Finally sitting down to create a blog has been a long time coming for me. In my head, I created one several years ago, would even think up potential posts. But, when it came time to actually put pen to paper, or fingers to keyboard, I’d lose interest or, rather, find other things I needed to do.

But this time it’s different.

Since my senior year in high school, when I went on my first hike on Mt. Monadnock as part of Operation Venture, I’ve loved the challenge of hiking. The hard work that comes from ascending a difficult peak and the calmness that settles in my mind as I fall into a hiking rhythm; it’s walking meditation for me. Since that first hike back in the fall of 1985, there have been years when I haven’t hiked at all…kids were too young, work was too busy or life just wouldn’t allow it. There was always an excuse, many of which were valid. That all started to change a few years ago and I found myself recommitting myself, doing at least one big hike a year – Franconia Ridge in 2010, Lakes of the Clouds and Monroe in 2011, northern Presidentials in 2012, the Bonds in 2013.

Back in May, after having read Following Atticus, I decided to set a goal to finish the list of the 48 4,000 footers in N.H. I didn’t expect to complete the list in 2014, but wanted to make some good headway. I was excited and more surprised than anything else when I was able to check 25 off the 48 list from Memorial Day weekend to mid-October. And, for each peak I climbed and shared the experience with friends and family on Facebook, the more friends told me I should be writing a blog. Talk about what it’s like to hike, to be a mom who likes to hike, to be a Rhode Island transplant and New Hampshire native who likes to hike, and maybe, write about stuff not related to hiking.

So here I am. I hope you’ll join me as I work through the final 13 of the 48, and as I hike other mountains. I don’t doubt that when I finish the 48, I’ll go back and do them again. Mountains are never the same. In fact, today I grabbed winter hiking by the horns and hiked Mt. Pierce in 15-degree temps and 40 to 50 mile-per-hour gusts. The cold toes and fingers were worth definitely worth it. But what a difference it was hiking today since the last time I was on Mt. Pierce was in mid-July.

Often, I’m rushing to get to the summit, so driven to achieve my goal. Today, I tried a different approach. Stop occasionally, listen to the silence, or the creaking of a tree, or the low gurgle of a stream. Stop and look up at the way the snow blankets each tree limb and evergreen bough. Stop and breath in the cleansing air. Of course there were other times I had to stop…add layers, put on a balaclava, dig my goggles out of my pack, push my hair out of my eyes. I will admit that once at the top, I focused a little too much on how cold my toes felt and decided to do a bit of running down the trail.

Then again, it’s all about balance, right?