The Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve is a hiking, photography, and ecological wonderland. The park holds the tallest largest dunes in North America (some reaching over 750 feet in height!), has a seasonally flowing stream, and numerous access points. Biggest sandbox around! Geology The following is an excerpt from Colorado Rocks. Check the …
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 …
I recently wrote a post for the Trail Sisters journal. I'll copy it here, but you can also go ahead and check it out on their page. The more the merrier: My children and their cousins enjoying a summer hike. I grew up loving to run. In college, I ran cross country and track for …
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 …
It's been a few months since I've posted here, and what a tumultuous time it has been. Our son was born in late May, healthy and well; he is thriving as we move into his second month, in a record hot summer. Newborn life is a whirlwind and a cocoon. As usual after a new …
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 …
Last post I wrote of some overarching goals I have in active parenting. These goals are uniquely mine, and I hope sharing these thoughts is helpful. I do believe that in order to truly promote an ideal (e.g., “being active and self aware”) to a person - especially a child, it is critical to model …
One of my life goals is to have an active lifestyle. This takes many forms for me: elite distance running, backpacking, hiking, rock climbing. Corollary to that active lifestyle goal is to raise my family in an active manner. For me, one of my main parenting goals is to raise my children so they are …