About

Hello! My name is Kristin and I’m Raising Hikers! I am fortunate to be the mom of two spunky outdoor kids named Emerson (age 5) and Walker (age 4). My husband, Bryce, and I have towed these two along on many outdoor adventures in the past five years. Emerson took her first camping trip at 3 months, backpacked at 5 months old, hiked 8.5 miles this summer on her own, and has hiked (or been carried) in 12 National Parks across the US and Canada, and countless National Forests in her short 5 years—so I’m here to tell you IT. IS. POSSIBLE. I’m not going to tell you it’s easy, but it is possible…and definitely worth it.

I was raised in Southern California and met my uber outdoorsy husband in Seattle, Washington—where both of our kids were born and raised to be true outdoor kids in ANY weather. Yes, it really does rain a lot there. Now we are soaking up the sun (and snow) in colorful Colorado and spend most of our weekends traveling with our suuuuuper cute vintage 1972 Boler named Rusty.

Beyond hiking and camping, some of my favorite things are (in no particular order): karaoke, cold brew, Tillamook ice cream, IPAs, the Peloton bike, Europe, stand-up paddle boarding, margarita Fridays, enneagrams, board games, game shows, Canada, dancing, dress-up parties, and Marco Polo’ing with my best girlfriends. I also love taking pictures of the outdoors, my kids, and my dog, so unless photo credit is mentioned, all of the photos you’ll find on our blog are taken by me (or occasionally my humble husband who needs no photo cred). 

I believe the outdoors should be accessible to all (especially kids!), but I know it can be super overwhelming to know where to go, what to bring, what to buy, which trail to pick, etc., so I’m here to take out some of the guesswork and share with you our secrets, lessons learned, tips, hiking recommendations, favorite destinations, and perhaps a funny story or two along the way. I hope in sharing our experiences, I can make it a little easier for you to raise hikers too! 

If you are interested in learning more about me and the fam, check out my blog post Meet Me and My Hiker Gang.