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Five Family Friendly Hikes

lohayes@gmail.com (Lynn O'Rourke Hayes) — Sat, 05 Jul 2014 00:00:00 -0700

Do you love to hike?

Taking to the trails is a great way to introduce youngsters to the benefits of fresh air and the natural world.

Here are five hikes to enjoy together:

1 Sioux Charley Lake, Nye, Mont.

This 6-mile round-trip hike is scenic from start to finish. The initial views include tumbling waterfalls through a canyon-walled section of the Stillwater River known locally as the washtubs. The river braids and the canyon widens as hikers move toward the Beartooth Mountain peaks, ambling through forest and meadows dotted with wildflowers. The lake area or the nearby rock outcroppings provide the perfect setting for a picnic.

Contact: visitmt.com; MTHikes.com

2 Lory State Park, Fort Collins, Colo.

A popular northern Front Range destination, Lory State Park offers 26 miles of hiking (and biking) trails, which are rich in wildflowers during the summer. Wind your way through rocky hills and green valleys. Savor the aroma of the ponderosa pine forest. Opt for ranger-led hikes under the full or almost full moon during the year’s warmest stretch, for a memorable family outing.

Contact: cpw.state.co.us

3 Washington, D.C., and Virginia, the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal.

Take a break from hiking between museums and galleries and stretch your legs on a scenic path just 20 minutes from the Capitol. The trail begins at the Angler’s Inn and follows the canal towpath for 2.3 miles to the Great Falls Tavern, passing old locks along the way. The outing provides an opportunity to discuss the way locks once lifted boats 600 feet during the years — from the 1830s until 1924 — it was in use. On weekends, the park service offers rides on canal boats pulled by mules.

Contact: nps.gov/choh/index.htm

4 Grotto Falls, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tenn.

Does your family love waterfalls? If so, Trillium Gap Trail will be a hit. The trail provides access behind the 25 feet of falling water where salamanders scamper about, to the delight of trekkers. The 3-mile round trip takes families through an old-growth hemlock forest. Caution is advised on slippery rocks near the cooling waterfall.

Contact: nps.gov/grsm/planyourvisit/grotto-falls.htm

5 Mount Rainier National Park, Washington.

The kids will feel like real mountaineers when they venture along the Sourdough Ridge Trail, located in the subalpine zone of this northwestern park. The 21/2-mile loop trail offers stunning vistas of deep green valleys and snow-capped peaks. With only a 400-foot elevation gain, the hard-packed route provides high-altitude ambience with relatively little effort. Be on the lookout for mountain goats and the occasional elk herd in the distance.

Contact: nps.gov/mora/planyourvisit/day-hiking-at-mount-rainier.htm

Outside Matters

lohayes@gmail.com (Lynn O'Rourke Hayes) — Fri, 20 Jun 2014 00:00:00 -0700

Spending time outside matters.

This revelation, underscored in a study by the Girl Scout Research Institute ("More Than S'mores"), doesn't surprise me.

The report suggests that girls who spend time outside regularly surpass their peers who spend less time in fresh air in environmental stewardship, they readily seek more challenges and are better problem-solvers.

Other findings include:

Spending time outdoors in nature is different from playing or learning inside.

Here’s how . . .

Outdoor spaces support physical play. Unlike most indoor environments, the outdoors offers open space where children are able to be messy, make noise, and move in more physically intense ways.

This allows them to develop their movement capability and confidence—both of which create foundations for physically active lifestyles and general health (Little & Wyver, 2008; SPARC, 2009).

Time in nature promotes attention restoration.

Spending time in nature (even just a walk in a park) has been shown to improve concentration and creative reasoning among children and adults, including those with attention deficits (Atchley, Strayer, & Atchley, 2012; Taylor & Kuo, 2009; Berman, Jonides, & Kaplan, 2008).

Nature provides novelty and challenge, which enhance leadership.

Outdoor experiences often place girls in new physical, psychological, and social situations that motivate curiosity and foster a sense of discovery. Authentic challenges in nature (think . . . starting a fire in the rain or negotiating a set of whitewater rapids) require girls to become more self-aware and to cooper- ate, communicate, and solve problems more effectively (Rickinson et al., 2004).

For me and for my children, outdoor experiences have always been healthy, enriching and expansive in every way.

Our favorite family vacations have included river rafting, hiking, fly fishing, and camping.

What role does outside activity play in your family?

Mission...Accomplished!

lohayes@gmail.com (Lynn O'Rourke Hayes) — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 00:00:00 -0700

I have always wanted to visit one of the 10th Mountain Division huts tucked high within Colorado’s Rocky Mountains. Named to honor the men of the 10th Mountain Division of the US Army who trained during World War II in Central Colorado, the system of 29 backcountry huts are connected by 350 miles of suggested routes.

Knowing my interest, my adventuresomepal Diana suggested we make the effort during our one night stay in the Vail Valley. My son son Ted and I were headed to Montana for the summer.

Diana and her husband Matt both work full time but still make it a priority to enjoy all that their Rocky Mountain playground has to offer. We arrived in time to help stow enough gear to last a week – but still necessary for a backcountry overnighter with two young children in tow. Piper, 4, and Duncan, 2, wouldn’t miss the chance to join in this adventure.

We arrived in the parking lot off Interstate 70 for our trek to our overnight home. It has been a near record year for snow fall in the mountain west and we were unsure how much of the white stuff would be on our path. In addition to our 40 pound packs, laden with dinner and breakfast supplies, sleeping bags and warm clothes, we had snow shoes.

Diana popped Duncan on her back, the other adults carried the packs and Matt would pull Piper in a small sled. As we began our late afternoon ascent to our 11,200 foot destination, we encountered more snow than we had imagined. And, plenty of run off.

We slogged and trudged. The going was slow as our snow shoes occasionally broke through to water beneath the crusty surface. In time, Matt, the voice of reason, strongly suggested that we abort the mission. After some discussion, we agreed it was a bit risky to continue with the kids, unsure of the conditions ahead.

A bit disappointed, but knowing we were making the wise choice, we returned home. As we entered the front door, reluctantly depositing our gear in the entry hall, little Duncan put it all in perspective. With a wide grin on his cheery face, he threw his small arms in the air and declared: “We did it!”

Find our more: www.Huts.org.