Diario de lexitrailwalks

(Approximately 3-to-6-minute read.)

First, I wish to offer both an apology and an explanation that I hope does not come across too much as an excuse. I wanted to try something new with how I post to iNat by setting myself up with strict goals and limiting observations to only those that I felt offered an actual contribution to science. I also wanted to create accompanying journal posts that provided important context about the featured habitats. This is something I still very much want to do, but as the title says: I aimed for the moon by adding to my already extensive workload, and instead crashed upon the sun, subjecting myself to severe burn-out.

I am stepping away from posting to iNat for the remainder of the year, so that I can focus on finishing out my courses and certification programs, then take some time to improve how I post observations and journal entries. I will also be re-evaluating how observations are gathered. From 2018 to 2022, I have been operating on sheer serendipity with my Trailwalks. I was extremely fortunate to have experienced only one major concerning incident during those five years of exploration and research. Unfortunately, April through August have challenged my well-being far worse than any college curriculum.

I will keep my initial introductory post for the time being, though I will come up with a new set of guidelines for 2024. I have deleted the previous two journal entries referencing McKinley Woods. I will try to finish uploading observations from the preserve by the end of September, but will not be featuring the I and M Canal Trail as I originally intended. Finally, I will not enforce the "no revisiting specific locations once I start posting about them" rule until 2024.

Thank you, and please stay safe in your exploration and travels!