When I was a little kid, one of the family trips I remember most was a trip to Mammoth, CA. My Parents were great skiers and so they liked spending time on the slopes at Mammoth Mountain. As for us kids, who were all too little at the time to ski, we always looked forward to sledding down those white fluffy hills.

The memories of sledding down the mountains in Mammoth have never left my thoughts as one of my better moments as a child. There was so much snow, and a lot of movement all over the town, some people sledding, some snowshoeing; and, of course, you look up and there is a huge mountain with people skiing.

My hips are aching; my knees are weakening and the arches of my feet swollen from hiking uphill for 6 hours with a 45-pound pack on my back. Yet, the pain will never stop me or my desire to explore every inch of these mountains.

On the way to our camp, which we set up at 12,000-feet, I ask myself, “Why do I endure such physical pain?” The answer came three days later.

The Colorado 14er's

For five days my husband Erik, our friends, Brian and Chris, and I hiked the 14er’s of Colorado. Starting out of Durango we took a wonderful steam train ride to the base of the Chicago Basin. After being let off, we hiked our way to 12,000 feet where we set up camp and called it home for the next four days.