Cragmama "Not all who wander are lost…" JRR Tolkien

Category Archives: Hiking

A Weekend Escape to the NC High Country

A Weekend Escape to the NC High Country

Although we’d had plans made for the past few weeks already, I was pretty pleased when I saw that our weekend getaway to the NC mountains aligned with Charlotte’s first (of what will hopefully not be TOO many) 100 degree days. This particular escape was one of my favorite types of trips – a hybrid family/climbing/hiking weekend that makes for all sorts of fun and variety. After enjoying a gorgeous Grandfather Mountain view with our morning coffee, the CragDaddy and I headed up to the Linville Gorge for a “crag-date” at Hawksbill Mountain.  (Thank you to Bebe and Papa Joe for…Read the rest of this entry →

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Every Trail Connects…

Every Trail Connects…

Recently I joined forces with REI to promote their #everytrailconnects campaign.  Their campaign will provide $500,000 towards trail projects at 10 different locations across the country.  For my part, I’ve been asked to reflect on my own experience with trails, and why they are meaningful to me.  (For REI’s part, keep reading!) I sort of hesitate to admit it, but I haven’t always been “all about trails.” Admitted that the ultralight hiking poles we had allayed the arduous journey, but as a rock climber in my pre-kid era, I always thought of trails as merely a necessary mode of transportation…Read the rest of this entry →

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A Weekend of Waterfalls (and Climbing) in the High Country

A Weekend of Waterfalls (and Climbing) in the High Country

We may have had a cool and pleasant spring this year, but summer in the Southeast is shaping up to be H-O-T!  Here lately the thermometer has hit 90 before lunchtime and the humidity has felt downright smothering.  That meant that the only logical place for weekend adventures was the higher elevation areas in the western part of the state, where daytime highs were literally 20 degrees cooler than back home. Our agenda was pretty open-ended.  We really just wanted to escape the heat and get some good family time together.  The past few weeks have been very hectic, and…Read the rest of this entry →

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3 Climbing Milestones in 1 Weekend!

3 Climbing Milestones in 1 Weekend!

We finally had an entire weekend free to head up to the New River Gorge, which of course meant it was going to be snowing and in the THIRTIES (after highs in the 60’s the weekend before…).  But at least the weather was good in our neck of the woods, even if it did feel more like a warm winter day rather than spring.  And even though we had to settle for Plan B, it ended up being a weekend filled with important milestones! The whole family marched up to Red Wall at Crowders Mountain on Saturday morning.  Steve had his sights…Read the rest of this entry →

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DIY: Homemade LARABars

DIY: Homemade LARABars

Recently I posted about all of the changes our family has made in the direction of sustainability, specifically when it comes to making our own food.  We’ve been able to eliminate almost all of the processed food that was in our diet on a regular basis, and meanwhile have been saving money – win, win!  And one of the biggest money savers has come with our ability to make Larabars at home with nothing but a food processor. For those of you not familiar with Larabars, they are delectable RAW energy/protein bars made with often as little as 3 ingredients.  There…Read the rest of this entry →

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