So without further ado here's what we did in 2023.

The first few months were a blur thanks to pain meds as I healed from a broken ankle in November 2022. So no big adventures. It made me pay a little more attention to my health though, since I'm now officially old.

By April I was healed enough to resume local adventuring, though still wearing both an ankle brace and compression sock. The boy and his <gasp> romantic partner went snowshoeing with me and we generally poked around our local mountains.

But it wasn't all local. I travelled to the South for a conference and Lilly decided she wanted to go, too. What might have been a relatively tame in-and-out trip around Nashville became a week-long road trip visiting eight National Park sites and five state highpoints. (If you were in Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, or Tennessee during that week I was probably higher than you.)

We got back just in time for May the Fourth so of course we took our lightsabers on a night hike and made fools of ourselves. Well, I did. The boy's taekwondo skills meant he could actually wield a sword effectively. (Side note: I claim Mr. HOS for my team when the zombie apocalypse arrives.) And lest you think this was a boy-thing, know that Clara and Lilly also received laser swords in what can only be described as Mrs. Moosefish's most poorly thought out Christmas gift ever. Imagine the four of us shouting about high ground and running around the house while John William's soundtrack blasts from our home speakers.

Then it was back on the road for a fishing trip on the Missouri River in Montana. (Did you know the Missouri headwaters are in Montana and it fishes like a moving river rather than a really big lake?) As usual, Mr. Moosefish, Sr. did better than I did, but then I went and climbed a mountain to make myself feel better.

It wasn't a month later and we headed east again. This time it was the whole Moosefish clan (minus Tink who had to stay home) for two weeks in... Idaho. I know, I know. You're thinking, "Um... Idaho? Really? Potatoes?" Honestly, I thought kind the same thing when we started casting about for an adventure destination. Instead of driving through the panhandle on the way to Montana we set up a base camp in Twin Falls and ventured out on day trips. What's to see? Nine National Park units and three sites identified by Atlas Obscura as weird enough to justify the drive. My favorite? City of Rocks National Reserve. Do not miss it!

Phew. I was back in my home mountains for all of a couple of weeks before heading to Oregon for another work trip. Oh, there are friends and mountains down there? Who knew?

Speaking of work, I participated in Fred Hutch's Obliteride for the second year, async of course. Is it any surprise I chose to hike the mountains instead of riding the streets of Seattle? (Answer: No.)

And suddenly it was backpacking time. Henry and I spent three days on the PCT. It was hot. It was smoky. It was hard. It was wonderful. In contrast, Lilly and I went back to the beach. It was a great couple of days lazing on the sand and scrambling over rocks.

Perhaps you're wondering about SCIENCE! It hasn't really figured heavily has it? Well, actually, it has. Every trip we do usually includes at least a little SCIENCE! We're looking for pika, taking snow measurements, collecting living snow, and this year we started collecting scat. Ew, gross, right? But it both helps researchers study carnivores in the Cascades and it's a good excuse to visit our favorite places.

It'd been almost a whole month since the last multi-day trip so we headed east again, but still stayed in Washington. We fished a bit, chased larches, and did more SCIENCE!

Ok, ok. No more big trips. It was just mellow trips for the rest of the year. You know, scrambling, exploring new mountains, and adventure racing.

And then work exploded. The year of adventure gave way to the reality of responsibility. The evening after this adventure work called. For two weeks I was tied to my phone and desk. Even after that initial response I could only be out of communications for short stretches of time.

That's how the year ended. Not with a bang, but a whimper. But don't worry, it can't last for ever. 2024 held the promise of even more epic adventures. And lucky for you, the 2024 Adventure Summary will be the next thing I write. Stay tuned.

📍Each post includes a land acknowledgement specific to that location. You can also look up the ancestral peoples of anywhere on earth at native-land.ca.