Last summer, I got off the bench and got in the game for a thrilling adventure race with my daughter. The good news is that I survived it. The challenge was called the “Darwin Dash,” a name that suggested impending doom. Imagine a blue rubber mat the size of a […]
Ski and Snowboard Gear for Hiking Highland Bowl
March 1, 2018 by 2 Comments
Hiking the nearly 800-foot bootpack up to the top of Highland Bowl at Aspen Highlands should be on your bucket list. For good reason. The descent will be unforgettable. Power, steeps, views, trees and lots of grins. But it’s not a short or easy hike. It helps if you’re outfitted […]
Zen and the Art of Sea Glass Collecting
July 6, 2017 by Leave a Comment
Combing a pebbled-covered beach is a little like raking a Zen rock garden. I’ve discovered a new form of meditation: searching for sea glass. I’ve never been able to meditate in the traditional sense. I’ve tried. But my mind soon wanders and starts to churn on all of life’s crud: […]
Adventure Racing for Kids
August 29, 2013 by Leave a Comment
From mud pits and ziplines to mountain biking and rappelling down a cliff face, this year’s kids’ adventure race at Vail boosted self esteem and suppressed the usual bellyaching. Here’s something I love about kids adventure racing: Kids bike, run, and climb—and I mean hard—for nearly two hours and they […]
11 Best Camp Books for Kids
June 11, 2013 by 11 Comments
A Few of My Favorite Reads When I was writing my family camping book, I checked out a few camping-themed picture books from the library to read to my kids at bed time. One night, while reading the supremely clever Duck Tents by Lynne Berry, I had an epiphany. I […]
Keen Vail Kids Adventure Race
September 20, 2012 by 7 Comments
Adventure racing requires teamwork. What happens when serial squabblers (kids, that is) compete? My children bicker incessantly over the most inane things. Who goes first at piano lessons. Who gets the blue water bottle. They argue over cupcakes, radio stations, pizza slices, hunks of watermelon, stuffies, lacrosse pads, and ski […]
Island Camping in Maine: Part II
August 1, 2012 by 28 Comments
High Adventure on Isle au Haut Click here to read Part I It wasn’t total deprivation. We did have a bag of those enormous oversized marshmallows, dark chocolate chips, and graham crackers. The kids roasted the marshmallows over a roaring fire and stuffed themselves with s’mores. After dinner we climbed […]
Island Camping in Maine: Part I
August 1, 2012 by 2 Comments
High Adventure on Isle au Haut In my twenties, my hiking shoes were a well-worn pair of Timberland work boots. I’d trekked in them from the Uintas to the Black Hills to the Gunks. They’ left a trail of knobby prints around the Annapurna circuit in Nepal and through the […]
Nature Detectives on Wheels
June 22, 2012 by Leave a Comment
This summer, after a decade-long hiatus from mountain biking—and when I say mountain biking, I mean the blood-on-your-knees, dirt-in-your-teeth variety—I was thrilled to find myself navigating roots and rocks and whoop-de-doos on a dirt trail with my two boys, ages 8 and 11. Until this point, my kids hadn’t done […]
Nature Detectives Kids Club
June 6, 2012 by 3 Comments
The first rule of hiking with kids is this: Never say “hike.” It’s a four-letter word. So earlier this week, when I took the kids on a hike to Walden Ponds, I told them we were going on an adventure. An outdoor nature treasure hunt. Arghhhhh! They were gung ho. […]
