The Hiker Mama

Category: Tips and Advice

  • Book Review: Best Hikes with Kids: Western Washington, by Susan Elderkin

    Book Review: Best Hikes with Kids: Western Washington, by Susan Elderkin

    When my kids were little, I pored through the Best Hikes with Kids books by Joan Burton. Originally in two volumes, they were combined in 2006 into one large volume, packed full of hikes and tips and interesting trail tidbits. But now the baton has been passed to Susan Elderkin, who has updated the information […]

  • Becoming a Hiking Family – 6 tips to get you on your way

    Becoming a Hiking Family – 6 tips to get you on your way

    The New Year is well under way, the holiday lights are down, the excitement of a fresh start is fading, and we are getting to the tasks of building new habits. Does your New Year’s Resolution involve becoming a hiking family? Do you yearn to be outside more with your kids, and to live a […]

  • Interview with Hike It Baby Founder, Shanti Hodges

    Interview with Hike It Baby Founder, Shanti Hodges

    Way back when my first child was little, I realized that hiking would be a good way to get us both outside and help stave off postpartum depression. I asked around in my moms group and among my friends for people who wanted to go hiking with me. This was before Facebook and Meetup, and […]

  • Book Review: Leaflets Three, Let it Be! by Anita Sanchez

    Book Review: Leaflets Three, Let it Be! by Anita Sanchez

    I recently received a book for the purposes of review that I’d like to share with you today. Leaflets Three, Let it Be! is a picture book for children about identifying poison ivy. But it also shows the many uses of the plant through the seasons. It is written by Anita Sanchez and illustrated by […]

  • North Cascades National Park – National Park Week 2016

    North Cascades National Park – National Park Week 2016

      North Cascades National Park is one of my favorite places to explore. Rugged mountains, jade-green water, few roads, autumn colors – all these things and more draw visitors to the park. North Cascades is smaller than Mt. Rainier or Olympic NP, and gets far fewer visitors. It’s still possible to find solitude in the […]

  • Day Hiking: Mount St. Helens, Book Review and Interview

    Day Hiking: Mount St. Helens, Book Review and Interview

    Mount St. Helens has held a special place in the soul of the Pacific Northwest since its eruptions in the 1980s. Many of us parents are old enough to remember following the saga on the news, and remember where we were on the day of the big eruption. We find it fascinating to visit this […]

  • Interview with Author Joan Burton

    Interview with Author Joan Burton

    Whenever people are new to hiking and wonder how to get started or which trails to go on with young children, I recommend the book Best Hikes With Kids: Western Washington and the Cascades by Joan Burton, with photos by Ira Spring. I recently had the fortune to sit down with Joan Burton and hear […]

  • Gold Creek Pond Snowshoe Trip Report

    Gold Creek Pond Snowshoe Trip Report

    The kids have gotten noticeably stronger this year in their hiking abilities.  We’ve also made some new hiking friends who hike in all seasons, and they invited us to come snowshoeing with them this winter.  A Secret Santa has been leaving presents on our doorstep (a 12 days of Christmas theme) and one of the […]

  • Happy New Year!

    Happy New Year!

    It’s a New Year, with new ideas and new hopes and plans.  It’s been pretty quiet in this space lately, as we focused on the holidays.  I also took a writing class with Christina Katz from the end of October through Mid-December.  Most of my writing energy went into that class instead of this blog, […]

  • Thinking About Fall and Winter

    Thinking About Fall and Winter

    Well, we had a hike planned today.  I even had the kids pick where to go, and they were looking forward to it.  But when we woke up this morning, my most sensitive and emotional child burst into tears at the thought of hiking.  I couldn’t get him to budge on the idea, even with […]