After graduating from the University of Michigan at age 21, I moved to Washington State to climb mountains and stayed. I fell in love with hiking and backpacking. Hiking is an uplifting and transcendent experience for me. I feel grounded and centered high in the mountains.

In 2017, I set a personal record by hiking 326 miles with over 62,000 feet of elevation gain. My women’s hiking group has boiled down to three strong hikers. We hike each Tuesday. In the winter, we keep going on snowshoes and micro-spikes. “Don’t slog in the bog; get high on the ridges!” has been my hiking motto since age 21.

"What's the point of killing yourself to get up to a high ridge or peak, and you can't see squat in the fog, rain and clouds?" I reply when people ask if I hike in Western Washington. Seattle-area trails are terribly overcrowded. So, ssssh... don't tell anyone! Hiking trails are usually sunny on the East side of the Cascades.

Happy to joint the group its powerful and awesome.

charlie

Yes, I do for kayaking. I go out to Monroe Lake or Griffy Lake here Indiana.

I'm in Alabama, but I head to the Pinhoti / Cheaha area lot. Great views and its not too far away.

I drive through a national park (Cuyahoga Valley NP, which runs north-south between Akron and Cleveland) on my daily commute. I usually keep a change of clothes in the trunk of my car so if the weather's good I can hike on my way home. This was definitely not something I expected when I moved to Akron!

Live in Oregon. Have a canoe, and the closest place that we go to are the backwaters of the Columbia River. Also like the high mountain lakes in central Oregon, especially the lakes along Century drive out of Bend, OR. Years ago, did some kayaking on the Rio Grande in northern New Mexico. We were living in Albuquerque then.

My back, front side yards are minutes away from all those. I am a kayaker and built my own double (alas which is sitting unused- it's on my profile page pics.). We are a national monument and am involved with helping to maintain numerous sites. This involves hiking and even kayaking (beach cleanups on inaccessible beaches). I also love visitors and am part of a travel group called Servas Int'l.
A bit of travel agent: [visitsanjuans.com]

I'm in the Virginia Piedmont, the AT is nearby.
I climbed in NC a lot in the 80's, and then moved to CO. Now I'm getting back into climbing with my son. We've always hiked and camped in the Blue Ridge.

I've been living in NE Georgia for a couple of decades now. My home area would be the Appalachian piedmont. It's forrested, rolling, and lovely. The Atlantic coast is only four hours away and mtns just an hour north.