This book would be the most amazing resource for people who have never thought about all the possible toxic exposure their children could face. However, I wonder if families who do not have a green mentality would purchase this book.

As part of a family that really does try to minimize our use of toxins, I found the book to have some great information to support us on our journey.  At time, while reading, I felt slightly depressed since we would be considered a very green family compared to most Americans, but the book clearly highlighted that what we are doing is not really enough.  You could go crazy with all the suggestions and advice but the book is not preachy or didactic.  The author gives some statistics to support his claims and is the book is written in accessible language along the lines of, “this product could be harmful”…”but no studies have been conclusive.” This way you don’t feel like you must follow all their suggestions, but rather you are allowed room to follow your instinct.

The book offers some personal accounts in the form of stories written by celebrities.  I found these to be slightly superficial and boring with not much valuable information, but I can see how a mainstream family may be inspired or encouraged by these celebrities’ ideas.  The chapters cover cosmetic, cleaning products, toys, pet products, food, lawn care, water and air.

What I found to be the most informative is the explanations of specific chemicals and how to watch out for them. Often, I know what I should avoid but cannot remember why.  The book gives clear and simple explanations. I just wish there was a clear list at the end of the book that could be carried around. They have many reproducible lists in each chapter but they are for the specific topic covered in the chapter. There is not one comprehensive list you can leave in your purse. The book also contains a resource center at the end with names of companies, organizations and places that support this kind of household.

As families who care about sharing the outdoors with our children, it is important to expose our children to green living ideas. With our environment-conscious parenting style we could not hope to continue to travel outdoors without being full stewards of the earth. Healthy Child, Healthy World helps us to be better at it.

Part I of interview

After my talk with Lenore I emailed her a few questions and this is what she had to say:

"By the way, I hate hand sanitizers, too. I think of them as part of the Howard Hughes-ification of parenting: Things that would have been seen as obsessive compulsive a generation ago that have become "normal" now. (Like bringing your own placemats to a restaurant. And shopping cart liners, too!)

"That being said: What my book tries to do is honor the fact that as parents, we are all trying to do our best. We get so much conflicting advice on how to do everything EXACTLY right (as if!) that it's nice to remind ourselves that humanity has come this far with some really, really different ideas of what is healthy, unhealthy, edible, inedible, sane, insane and yet here we are: a very evolved species. (Did you know, for instance, that a U.S. gov't pamphlet  from about 100 years ago warned parents NOT to play with their babies as this was "over stimulating"? Advice will always change!)

"One of my favorite "tips" in the book is to visit with the children of some folks whose parenting style you find absolutely nuts. (Perhaps relatives!) Parents with a fridge full of junk food, say, OR parents who don't let their kids watch The Simpsons. Whatever. Something you would never do. Talk to their kids and you will probably find that they've still got a spark to them. You may like them more than their parents! We really can't totally ruin our kids, no matter what our personal style -- even a childhood of mac and cheese -- so long as it's not abusive. (And I certainly know the children of some really unhealthy eaters who became healthy eaters once they left the home.)

"So if there's something that you avoid because you can't stand it (hand sanitizers, non-organic milk), that's fine. So long as it's not interfering with your child's ability to become independent and responsible and embrace the world -- your parenting style is up to you. I'd just remember, at the same time, that parents who do use the sanitizer, or give their kids non-organic food, are not irresponsible. It's just like they have a different religion.

"I hope that Free-Range transcends those differences and just asks parents to try to recognize their children's competence, recognize the real world we live in (rather than the one we see on TV) and recognize that the biggest gift we can give our kids is to let them know we believe in them. And show it by letting them do some things on their own.

"Well, I think this sums up the idea of Free Range parenting."

Some good thoughts.

Heidi

As a parent, and as many of you might, I often ask myself if what I am doing is right? Or  if how I raise Cora or how I spend my time is the correct way?  As Lenore said “We live in a self-help world and it is not  the healthiest or best thing we could be doing for our kids”

Living in a self-help or at least self-reflecting world leaves room for a gazillion books, magazines and television programs made to ‘educate us’ on the ways of parenthood.  But our feeling that we need to get the information seems rooted in feelings of being inadequate or ill prepared for the task.  That is why news headlines are written in a sensational way:  Top 10 things you must have to have fun outdoors, or this (blank) object can cause your child to die, stay tuned!

