Skinny Big Hill Hard Mountain

"While it can be maddening to hike with a small child who stops to examine every bug and begs to be carried only to run circles around all of the adults who have collapsed after the end of a long hike, it can also be eye-opening to put away the binoculars and get out a magnifying glass. That is, forget about goals and destinations and get down on the kid’s level, slow down, and take in the world one pebble and caterpillar at a time. So it takes all afternoon to travel a hundred yards of trail, so what? The important thing is that you and your child are enjoying the world together and, while you’re at it, you are learning (or relearning) a whole new way of seeing the world."

I'm thrilled to have my essay/article, "Skinny Big Hill Hard Mountain: The Labor and Love of Hiking with Children," in this month's issue of TrailGroove magazine. You can click here to read more.