Ever since I wandered the Arizona desert with my father (mostly looking for rocks!), I’ve loved the outdoors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the summer of 1978-1979, I worked as a maid in Old Faithful Inn at Yellowstone National Park. On my days off, I hitchhiked to different trailheads and hiked (almost always alone) in the park. (This was before the reintroduction of wolves and the return of grizzly bears.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I served as the Washington State Advocate for Leave No Trace<\/a> between 2002 and 2005 and was the High Adventure coordinator and assistant scoutmaster for my son’s scout troop. We went to Philmont Scout Ranch in 2000.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 2005, I hiked the Pacific Crest Trail <\/strong>with my youngest son, Alex. We kept our trail journal<\/a> at the outdated site, TrailJournals.com. As a 20th anniversary commemoration, I created a PDF version with additional photos. You can download that here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It took me 18 years, but I did manage to hike the Wonderland Trail <\/strong>around Mount Rainier, and you can read about that here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 2008 (with another visit in 2011), my husband and I did the Coast to Coast <\/strong>walk across England. Our trail journal is here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I’ve been backpacking in Alaska (the Iditarod Trail near Anchorage and in Denali National Park) and the mountains outside of Almaty, Kazakhstan in addition to the United States and Canada.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Ever since I wandered the Arizona desert with my father (mostly looking for rocks!), I’ve loved the outdoors. In the summer of 1978-1979, I worked as a maid in Old Faithful Inn at Yellowstone National Park. On my days off, I hitchhiked to different trailheads and hiked (almost always alone) in the park. (This was … <\/p>\n