Lenore Skenazy wrote another one of those help book for parents, but she did so with the basic idea that you should get rid of other parenting books and hers as well.  You know what is good for your child.

A few years ago, she followed her attuned and loving mother’s instinct and let her 9 year old son ride a New York City subway by himself.  Because of this she got a lot of bad press as a mother, but much attention.  Some have blamed her for using her son as an experiment.

Because of the experience she let her child have, Lenore got many headlines touting her as the  worst mom in the world.  Because of this she lost a lot of sleep  for a while and really questioned herself about whether people where correct in saying she was deliberately putting her son in harm’s way.  Then she realized she was doing the right thing: she was'nt teaching her son a lesson but letting him build his own confidence.  Recently she appeared on an Australian television series that started the story:  Learn about the craze that is sweeping America: Pre-arranged kids.

After starting the research for her book, Free Range Kids, Lenore realized that she had to change some things in her highly-scheduled Manhattanite life.  Her sons were in three days of Hebrew school, had music lessons they did not enjoy and had never really played outside.  Her sons have now dropped  those activities and have free range of the park.

When I was in first grade, I walked to school.  When I was in fifth grade, I took the subway by myself in Montreal after a 1 KM walk from home.  In ninth grade, I started taking the New York City Subway by myself and would even take along a three year old boy I baby sat at times.  One time, the subway was all in chaos and I realized that it would take me hours to get home, so I wanted to call my father.  When I asked police officers to lend me a quarter, they let me stand there for five minutes while they debated if I was a panhandler. When I shared this with Lenore she said:

“Difficult situations that you had to overcome define who you are. Overcoming things that are dismaying or daunting and figuring out how to do them will be a defining moment in your life”.  It helps you to create a sense of the world and balance out the good and bad.

Lenore, who lives on the 18^th floor of a Manhatan apartment overlooking a concrete pad and the United Nations school playground, finds that letting her children go outside allows them to explore the natural world in their own way.  They go to the park, see worms on sidewalks, grow plants, have pets, go looking for evidence of nature, and so on.

If you are afraid to let your children go outside, turn off the television and go walk around yourself and see how many people are hiding behind bushes or what dangers are really present in your neighborhood.  In most cases, it's likely you will realize that there are no real immediate dangers.

One in every 1.5 million kids will be taken by strangers this year.  This statistic scares people but it shouldn't.  It means that on average, it would take 750,000 years of your child standing outside alone, 24/7, for it to be likely that your child would be taken by a stranger. “ It is so unlikely, but news channels get listeners by creating sensational headlines about scary stories and horrific events.  If nothing bad is going on in your city, then they look for old stories or talk about other areas of the country which makes you think that all places are dangerous,”  Lenore explains.

 “If you look at the statistics”, Lenore explains, “being inside is worse than being outside”.  Having your children explore outdoors on their own enables them to be more confident, to take care of themselves and, as a parent, you can see them stand up for themselves and assert themselves.  If you teach your kids that all strangers are not bad, and that asking for help from someone, a shop owner or calling 911 are all good things.  Having a fear of all strangers is not natural and actually does not teach reality to your kids.  Children need to learn how to differentiate between the weirdoes and the regular citizens on the street.  Children grow self confident and more secure.”

We are becoming a society that is now making up things to be afraid of or judge unsafe.  For example, certain materials can no longer be used in insoles because of the fear that a child may eat them.  A part of the ball point pen may be dangerous to the health of toddlers, so they are working on eliminating it.

“We need mobiles that only play award winning lullabies” , explains Lenore. What does that tell a parent who loves to sing tot their child but can’t even carry a tune? That he should stop?  As parents we have to bend over backwards to be considered good parents. “A recent article in the Washington Post that listed ideas on how to delight your baby, explained that you could kiss her on the nose. Do we need articles to teach us this?”

Magazines exist to turn a profit, and they need  people to read them.  They have tactics to make sure that we do.  I shared with Lenore the thought that one of the things they do is make us believe that we don’t know how to do something, when in fact we do. Lenore responded by noting that people buy baby monitors for one bedroom apartments, or read articles with headlines like:  Is your car seat really safe?  Or worry about recalls for minor things like an arm being pinched when folding a stroller.  "Is that really a hazard or an accident?”

