We started a new tradition on New Year’s Day in 2020 by going on a hike in Joshua Tree National Park. It was an incredible day. Snow had fallen in the high desert and the landscape was stunning. On the spot, we decided to do it every year.

Does it ever work to self-consciously start a tradition? I doubt it. The ones that stick—at least for us—are the ones that you start by accident. You’re in the middle of a thing and you collectively recognize that it’s working so you decide to always do that thing. That’s what happened in 2020. 2019 had been a great year, we’d sold our business of 20 years, traveled a lot, and started a new business. That day in Joshua Tree, we were sure that 2020 would be an incredible year (ahem). Not only was the weather magnificent, but the people we met along the path were ebullient and friendly. It felt clear that the folks you meet in a park on New Year’s Day are the best ones. And that’s who we want to be. So we resolved to always go for a hike on January 1st and so far we have.

It’s not often that we’re away from Green Bay for the holidays, generally speaking we’re here on the 1st. So it’s become an excuse to see our local natural wonders transformed by Winter. These are, let’s be honest, an order of magnitude less spectacular than Joshua Tree, but they’re satisfyingly woodsy and generally involve water. In Northeast Wisconsin our landscape is what the Ice Age did to the petrified shores of an ancient ocean. Without the Niagara Escarpment, the glaciers would have left very little topography in their wake. What we lack in peaks and canyons, we make up for with tidy geological narratives that make current political issues feel bracingly insignificant.

Perhaps that’s why these hikes always leave us feeling hopeful. That’s the reason to do it. It’s a great tradition and you’re welcome to it.

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Baird’s Creek Greenway is an incredible city park that buttresses 4 miles of the eponymous creek. It’s just under 400 acres in size and has 14 miles of trails, ski trails, bike trails, as well as frisbee golf, excellent sledding hills, and more. Be prepared to get lost! The signage leaves something to be desired. It’s something of an important park to our family. This was my dad’s favorite place in town to photograph. In the early 2000s you might have found him here under his hood focusing against the ground glass of his 4×5 field camera. We scattered a portion of his ashes here. It was an obvious choice for our New Year’s Day hike.

Here are some of the photos, click for a larger image. (All photos: Nikon N8008, Nikkor 35mm f2 AI, Kodak Double-X, T-Max 6:00)