Flathead Hikes (and Bikes!) with Tykes

"When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world."  -John Muir

Why wouldn't we tug, when the tugs have yielded quiet answers, deep friendships, peace, fear, strength, inadequacies, joy, challenge, dependence, humorous alpine -- I mean "alpine"-- starts, and hours of togetherness -- togetherness, yes with each other or with friends, but also with ourselves -- a coming together of body, spirit and soul. The mountains, with their variable conditions and supreme beauty, are a mirror for us, the teacher who's voice echos in our head even when we're no longer in her classroom.

Flathead Hikes with Tykes is born out of two people with rhyming names -- Jen and Ben -- who have traded in most earthly obsessions for the ability to tug at nature as long and often as possible (We retain our obsession for tasty post-adventure treats, of course.).

As our family grows, we are eager to bring little souls on our journeys with us --- to show them how exploration is less about achieving and more about showing up, to gift to them the paradox of adventure and quietness, to grace them with intimate knowledge that our natural world is one that evokes marvel and playfulness, to teach them to observe what true connection may be.

Like the most memorable adventures, that list seems lofty, but we've learned that there is a richness when we borrow from literature "a willing suspension of disbelief."

For the purpose of this venture, Ben is primarily the ideas man. This is Ben:

He's the person who, when I was 6 months pregnant would listen to me say "I want to get to the top of a new peak and can cover about 1.5 miles in an hour. Where should I go? I have 3 hours. And I'll need to pee every 20 minutes." He'd think for a minute and then eagerly volunteer, "You know where would be a great place?" And somehow it would end up being the perfect hike. Except for the one time with the stinging nettles. That wasn't really his fault, but you should remember that if you come across a hike that's a little different than you expected. Stinging nettles. With a partner in her second trimester.

But seriously, I know many of us find ourselves in the happy place of thinking we've married one of the world's finest. If we were out to coffee and you told me that, I'd respectfully nod, because, well, we can't all marry the same guy. You can visit his blog at mindonthemountains.com.

This is me.

Most pictures I'm in are distracting because my eyes are half shut or my clothing tags are sticking out, so this photo with 'ole coon eyes gives off a nice semblance of normalcy.

While I don't have a lifelong relationship with the Flathead Valley, it's become a fast friend since I moved here in 2009. Over the last few years my lack of direction has created many a story -- waiting at the wrong trailhead, summitting the wrong peak -- things that are much more fun to read about than experience. I imagine that the blog will cover my lack of direction at some point in time, and since I've taken more than my share of wrong turns, I hope to save you from doing the same in the forthcoming guidebook Flathead Hikes (and Bikes!) with Tykes.

We have a new little boy who was born towards the end of 2015. I'll refer to him as RTG. His existence is the driving force behind the guidebook. Since I'm not sure the internet can handle all his cuteness, I hope to save his best stories and worst pictures for times spent with his cohort around the campfire or dining around a table. 

In summary: boy, girl, baby, together, mountains, lost, found, blog, guidebook, tugs at nature, wanting more; Flathead Hikes (and Bikes!) with Tykes, a blog while the guidebook is being scripted, and a hard copy guidebook to pass along by [hopefully] the end of the year.

Thank you for stopping by, and feel free to email me if you have questions. See you on the trail!