Lenore advises us to overcome our fear of dirt in order to get city kids outdoors:  “Dirt is good for children.  The cleaner and cleaner you make your environment, the body has a hard time figuring out the difference between good and bad germs.  If you keep children from meeting the world, everyone seems like a terrifying stranger.” The outdoors teach you how to be street smart, and feel at ease.

“ If children don’t like it at first, expose them to a park with a picnic blanket. With exposure they will learn to embrace the outdoors," she states “ Don’t over react, have fun, you don’t need to follow the advice of a four page article on how to be sun safe and prepared for the outdoors.”

Lenore thinks that we should go back to the original model of supportive parenting, where we relied on friends for advice, where we were supportive of one another and less judgmental.  She really likes Dr.Spock’s books that reassure parents and tell them to follow their intuition.  “ Relax, not everything you do has an impact on your children. Everything is presented as a bigger deal than it has to be.”  Books that explain to women what to eat when they are pregnant drive her crazy.  She feels that women generally know what they should eat and not eat and that following a strict regimen will just make women go crazy.  We noted that most pregnant women across the world have only a few ingredients available to them in their local environments and their children are born just as healthy.

When I asked her if she thought that all the advice books had helped us be better parents, she explained that we were much better at not yelling at kids or using corporal punishment, but that they made us second guess everything we do and what impact it will have on their development.  She quotes a study that reports that a child who grows up thinking they are less loved than another ends up turning out the same.

Stay tuned, next week, for part 2 of my interview,

Heidi

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This mother’s day Erik, Cora and I had the chance to get away and explore a familiar wilderness area.  We headed to Dominguez Canyon.  We had been there last year for a backpacking trip but this time we decided to car camp at the trailhead and do day hikes.

Actually, we did not decide this, but our friends did for us.  We really wanted to hike the whole 12 mile trail but we could not find anyone willing to come along with us to carry Cora the length of the trail.  With my sciatica and seventh month of pregnancy I did not feel like I could carry the extra load. So off we went for a car camping experience.

Dominguez Canyon in Western Colorado offers wonderful hiking and remote car camping spots.
The best time to head to this recreation site is either the spring or fall.  Mid-summer can be very buggy and unbearably hot.  That is why we wanted to go visit this spot again before June. When we were there last year we encountered many, many bugs and a lot of heat.  That is the great thing about this destination - it is a desert hike with water along the way.  You don’t need to carry water and you have refreshing pools to jump into when you get too hot.

On this trip we explored the top five miles of the trail each day we were camped. We had to bushwhack through thick bushes to get to the river since the beginning of the trail is elevated above the creek, but the trail is very broad and passable as the cacti and trees are not dense.  It was a wonderful way to spend my 30^th week of pregnancy.  Soon after the first five miles the terrain opens up and you are following the river fairly closely.  On the last day we ran into a friend who was hiking through. I was slightly jealous because I know we could have made it.

The upper campground has a pit toilet, a lot of shade, is free, and can only be accessed by an all wheel drive vehicle with good clearance.  The Gunnison River camping area at the bottom of the trail is large and can be crowded with rafters, but has a swimming hole and waterfall. The site can be reached by parking in the designated parking along the Gunnison and walking 30 minutes.

I highly recommend getting a good map or guidebook for when you drive up there.  Both times we got lost trying to find the trailhead.  It gets frustrating to drive in the dark. The hiking is straight forward and you don’t need a map.

Also, make sure to pack adequate amounts of food. We forgot one meal and were very frustrated with the idea of having to drive one hour to town and back (total 2hrs) just to get an evening meal.  Thankfully, a horse riding couple offered us some canned stew and we were able to stay without driving.

How to get there:

Upper Dominguez:  Drive South on US 50 from Grand Junction. Turn right (south) on US-50/ CO-141 in White Water.  Take a left hand turn approx. 6 miles from WW onto a dirt road.  Drive about 10 miles to a left hand turn indicated by a BLM sign.

Cactus Park (Halfway point):  Same directions to White Water then look for a left hand turn labeled Cactus Park about 5 miles.  You need a Jeep.

Gunnison River campsite:  Continue on US 50 Past White Water; turn right on Bridge Port Road and Park.  Walk about 2 miles.

