It’s the time of year when I get to review my Google Analytics and find out what posts are the most popular on Anne’s Travels in 2020! As I expected, visitation was down this year due to the pandemic, but it wasn’t as bad as I had expected from the dismal summer numbers (usually my highest time of visitation). Apparently a lot of people went hiking this fall!
A few things were very clear from looking over this year’s top posts. Firstly, people were kayaking. But secondly, people were sticking closer to home. The number of oft-frequented posts about local trails (rather than famous national park trails) was much higher than I’m used to. In fact, a small hike in rural New Jersey (one that I’d never actually travel to see) came out – overall – as the 3rd highest visited post of the entire year.
That doesn’t mean all of the top posts were about small-time hikes and local parks. The second-most-visited page was about hiking in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument – almost everyone would have to travel to get there. But it also signals a trend (which is carried through with more data): People were traveling to lesser-known and more rural national parks to try and “social distance” during these “unprecedented times!”
It was also interesting how the DIY Hand Sanitizer Holder jumped up the list from relative obscurity to Number 10 overall. It couldn’t possibly because people were, for once in their lives, washing their hands frequently…
But without further ado, here are the top-most-visited posts on Anne’s Travels in 2020 (only including posts that I published within the last 18 months – otherwise the top posts would always be the same with very little variation… After all, the Out of State Learner’s Permit Laws post always, without fail, comes out as the number 1 post!)
Note: You can click on the link or on the photo to go to the post.
The Top 10 Posts on Anne’s Travels in 2020
1. The Best Day Hikes in Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. My favorite hike is to Exclamation Point, but some of the rim-to-river routes are very fun. I also prefer the less-visited north rim, only accessible via dirt roads.
2. The Best Day Hikes in Chiricahua National Monument. There’s nothing else in the world quite like the Heart of Rocks Trail. But to get there, you’ll have to walk through tons of rock formations and views, so it’s win-win.
3. Kayaking Black Creek: Genesee River to 4.9 Miles. A quick little local trip is apparently popular! This fall – though I haven’t posted about it yet – I did another section of Black Creek up near Churchville.
4. The Crazy King of Wings! I’m not sure I’m happy that this post is so popular. After all, there really aren’t any trails, it’s in the middle of nowhere, and if you got lost or hurt it could be weeks or months before anyone found you… But that rock formation is certainly cool.
5. Hiking Road Trip Itinerary for North Cascades National Park. How can you argue with visiting places like Hidden Lake, Sahale Arm, Ptarmigan Ridge, and Skyline Divide? In the summer, the entire area is totally sublime!
6. The Waterfalls of Letchworth Gorge. Always a highlight to visit the Letchworth Gorge, it’s especially nice in the autumn. I especially enjoy hiking along the canyon rim to all three falls, even though you can drive the road to various viewpoints.
7. Hiking the Cabinet’s Leigh Lake and Leigh Lake Falls. Well, I wasn’t expecting this one to make the top ten list. The problem with visiting lesser-known parks is that fewer people are looking to hike there. But I guess Leigh Lake is making headlines this summer!
8. Paddling the Intracoastal Waterway. The challenge of paddling on the Intracoastal Waterway is avoiding the larger boats. But if you can stay to the shallows where the big boats can’t go, you can have quite a nice, long paddle.
9. Irondequoit Lakeside Multi-use Trail. This is just another local path. The part through Durand Eastman Park is especially nice, but I like to take it to connect with the Genesee Riverway Trail.
10. Climbing Star Dune in Great Sand Dunes National Park. It’s always a choice: Do I hike to the biggest/tallest/bestest or do I hike around it so that I can look at the famous peak or canyon or whatever from nearby viewpoints? With Star Dune I got to do both – and have a ton of fun in the meantime!
11. Cliff Lake and Climbing St. Paul Peak. Another Cabinet Mountains Wilderness I-thought-I-was-the-only-one-crazy-enough-to-hike-there trail. But the views are great, so it’s a worthwhile hike.
12. Visit Kansas’ “Chalk Pyramids” at Monument Rocks! They’re easy enough to access if you can deal with the network of dirt roads. Also, being so close to the highway, they make a great way to break up a road trip.
13. Swifcurrent Lookout – So Long a Hike, So Worth It! One of my absolute favorite hikes last year was up to the Swiftcurrent Lookout. Actually, it was the steep ascent up the side of the Amphitheater that was my favorite, but the views from the lookout were stunning, as well.
14. DIY Sleeping Bag Liner. We made good use of this post – that sleeping bag kept one of my group members warm on those cold desert nights this fall!
15. Kayaking the Erie Canal – Pittsford to I-390. I loved this kayak ride. I’ve watched canal locks work several times (even ones on the Welland Canal), so it was over-the-top cool to take a kayak through two real locks.
16. Hiking the Full Length of Leigh Lake. I’ve long wanted to hike all the way to the north end of Leigh Lake. On a whim, we came home via Grand Teton National Park and, looking for an easy hike, we did Leigh Lake!
17. Spectacular Wonders of the Highline Trail. It’s one of the most photographed, most iconic hikes in the national park system… and with no wonder. It’s simply glorious.
18. Point Imperial and Cape Royal. Two great vistas on the North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park, neither viewpoint is especially difficult to access. I slightly prefer Cape Royal, but maybe that’s because you can walk out on a fin that protrudes out into the Grand Canyon.
19. A Fun Hike at Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks! It’s small, but it’s just so much fun to see rock formations, slide through slot canyons, and scramble up to the rim for more views.
20. Climbing Goat Peak near Wanless Lake. And closing us out, here is another from the Cabinet Mountain Wilderness! The absolute hardest hike we did in the wilderness area, the views were also some of the best. Even from above, Wanless Lake is beautiful!
Here’s to an amazing 2021 to all of you & to Anne’s Travels!
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