The unexpected hiker
From walking to day hiking to backpacking and more…
I have always loved the outdoors. Growing up in Pittsburgh my outdoor activities were limited to the yards in the neighborhoods and the local parks. When I was 25, my soon to be husband and I lived in Seattle for work for 6 months . All of the sudden there was a whole outdoor world that I did never knew existed. I learned to ski and snowshoe so there was something to do when it snowed and then we hiked when the weather was nice. At that time, a hike for us was an hour on a crowded trail with other people.
Fast forward through 3 kids, a lot of weekends spent on kid’s sports, weight gain, aging and everything else that comes along with life. Skiing was a family activity but hiking was not. Around 2014 I started to do some hiking with friends when time permitted but that came to an end in 2018 when I suffered a tibia plateau fracture in my left leg while skiing.
Physical therapy and a lot of hard work got me back on my feet, but I needed something to get my leg strength and balance back so I returned to hiking slowly and a little painfully.
2020 hit like a freight train, a few months of staying home was all I could take. Well, guess where you could go to be away from people? The woods! We went overboard and decided that day hiking was not enough so we geared up and started backpacking.
Now 5 years later, retirement life is centered on hiking, camping, and backpacking. It has become part of who I am at this age and I want to share my personal experiences in hope that you too will come to love it as I do.
“Of all the paths you take in life, make sure a few of them are dirt” – John Muir
UP the Hill not over it 