2009 has been a busy year here at Outside San Diego.  We have worked hard to expand the content of the site to include more of the year round activities that Make San Diego and Southern California the destination for outdoor recreation.   We have had lots of great trips and amazing experiences throughout the year.  All of us at Outside San Diego are looking forward to a new year full of adventures, and great gear to go with them.

We will begin the year by heading to Salt Lake City and the Outdoor Retailer Winter Market to check out the latest and greatest in outdoor gear from all of your favorite manufacturers.  I have a ton of great appointments booked, including some time with Mountain Hardwear, Golite, MSR, Thermarest, Columbia Sportswear, Osprey, Gore-Tex and many more.  I will be attending the All Mountain Demo, and twittering live from the All Mountain Demo and the show.  Follow me @outsidesd for live reports from the show floor.

January also marks the beginning of the San Diego Chapter of the Sierra Club’s Wilderness Basics Course. We have a lot of great trips planned,  including the always adventurous snow camp in the Sierras.  This 10-week backpacking course is a fantastic way to get the essentials of backpacking, as well as a means of connecting with a group of like minded individuals. The class is starting at the end of January, so if you have not signed up yet, there is still time.  In addition to the snow camp,  you can join me on a car-camp to the Anza Borrego Desert where we will be exploring Ghost Mountain, and the Pictograph trail,  as well as a land navigation backpack where will will get the basics of map and compass navigation down.

Spring time marks high season for all outdoor activities in San Diego. As the winter cold mellows, and the summer heat is just a glimmer in the sun’s eye; the possibilities are endless.  We at Outside San Diego will be spending time in the desert, in the water as well running, biking and swimming in preparation for a series of Triathlon events in which I will be competing with the Triathlon Club of San Diego.  I am looking forward to challenging myself in this new direction.

Summertime is very busy.  Eleanor, my daughter, and I have plans to conquer Mount Whitney.  We have a usual extended Fourth of July basecamping trip to Eastern Sierra Nevadas to look forward to.  George, a regular Outside San Diego contributor, has the month of August blocked out for a backpack along the length of the John Muir Trail.  He will be backpacking from Yosemite to the summit of Mount Whitney, covering about 211 miles in the process.

2010 marks the third year that Outside San Diego has been in operation, and it had grown exponentially from my original goals.  For that I thank everyone who comes and reads the material presented here.  Outside San Diego is a labor of love,  and the response I have had has been heartening.  Each year I have set goals for the site, and this year is no different.  The number one goal I have for Outside San Diego in the next 365 days is to morph it into a more community based website.  I would like to make it a place that everyone can be a contributor, and a place that belongs to everyone.  Now is the time to start.   I need to hear form everyone.  reply to this post and tell me what you want Outside San Diego to be.  Describe your perfect site, and lets make Outside San Diego come close to the utopia you have imagined.