The Friday Wrap: Fodor's, Boston Book Festival, and GirlVentures

The Friday Wrap

**Please join us tomorrow (Sat., May 19) at 1pm in NH's Bethlehem Public Library for our next book presentation and signing!**

We had another great week.  First, the latest publicity/event news:

Fodor's now lists the contents of my backpack.  Take a look at "An Expert's Checklist for Hiking with Kids."

I've been invited to present Up: A Mother and Daughter's Peakbagging Adventure at this year's Boston Book Festival!  I'm looking forward to participating in this popular and exciting event. 

This October, I'll have the honor of being the guest speaker at GirlVentures' annual EMPOWER! breakfast.  GirlVentures is a wonderful San Francisco organization dedicated to empowering girls through outdoor education.

For a complete list of press/reviews/events to date, click here.

Other good stuff:

Yesterday, we had a great hike up Mt. Cardigan with our friends, Mark and Natalie.  The pictures are on my Facebook Page.  The full trip report will be posted on this blog next Tuesday.

For Thursday Things, the girls and I were nice to people who haven't been nice to us.  I'm still not sure how I feel about this exercise in grace.  You can read more about what we did here.

Have a great weekend, everyone!  Get outside!

Thursday Things: Experiments in Grace

Thursday Things

We recently checked off number 98, "Do something nice for someone who has not been nice to us (it's a lesson in grace)."

I did my part about five weeks ago, when I was nice to someone who habitually gossips behind my back.  On one particular day, this person went out of his way to make life difficult for me, but I was nothing but kind in return.  I did him the favor he asked me to do, even though I had no reason to comply with his request.  I can't explain the situation beyond that, since I don't want to make this person publicly identifiable.

Alex has done her part for months .  Every week, she has to interact with a specific kid who is bossy and rude (this is not someone she sees socially).  Alex has, without speaking to me about it, decided to acquiesce when it's not a matter of importance, and to stand up for herself when she feels the need.  Alex occasionally holds the door open for this kid.  When she does, part of me is proud and part of me cringes.  The vengeful part of me wants Alex to ignore this child completely.  However, my daughter is doing well with this situation.  She's not being bullied, and she's not creating unnecessary confrontations.

Last week, I spoke harshly to Sage over something that wasn't important.  I was in the wrong; there was no need for me to raise my voice or to make a big deal.  Before I had the chance to apologize, Sage handed me a picture she had drawn the day before.  She told me she wanted me to have it since she could tell I was feeling "bad on the inside."  This is typical of Sage -- she likes to make other people feel good.  She knew she didn't deserve to be scolded, and she knew my anger had little to do with her.  Yet she wanted to fix whatever it was that was really bothering me, and she thought giving me her drawing might help.  She's a sweet kid.  (Of course, I told her I was sorry).

How did these acts of kindness make us feel?

I have to be honest.  I took no pleasure in being kind to someone who is, was, and probably always will be a complete jerk.  My being nice to him did nothing to stop his gossiping or crappy attitude.  Perhaps I'm not that good of a person, but I don't think I'll be going out of my way to be nice to him anymore.  Instead, I'll just interact with him as little as possible.

Alex has little to no feeling over being kind to the kid who's always bossy.  She doesn't take the rudeness personally.  She figures this is one of those things in life you just have to deal with, so she does, in a matter-of-fact sort of way.

Sage was happy to give me the drawing, and I don't think it was because I'm her mother.  She is truly the type of person who wants to make others feel better (that being said, she's no doormat -- if she feels she's being treated unfairly, she says so).

An interesting experiment.  Wish I could say I feel good about it, but the truth is, I don't.  I don't want to be nice to people who aren't nice to me.  My kids are naturally much better at this than I am.

I'd make a really bad waitress.

Tuesday Trip Report: Gulf (Slide) Peak (Trailwrights). Mother's Day 2012

Please join us on Saturday, May 19 @ 1pm at Bethlehem Public Library in Bethlehem, NH for our next book presentation and signing!

Up: A Mother and Daughter's Peakbagging Adventure has gotten a lot of press over the last six weeks!  Click here for links to all reviews and features.

Tuesday Trip Report: Gulf (Slide) Peak (4806 ft.).  Mother's Day 2012.

Glen Boulder Trail.  5.2 miles roundtrip.

The girls and I decided to spend Mother's Day hiking a Trailwrights peak.  We remembered Gulf (Slide) from last November's Isolation trip and decided to revisit this scenic mountain.

On the way to the trailhead, we saw a moose by the side of the road.

Climbing miscellaneous objects at the trailhead.

Heading up steep Glen Boulder Trail.

Almost above treeline.

A bit of scrambling.

Going up!

Glen Boulder's in sight...

Views from the rock.

Boulder break.

Heading up from Glen Boulder to Slide Peak...

What's left of last season's snow.

Summit!

Views...

Max contemplates life.

Dramatic Sage.

Tyrannosaurus Rock.

Heading down.

Looking down at Glen Boulder.

End of hike!

