Location: Highland Recreation

Hiked with: Gary, Ian, Sam, Darby

Route/trail: Boardwalk trail starting at Teeple Lake

Weather: 42 degrees and partly cloudy

Duration: 3.47 miles, 1 hr. 10 min.

Sightings: many birds in the woods and grasses

Emotions, etc: It felt so good to be outside after several inside days, loved walking a trail I hadn't been on before and doing it with the family was the best.

Location: Highland Recreation Area

Hiked with: Gary

Route/trail: new path that starts at the entrance-not yet named

Weather: beautiful bright blue sky, crisp 50 degrees

Duration: 50 min. 3 miles

Altitudes/elevations/conditions: had to laugh at the steep incline sign....this teeny, tiny hill is nothing but the norm in Pittsburgh

Sightings: a snake crossing the road

Emotions, etc: Gary and I haven't done this together in months. It felt so very good.

Location: Proud Lake Recreation Area, MI

Hiked with: Gary and Darby

Route/trail: Wixom Loop

Weather: 80 and sunny

Duration:1 hr. 5 min., 2.82 miles

Altitudes/elevations/conditions:The trail was in such poor condition that we probably won't come back....trees down across the path in many places that had been there for quite a while

Sightings: lovely wildflowers

Emotions, etc: sad that this park that is so wonderful for kayaking isn't the same for hiking....cut the hike short due to the conditions

Location: Chatauqua State Park, Boulder, CO, on July 2, 2015

Hiked with: my family and my sister's family

Route/trail: headed toward number 3rd Flatiron but didn't go that far

Weather: hot under the sun, beautiful in the shade

Duration: 3.5 miles

Altitudes/elevations/conditions: 25% rather rocky trails 

Sightings: too many people due to it being a holiday weekend....would love to go back on a week day

Gear/food: water, almonds

Emotions, etc: It felt so good to be back in the Rockies! I was challenged by the heat in some places and the rocky path in others. I could have done without the heat but liked being physically stretched. We spanned the ages of 11-51 and this was a good hike for the variety of ages and abilities.

Location: Roaring Run Trail, Champion, PA (6.6.15)

Hiked with: a group of friends that when we all used to live in Pittsburgh we met regularly for fellowship, Bible study and fun. 

Route/trail: Roaring Run Trail in the Roaring Run Natural Area

Weather: mild summer day, sunny

Duration: 3.17 miles, 1 hr. 28 min.

Altitudes/elevations/conditions: muddy paths at times from the rain the night before, a few hills

Sightings: The end of the tulip tree blossoms, a garter snake

Emotions, etc: It was wonderful to be back in the PA woodlands so close to where I spent many childhood summers in Ligonier, PA. And the icing on the cake was being with such dear friends.

Location:Highland Recreation Area

Hiked with: myself and a podcast from OnBeing

Route/trail: Haven Hill Trail

Weather: overcast, 40 degrees

Duration: 2 miles, 30 minutes

Sightings: a heron, many ducks, and a person using a leaf blower (boo hiss)

Emotions, etc: felt good to start the week in the woods despite it being overcast

Location: Vancouver, British Columbia

Hiked with: Gary

Route/trail: Seawall from the convention center through Stanley Park and then back through the city

Weather: 62 and sunny with a light breeze

Duration: all day (Sunday, 4.19.15), 21 miles

Altitudes/elevations/conditions: mostly flat

Sightings: sailboats, skulls, yachts and ships, seagulls, totem poles, mountains, ocean, an amazing bridge, a working canon and fires at 9 p.m. everyday, a seal, amazing public art in large ways of sculpture but also in small pieces like the manhole covers decorated with native peoples symbols, masses of tulips, friendly people

Gear/food: a lunch stop for Mongolian bar-b-que and an afternoon recharge from locally made gelato

Emotions, etc: what a treat to have an entire day like this...was so relaxed