Outdoor Mistakes We've Learned From This Year
What are yours?
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Ahhh, it’s that time of year where it seems many people are in the mood for reflecting about the year that was and making fresh plans for 2025. In fitting with this theme of reflection, we’re coming to you with some mistakes we’ve made this year while going outside.
We’d love to hear your outdoor mistakes of 2024 in the comments. Get them off your chest, share with the Go Outside community, and think of the comment section on this post as a learning opportunity for 2025 adventures.
We will add an asterisks… depending on where you are adventuring, mistakes outside can be very, very serious. This is our regular reminder that it’s so important to pay attention to weather, be prepared, have the proper training if you are going into avalanche terrain, plan your trip ahead of time and tell others your route, and pay attention to your surroundings.
Before we share our 2024 mistakes, we’ll leave you with a Neil Gaiman quote on making mistakes that Annalise likes to revisit every December.
“I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes.
Because if you are making mistakes, then you are making new things, trying new things, learning, living, pushing yourself, changing yourself, changing your world. You’re doing things you’ve never done before, and more importantly, you’re Doing Something.”
So, time for our mistakes:
Under or Over Dressing
Despite actual decades exploring the great outdoors, this is still a mistake we make. We both run cold and find it especially hard to stick with the important BE BOLD, START COLD mantra on winter hikes/walks/runs/bikes and skis. Instead, we’re often the one stopping an adventure 10 minutes in to take off a layer.
On a summer trip to Moraine Lake (yes, we braved the Parks Canada bus booking system), at least one of us (who shall not be named) underdressed, even forgetting to bring rain pants on a day when it was, well, absolutely pouring rain.
Not Buying a Black Out Tent Sooner
I (Annalise) have been 100% committed to continuing camping and backpacking since having my first child three years ago. I can confidently say that after three summers of camping with littles, the most difficult part of this plan has been…the sun.
My partner and I have struggled to get our kids to fall asleep in a tent, at a reasonable bedtime, and then stay asleep past say 4 a.m. in the summer because of that dang sun.
It’s just so bright.
For last year’s camping season, we unsuccessfully tried to get our then-19-month-old to go to bed with an eye mask on (and keep it on all night.)
We finally found the solution this year. We’ve traded our fancy/lightweight backcountry tent for a Coleman Blackout Tent. I honestly hesitate to type this because I don’t want to jinx it, but this tent works wonders.
The Dark Room Technology means little ones used to sleeping in dark rooms are not bothered by the sunlight. The 6-man tent very comfortably slept two adults, a baby, a toddler and a dog this summer. We’ve even accepted the extra weight and taken this tent backpacking (though we did trade out the heavier pegs for our lighter backcountry ones). My conclusion: We should have bought this three years ago.
Questionable Trail Choices
I (Cailynn) spent the summer with a newborn and a toddler, meaning I picked shorter, easier hiking trails… which often also meant bigger crowds. In fact, on a beautiful Sunday in July, my family and I braved Grassi Lakes — a very popular trail — and on the day we were there, only one of the two trails leading to the lakes was open. Eeeek!
Was it very, very busy? Yes! Would I make this trail choice again on a summer weekend? No! But here’s the silver lining: hiking it also reminded me there’s a reason why the busy trails are so busy. Grassi Lakes is short (it was my toddler’s first solo hike), scenic (the interpretive trail we took offers views of a waterfall, the town of Canmore, and, of course, the shallow, aquamarine Grassi Lakes at the end) and close to Calgary (a little over an hour drive, depending on where in Calgary you live). And I have to admit, it did feel energizing to observe so many people using the same space together, enjoying the great outdoors.
I learned from this mistake and did my other summer hikes with my little one on weekdays. Our trip up Prairie Mountain, another popular trail close to Calgary, was significantly less busy. And on a weekday hike to Mount Lipsett (pictured below), we saw just a handful of other people out.
Not Taking More Photos
This is perhaps a weird one for people who would rather just enjoy the adventure than set up the perfect photo of said adventure. But, after a camping trip in Jasper a week before wildfire gutted half of the town, I (Annalise) wish I had taken more snaps. Sure, there’s always a balance between enjoying the present and capturing photos of the moment, but had I known much of what we saw would be forever changed a week later, I would have attempted to take a few more photos of this stunning mountain town and the National Park.
Having Too High of Expectations
Let this be your reminder that not every adventure is going to be great. Some experiences are more Type 2 Fun and that’s perfectly OK. Some experiences with small children outside are definite Type 2 Fun and that’s perfectly OK.
Staying closer to home is always an option — and sometimes it’s a really good option! As I (Cailynn) adjusted to double stroller life, I spent a lot of time close to home, enjoying outdoor amenities inside the city. A frequent destination for my family was West Confederation Park, which has both a splash park and a bike pump track — two perfect toddler activities.
We also spent countless hours at playgrounds. On one bike ride to a playground in East Village, we stumbled upon River Hall, a temporary special event in west downtown, near the Bow River. A parking lot had been transformed, with local vendors, live music, picnic tables and play furniture. We had so much fun we returned weeks later with friends, and look forward to this hopefully growing beyond its current five-week end of summer model.
So, these are our mistakes. What are yours?
We’ll leave you with a photo of a lovely plaque on a picnic table at Elizabeth Parker Hut. After all, at the end of the day, this is what it’s all about.
