The number one resolution many people vow to follow at the beginning of the year is to exercise more. Most people join a gym and quit a few weeks in, but one Michigan woman took a different approach to the traditional resolution.
Back in 2018, Brown was getting into exercise and working out at the gym, but found the cardio portion of the routine was a little depressing. She discovered stationary cardio wasn't cutting it for her, and wanted to find something more soul fulfilling. That's when she decided to make a healthy new year's resolution that wasn't just spending three to four days a week in the gym.
At the beginning of 2019, Anne Brown made a decision to hike 52 different nature trails in Michigan as a way to fulfill her resolution to "get fit."
"I came up with 52, 52 weeks a year, 52 trails," Brown said.
While Brown said she has the tendency to not sit still, she doubted herself on not being able to stick to her resolution. She wondered where she'd be able to find the time and wondered where she could find all the different trails in the area.
"You can spend an hour on the couch or you can spend an hour on the trail," Brown said. "Whenever I felt the urge to take that little free time I had to be lazy, or whenever a stressful moments came up, there's no better release than being out in the woods."
Brown said hiking on nature trails and taking in the beautiful scenery can create some of the best memories, even when Michigan's rough weather conditions such as snow, rain, and mosquito swarms crossed her path. Despite sometimes harsh conditions, she encourages everyone to hike Michigan's beautiful trails whenever they can, even those who don't consider themselves athletes.
"I have zero athletic ability," Brown confessed. "I'm extremely active and a bit awkward, but it's a way for me to get exercise that doesn't require any athletic talent."
There are hundreds of trails to explore in the state of Michigan, so Brown easily completed her goal of 52 trails, with plenty more to discover for 2020. She said it's so easy to discover trails with the Internet and modern technology, even admitting there were trails right down the street from her neighborhood she didn't even know about.
""You can just literally type 'trails near me' and your cell phone will provide you with a list of trails you might have been by your whole life and not realize it."
Brown says her goal for 2020 is to continue hiking different nature trails, one of those being a section of the North Country Trail. The North Country Trail is more than 4,600 miles long traveling through many different states, with 1,100 of those miles in the state of Michigan.
To learn more about Michigan's nature trails, and other great wildlife conservation stories the Michigan Wildlife Council has highlighted, visit hereformioutdoors.org.
