There was a song we learned to sing when I was in elementary school, the verse was, "I love to go a wandering across the mountain paths. And as I go I love to sing a knap sack on my back." Well I do love to go a wandering on trails but sometimes my mind really goes off wandering. Some days at work I get all caught up and I go "researching" online for ideas for hiking. I look into what could be close at hand that I can do as a day trip, and then what trails are near the destinations I have planned in the next year. I also look into my options for EBC and Machu Picchu.
I'm hoping by mid- February to start venturing out further afield than Mother Neff state park as I will have more free time on Sundays. I would like to get back to Colorado Bend State park and hike the trail to Gorman Falls. I have seen a few postings lately too of some nice trails at Inks Lake State park. It is about the same distance as Colorado Bend. A bit closer to home is Meridian State Park, but I need to research the trails a bit more as it might not be any more challenging than Mother Neff.
My Spring vacation will hopefully be to Cloudcroft NM. I know several trails there already as we used to vacation there when the kids were in High School. It's been about eight years though since I have been. I do want to explore some new trails and I am looking into a couple of GPS apps that will hopefully keep me from wandering off and getting lost. The trails aren't busy in the Spring and I am looking at a few that are not as popular. I have in recent months been using the app All Trails free version for research. But I am looking into Gaia GPS trekking app as it is better at tracking when there is not cell service.
My wandering mind has me re-thinking the route for EBC. I had been planning on doing the traditional EBC trek and then if I felt strong enough I would add on the 3 extra days to got to Goyko Lake. But the more I see pictures of Goyko and the views from there of Everest along with three more 8000 metre peaks, Lhotse, Makalu and Cho Oyu, I think I might want to switch it up and go to Goyko first and then if I feel strong enough head on up to Everest base camp. The whole purpose of the trip is to see Everest. You can't see Everest at base camp, you see it on the way up (at a distance) or at Gorak Shep (last village before base camp) you hike to the top of Kala Pathar. The trail up to Goyko is much quieter and less traveled and is said to be stunning once there. I know it would be cool to be able to say I made it to EBC. But is that just my ego needing to be fed? I need to do some additional research before I decide.
Well the weekend is nearly here. It's forecast to be cold - highs in the 40's (f) with a good breeze blowing. I am hoping the winds calm down a bit Sunday morning so I can get my hike in. I know that next weekend the trails are going to be too muddy as we have rain in the forecast every day from Monday to Friday.
Oh and the chorus to the song - "Val da ri, Val da ra, Val da ri, Val da ra ha, ha, ha , Val da ri, Val da ra, a knap sack on my back". I'll be singing this all day now as it is stuck in my head.
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