Our eldest daughter asked to climb a fourteener for her 10th birthday. This quickly progressed to a "14er Project" with the goal of climbing 14 Fourteeners by the time she was 14. We climbed Mt. Yale as our first mountain peak, and had a great time.
Category: hiking
Mt. Whitney: A Successful Summit
I hiked Mt. Whitney a couple of weeks ago in late August, and have spent the past two weeks basking in the glory of topping the tallest mountain in the contiguous 48 states (also, letting my calves recover, and getting into the back-to-school routine with my children). The hike was marvelous. It was long, gorgeous, …
Hiking Foot Care, or, I have Bony Feet
As I’ve been training for my Mt. Whitney hike, which will take place later this month, I’ve been doing a lot of hiking. One of the questions I get most often both from runners and hikers is how to prevent blisters. I have bony, narrow feet. In particular, one of the things that I need …
What to eat on a long day hike?
What you eat before, during, and after a long day hike has a huge impact on how your hike goes. Ideally, you want to be optimally fueled so as to have an awesome, energy-filled hike and quick recovery after your long effort. Hiking food and distance running fuel look a lot alike in basic nutritional …
Training for Mt. Whitney
As mentioned in a previous post, I’m preparing to hike Mt. Whitney in late August. I’m really excited about this adventure, and am spending a lot of time thinking about how to best prepare myself for the hike. To recap, we have a 24 hour permit, so we need to hike the 22-mile, 6,000 foot …
Get Ready: Let’s hike Mt. Whitney!
I am excited to be planning to hike Mt. Whitney this August! Mt. Whitney is the highest peak in the contiguous 48 states, reaching 14,505 feet elevation, and is a major "bucket list" item for many hikers. I am so lucky to get a chance to climb this peak: One of my friends from college drew a permit and invited me to join her group. How to prepare for this adventure? The two biggest challenges I see a major need to train for are 1) the time on my feet (12-14 hours hiking is a long time!) and 2) to be walking on an unstable surface for that length of time/distance.
Outdoor Activities as a Parent
My husband and I are huge outdoors people. We always have been. Our first date was rock climbing (way back in the mid-90’s). We have grown together as a couple and as individuals as we have hiked, backpacked, and climbed our way around the western US (and Alaska! Italy! Switzerland!). As a competitive distance runner, …
Divide & Conquer (Part 2)
Last time I talked about our Divide & Conquer backpacking trip. This method of splitting kids to maximize excitement is one of our most successful - if logistically challenging - outdoor activity strategies. During pregnancy, postpartum, or simply in times when one parent is pushing harder (or recovering harder) than the other, dividing kids is …
Divide & Conquer
Our entire family enjoys being outside. We also have very different ability levels right now: A dad, a postpartum mom, 8 and 4 year old daughters, and a 3 month old baby. This summer is the perfect time for us to employ one of our fall-back techniques for outside activity that everyone is happy with: …
Three Kids & 1 Mom
We have 3 kids now: newly 8 years, 4 years, and 2 months old. It’s the middle of a hot summer, and the older kids are dying to get out and about. To be honest, the grown-ups are also dying to get out and about in the woods. However, we have two big logistical issues: …
