Who I am and why I hike

I live in Albuquerque, New Mexico, with my husband. I’m a journalist who spends most of my time managing a brilliant and talented group of people on very tight deadlines.

I spent most of my life not hiking. (I grew up in the completely flat Mississippi Delta – nothing to climb there.)

Once I went on a hike with my husband, who grew up memorizing the arroyos of northern New Mexico. The hike involved climbing a steep but not very small hill. The blood throbbed in my head. I hated that feeling. Why would anyone do this voluntarily? I wondered.

Then I signed up for a conference in Whitefish, Montana, near Glacier National Park. I wanted to see Glacier. I wanted to be fit enough to do a decent-length hike in Glacier.

So I started going out on the Pino Trail in the foothills of the Sandia Mountains. The first time, I did maybe half a mile. Each time out I’d add distance, trying to increase my pace or at least keep it steady.

I didn’t hike in Glacier. A group of 20 women did a bus tour around the park, so that’s what I did. It was an amazing experience that made my desire to hike Glacier one day even stronger.

When I came home, I wanted to hike, and it was time to find new trails. My husband and I started exploring New Mexico together.

At that point, I was about a year into managing a staff of seven people. I was experiencing all the stresses a new manager experiences. I needed an outlet. The kind that could be found off-trail in the mountains 20 miles down a dirt road.

My guidebook of choice is Stephen Ausherman’s fantastic “60 Hikes Within 60 Miles of Albuquerque.” At this writing, I’ve done 34 of those.

This blog focuses on hiking in the Land of Enchantment, which, as my father-in-law likes to say, boasts landscapes equal to or better than those in all 49 other states, plus the moon. I hike when I travel, too; highlights have included McAfee Knob on the Appalachian Trail and Engineer Mountain in Durango.

I started this blog because I’ve been so amazed by the places I’ve seen, and, being a writer, I have a few stories to tell about them.