More than 270 miles, close to 110 hours of hiking time and over 38,000 feet of elevation gain.

Those are the numbers behind 101 hikes in San Diego County, the milestone I reached with the Hike of the Week column last week, about two years after its inception.

Each week in The San Diego Union-Tribune, I write about a hike in the region, mapping my journey and the wildlife and plants I see along the way.

But it’s harder to track the less tangible aspects of taking a hike each week. How do I tally up the number of times I’ve adjusted my unreasonably long boot laces, taken a photo of a tiny, lone flower nestled against a boulder or gulped down water while admiring the view around me? It’s all at once too many times — and never enough.

What began as a simple weekly hiking guide has, to me, evolved into a celebration of San Diego County’s outdoors and a call for people to spend time outside, no matter your skill level, location or mindset.

I’ve found, more often than not, that the hike I do each week is the hike that I need to do, whether it’s a gentle walk along the coast at Cabrillo National Monument that calms my nerves or the climb up El Cajon Mountain with friends that fuels me for the week ahead.

Plus, there’s a pure delight of being out in nature. I don’t think I’ll ever grow tired of spotting deer alongside the trail, like I did recently at Palomar Mountain State Park, or lose the sense of awe I feel when I stand on a peak like North Fortuna at sunset.

It’s my hope that the Hike of the Week column can provide you with a reprieve from the often bleak news of the day. But as any outdoor enthusiast knows, to love a place is to care about it and the policies that affect it, even on the days when we aren’t visiting.

In that spirit, we will soon launch the San Diego Trail Report, a weekly newsletter that will bring my weekly hike reports — and much more on San Diego’s outdoors — straight to your inbox. Expect musings from me, plus other stories focused on wildlife, land access, conservation and moments of adventure from across our region. You can sign up for it here: sandiegouniontribune.com/trail-report

And to thank those who have been reading in print, we’ll be publishing lists and excerpts of all of my 101 hikes so far, organized into four different areas of the county, for the next four Saturdays. The whole list is available online now: sandiegouniontribune.com/101hikes

I may be 101 hikes in, but as luck would have it, there are more trails still to explore here in San Diego County — and I’m always open to tips from readers, both for my next hikes to write about and for stories I should pursue. You can find me on the trail or at maura.fox@sduniontribune.com.