Tag Archives: Hiking

When the Weather Gets Wet…Throw on a Rain Jacket!

Feb 07 2013

Not sure if anyone else around the country can relate, but North Carolina has been having some really weird weather lately. I’ve seen lows in the 20′s (accompanied by ice) and high’s in the 70′s (accompanied by heavy winds) in the span of just one week. C and I decided to take advantage of one of the warmer days last week with a morning hike at Beatty Park. The forecast had called for rain, but not until the afternoon, so I packed some water and snacks while C took on the arduous task of deciding which bulldozers got to join us on…Read the rest of this entry →

Jetflow Hydration System: Hydration Evolved

Jan 17 2013

There’s a lot of different types of hands-free hydration systems out on the market now - with the grandfather of them all being the well-known CamelBak. Of course there are plenty of companies that design special backpacks with the purpose of hydration in mind, and they can come in a wide variety of forms (over-the-shoulder pack, “fanny pack,” under-the-bike-seat pack, etc). But the common theme of these specialty hydration “vehicles” is that the method by which they deliver water is always the same. A soft, polyurethane bladder is connected to a tube that is secured somewhere close to your mouth, usually via a shoulder strap…Read the rest of this entry →

Two Happy Hikers on a Simple Adventure

Jan 13 2013

“I don’t want Daddy to go to work tomorrow,” said a sweet little Cragbaby the Sunday after New Year’s. He’d grown quite comfortable with the idea of having Daddy around to play with him all day over the holidays (and to be honest, I had too!) I knew that the good-bye at breakfast Monday morning had the potential to be kinda rough. So I decided to plan a fun adventure for just the two of us, hoping that any lingering sadness about Daddy being gone would be counteracted by enthusiasm about our special day. Since C has had so much fun trekking…Read the rest of this entry →

Green Hours with McDowell Nature Preserve

Dec 06 2012

At the risk of sounding like a lazy parent, I’ll be the first to admit that I sometimes grow bored with the same old green hours around the house. (I say I’ll be the “first” because I’m willing to bet I’m not the only parent out there that feels that way…) In this day and age of “scheduling,” there is certainly no shortage of programs available for toddlers, be it at a local library, park, or community center. Even though I’m a firm believer that young children need a healthy dose of “unstructured” time so that they can let their…Read the rest of this entry →

New River Gorge: The SEND Train has left the station…

Sep 26 2012

And I managed to hop on it this time. (It’s about time…) SEND TRAIN: The extreme sending phenomenon that occurs when a group of climbers are projecting together and one person finally has a breakthrough – the rest of the crew feeds off of that psych, and all of a sudden everyone is crushing left and right. In last week’s trip report I alluded to the fact that I had felt like I had been in somewhat of a climbing slump for the past few weeks. It seemed like no matter how hard I tried, I was always coming up…Read the rest of this entry →

“Not all who wander are lost.” —JRR TOLKIEN