Time flies, and this fall, the clock has seemed to speed up on me. My 2022 Gift Guide is out the door and here for you to enjoy. Happily, there's still plenty of time before the holidays, so check out some of my favorite things hiking, outdoors, and running related! First, of course, start with …
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.
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.
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, …
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 …
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: …
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: …
What to bring, or, What I Brought My girls and I decided we’d take a few hours to explore a nearby trail loop, the Cienega-Sulphur Creek Loop this week. It’s a 3 mile hike with about 600 feet of elevation change, starting around 7250 feet. The biggest draws for the hike was that it features …
Recently, I wrote about flexibility when planning activities with kids. Today, I'm writing about stepping back and letting my children take more of a planning role in our activities. My family loves to hike. I have a lot of ideas about where and how to hike in and around Albuquerque. My daughters also have a …
I’ve been writing about parenting in an active family, and modeling active behavior. This all sounds great, but there’s a lot of planning and preparation that goes into establishing and maintaining these behaviors. One of the key habits I have to constantly work on is flexibility. I love to run, hike, camp, and adventure out …