We had a great day, but boy, were we slow on the ascent!  Granted, Glen Boulder Trail is incredibly steep, but still..!  Just a few months ago, we were doing 12-15 miles up and down 4Ks every weekend.  Then we took two months off to do smaller peaks...and now all three of us are sucking wind up the bigger trails.  No matter.  Come June, we'll start training for those western highpoints.  This means we'll tackle steeper and longer trails every week until we head west.  We're looking forward to exploring some of those trickier trails up the Presidentials!

Hope everyone had a great Mother's Day!

The girls and I spent Sunday on top of a mountain (of course).  I'll post a full trip report tomorrow evening.

The girls being goofy on top of Gulf (Slide) Peak.

Up: A Mother and Daughter's Peakbagging Adventure got a lot of attention over the weekend!  The girls and I were in The Boston Globe, Concord Monitor, Union Leader, Lancaster Sunday News, Maine Sunday Telegram, and the Chicago Tribune.  Click here for links to these features (and many others!).

The Friday Wrap: The Takeaway, The Chicago Tribune, USA TODAY, and Outside Magazine

Please join us May 19 @1pm at Bethlehem Public Library in Bethlehem, NH for our next book signing event!


It's been another great week for Up: A Mother and Daughter's Peakbagging Adventure!

USA TODAY listed UP as one of the top ten books for Mother's Day!

The Chicago Tribune posted a great article on UP; look for this article in the newspaper this weekend.

Katie Arnold of Outside Magazine wrote a lengthy and very positive piece regarding UP.

Also -- Alex and I did our first live radio interview this morning! We were guests on the national program, "The Takeaway." Here's the link to our segment -- click "listen," then scroll down. We're listed in the pop-up player. We had such a good time! Many thanks to John Hockenberry for having us on the show.

I recorded this video of Alex just before we went on air:

Here are some pictures from this morning:

In front of WGBH studios.

Examining the equipment.

Waiting to go on.

Have a great weekend, folks! Look for us in The Chicago Tribune, The Boston Globe (North), The Concord Monitor, The Union Leader, The Maine Sunday Telegram, and The Sunday News (Lancaster, PA).

And, of course...

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

Eat lots of chocolate!

Don't forget to tune in to The Takeaway tomorrow morning (May 11)!  Alex and I will be on the air live from 7:15 - 7:25am EDT!

Tuesday Trip Report: Morgan and Percival (T25)

***Latest Publicity News -- we're currently featured in Seattle's ParentMap!

Don't forget to look for us in The Boston Globe, The Concord Monitor, The Union Leader, The Chicago Tribune, Maine Sunday Telegram, and Lancaster Sunday News this weekend! Also, tune in to "The Takeaway" this Friday morning at 7:20 EDT to hear our live interview!***


Mt. Morgan Trail and Mt. Percival Trail.  5.4 mile loop.

Alex, Sage and I tackled two trails from our Terrifying 25 list last Thursday:  Mt. Morgan Trail and Mt. Percival Trail.  We'd heard a lot about this classic loop hike and were excited to see what the fuss was about.

The day was drizzly and overcast when we arrived at the trailhead.

As you can see, we brought our dog on this hike -- however, I recommend you think twice before bringing yours.  We didn't have too many issues with Max since he's a small breed and I can easily carry him over obstacles.  A larger dog might have a lot of problems, though.  You'll soon understand why.

The lower section of Mt. Morgan Trail is easy enough...

(Loved this tree!)



...and then, we got to the ladders.

That top ladder goes only halfway up the rock.  At the top, there's a damp slab you have to climb, and then you enter that cave to the right.  Here's a close-up...

Up we went.  The first two ladders weren't too bad, though they did shake with every step (I'm not convinced those bolts are secure).  The tricky part was getting to that third ladder from the second one.  You have to swing your leg up and over that boulder to the right, then pull yourself up.  It's a long way down if you slip and fall...

Here's a picture of the cave's opening from the inside.

We emerged from the cave, climbed a few ledges... 

...and stood on the top of Mt. Morgan.

After eating some chocolate, we moved on to Percival.  The walk between the peaks was rocky and pleasant.

Summit!

The views are supposed to be great on Percival, but all we had was Cloud.

After our mandatory chocolate, we descended Mt. Percival Trail via the boulder cave route.

The entrance to the cave on Mt. Percival Trail (on the descent) is between that crack in the rocks on the bottom left of the following picture:

Here's a better look...

Here are the girls coming through the entrance (I'm standing inside the cave) --

Finished with the caves, ladders, and ledges!

Max was ready for normal trail.

The rest of the descent was routine.

This was a fun hike, but I wouldn't recommend it for dogs.  Max did well enough, since we carried him over all the tricky bits, but I don't think I could have managed with a larger breed.

Our next hike will be on Mother's Day.  Speaking of Mother's Day, don't forget to look for us in The Boston Globe, The Concord Monitor, The Union Leader, The Chicago Tribune, Maine Sunday Telegram, and Lancaster Sunday News this weekend!  Also, tune in to "The Takeaway" this Friday morning at 7:20 EDT to hear our live interview!