes (more on this later), and other outdoor spots while his big brother was in school.

It was also N’s birthday month! My baby boy turned 2-years-old on September 27th. It is hard to believe that he is already 2-years-old. Then again, his spunk and his stubbornness is a constant reminder of his age. It is amazing though how quickly he calms when outside.

To celebrate, we went apple picking at a local orchard and had a hot dog roast over the fire. It was a simple birthday but was a lot of fun. I know my boys enjoyed it and that is what is important.

When D comes home from school, we usually eat lunch, and then his brother goes for a nap. That is when D gets to be the center of attention for a little bit. We go outside and play together. Sometimes it is running around and getting muddy, others it is drawing with chalk. One of my favorites is when we take a book out and read together on the hammock.

We have still had some adventures together. After meeting with friends at a local arboretum, we found our first geocache! The kids loved it so much that I think we might need to do this a few more times. Next time, we will be a little more prepared and maybe even plan a hike around finding a few more. Outdoor activities like this are great for bonding and exploring together.

Total time outside for the month: 90.52 hours

Daily Average for the month: 3 hours 1 minute

Total time outside for the year: 814.9 hours

Daily Average for the year: 2 hours 58 minutes

Goal #2: Hike/walk 2,020 miles.

I still haven’t gotten back to running regularly. While I did move a lot and made my mileage goals without a problem, I do want to run more. It is a different type of exercise from hiking which is where I got most of my miles during September. As the weather shifts, I know that hiking will decrease since we don’t have the winter gear yet. That means that running will become important to my goals and my health.

Plus, I need to start training again! I am signed up for a 5k trail run in October as well as two different Spartan Races in 2021. I’ll be participating in a Sprint 5k Obstacle Race in June and a Super 10k Obstacle Race in October of 2021. I need to train to get my body ready for all of these and running is a major part.

Daily Average for month: 5.8 miles

Total Miles Walked this month: 174 miles

Total Miles Walked in the year: 1598/2020

Goal #3: 52 Hikes in 52 Weeks

We started “hike training” N this month. That just means that we are making him walk for whatever parts of the trail he is capable of doing. Slowly, we will increase the time he spends out of the pack as he gains strength in his legs. This means that we are increasing the frequency of our hikes as the difficulty has decreased. I love watching my boys interact with each other on the trails and D is good about helping his brother.

N and I have gotten into the habit of going to a trail once to twice a week. Sometimes he loves it, other times I can tell he isn’t having it. Most days are a combination of hiking and exploring the world around him.

I also got to do some solo hiking while working in the local forest. Sometimes it is just a short one to pick up any garbage I might find but anytime my feet hit the trail I’m happy! The best solo hike I did this month was out of my house, over the mountain, and straight to work. It was about 3.5-4 miles to get there but it was such an amazing experience to hike to work.

D dragged me up that same mountain one day when he told me he wanted to go play in the woods. First, he wanted to climb on a fallen tree. Then, he saw another one a little further away and wanted to climb that one. Before I knew it, we were halfway up the mountain. We walked just a little higher up to hit the trails and took them back down and home. It was a little impromptu hike and was fun to watch how excited he was about it.

Here are some of my favorite new hikes that we did in September.

North Lake to North Point (Catskill Mountains)

This was the one difficult hike we did this month. It starts at the North-South Lake Campground in the Catskills and proceeds up the Escarpment Trail to the summit of North Point (3,186 ft). Along the way, we passed the remarkable view at Newman’s Ledge and some really fun rock structures and caves (including one called Badman’s Cave). The summit had gorgeous views looking back to the lake and was had enough flat space for N to get some energy out while everyone rested and ate lunch. We returned down the Mary’s Glen trail which is a beautiful hike along a creek and brings you back to the campground for a total of about 5.5-6 miles and 1000 ft elevation gains.

Jug End Reservation (Berkshires, MA)

This was a great little loop with beautiful rolling hills and meadows. I read about the history before going on this hike and was fascinated with the fact that it was once a booming ski resort! Now, it has been reclaimed by nature and has a 3-mile loop you can hike. Our goal with this hike was to have N do as much as possible on foot. After climbing the first hill, he didn’t last much longer and since we were there on a weekend it got pretty busy so he ended up staying in the pack for the majority of it. If you are ever in the Berkshires of Massachusetts I highly recommend this hike.

Stewart Forest

I completely forgot about this forest for a long time. When I finally took N there for a little hike and photoshoot, I saw its beauty. Gorgeous meadows and trees that were just turning for fall. This season is an amazing one to hike in and I love watching the transition that takes place in nature.

Neversink River Unique Area

Our last hike of the month was definitely a good one. This was a gorgeous area and will be repeated. The boys played in the Neversink River before hiking back past a beautiful waterfall. We did about 5 miles and we didn’t even explore half the park. I think this will have to be a warmer weather spot though (and will changes of clothes and shoes) since BOTH my boys got soaked playing in the river. D ended up hiking back in soaking wet clothes and boots. Other than claiming he was “tired” he barley complained! I think the tired comments were more about the wet clothes though since when we got home he proceeded to run and play for a few more hours. Although fall is also a great season for this hike because of those colors!

Total Hikes this month: 10

Progress Toward Goal: 48/52

Mental and Physical Health September Check-In

I think it is pretty clear that there were struggles mentally for all of us. The adjustment we made of spending every minute together to hardly having any family time was abrupt and we have all dealt with it in different ways. My weekend job only continues until November and so I keep reminding myself that after that we will have more time again. For now, we make the most of the time we have and are coming up with new ways to connect.

My strength training has become non-existent and is something that I want to work on more next month. During September, I didn’t even get one strength session. My husband and I did start to find our groove more with yoga and, by the end of the month, we got fairly consistent with doing at least 2 yoga sessions per week. As we all adjust more to these schedules, I’m hoping that we will be able to add at least one more yoga session to reap more of the benefits.

That was my outdoor goals review of September. I hope that some of what we have done to inspire you to get outside. For more, check out my Instagram or Facebook pages.