 BLM website  www.blm.gov/co

Heidi Ahrens

A version of this article was first published on Playoutdoors.com

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It was one of the easiest trips I have ever taken.  I really enjoy Richmond and all of the different museums, parks and outdoor attractions.  My father’s family was very helpful and gave me a real rest.  It was great to spend so much time with them, but back to the subject of air travel.

It is interesting to do this kind of travel and to see what kind of reactions you get from people. Here are some little anecdotes and exchanges from the trip:

·         “You are so brave.”

·         “You bring kids’ Tylenol with you.”  I do not.

·         “Since you can do that trip you could travel to a location that requires you to be traveling for a full 20 hours with four plane changes.”

·         In one of the connecting airports the elevator was broken.  Four repairmen were looking at the elevator but doing nothing. They watched me dismantle the stroller upon which I had piled my carry on, Cora’s carry on, the car seat, our lunch and a half-asleep Cora. The four repairmen continued to watch while I put each of these items (except Cora) on an escalator (since the elevator was broken). We all watched as all of my belongings crashed and bumped at the top in a big pile.  Then I rode the escalator and put everything back together at the top under the watchful eyes of the repairmen. (Who still weren’t fixing the elevator).

·         After my first flight the pilot asked everyone to stay seated before we got off because we had a close connection time. Everyone stood up.  We missed our connection.

·         Happily, the agent at the counter upgraded us to first class because of our missed connection.

·         Also happily, the man who sat next to us asked to change seats to give us more room.

·         On the way back, when I went to the gate to get a stroller ticket, the gate agent told me the flight would be loading in 20 minutes.  Since I thought I had some time, we went to the bathroom, when I returned I realized that the gate only had a long staircase. The agent hadn’t mentioned that important piece of information. I had to dismantle my whole rig but I made her carry everything because she refused to bring me to the service elevator. I kept the whole airplane waiting.   At first the stewardess said I could not bring the car seat (which Cora has to sit in) onto the plane because it could not fit in the overhead compartment (what parent would bring a car seat to store it?)

·         In Atlanta, I ordered food but had the stroller and the tray to carry. A cleaning lady carried my tray, cleaned the table and pulled my chair out. She also sat Cora down.

·         Another cleaning lady noticed I had not cutlery and went to get some for us.

·         In one bathroom, Cora was getting tired and thought that she cut her finger and started to scream bloody murder. She does not like the idea of bleeding.  I got out of the stall as she was pulling on my pants and putting snot all over my shirt and kicking.  We had 10 minutes to make it to our connection. I had no idea what to do. A mom who was changing her baby opened her suitcase and handed me a fluorescent green adhesive bandage. I slapped it on the non-existing cut and Cora agreed to get in the stroller and we ran to the gate making our flight.

Why is this the best air travel I have ever done?

Because when traveling with children you need to change your mindset. Everything is about them.  I had no illusion of resting, reading or taking care of my specific desires.  If you take care of your children’s needs and your basic needs and just go with the flow, then you do not build anxiety or stress over situations.  Also, I think the dynamic is simpler without another adult. When another adult is present you tend to have high expectations of their involvement but they may have a different agenda and want to take care of their own needs. In this case, you don’t have a choice.  Cora was fun and I enjoyed her company.

Heidi

After a long day of travel back from Richmond, VA to visit family  I attended Denver’s Green Festival   with my 2 ½ year old daughter.  I left with three different impressions:

1.       Green Market (what is “Green Market”) and children:

I found that the green industry was very welcoming of children and was laid back when it came to talking, sharing their knowledge, or to even trusting me with their merchandise and gear. When I approached different vendors they handed me their products for review.  This is very different from the extensive negotiations that often take place with the outdoor industry. I found green businesses to be very friendly and laidback.

2.       Consumerism and the Green Market:

Unfortunately it seems that consumerism is the main driving force behind the green industry.  To me being green has a lot to do with spending less and being more frugal and conscientious of purchases. When walking around the festival it was clear that the main focus was marketing and product sales.  I could not approach a booth without first being bombarded with sale information, before I explained that I actually was part of the media and wanted to simply write about the green movement.  I actually had zero conversations about why such a person went green or why they thought a festival like this was important.

3.       Green market and the outdoors:

At the festival there was a section dedicated to children. Different local organizations had demonstration booths to get children excited about composting with worms, energy use and about natural habitats..  They also had arts activities and story time.  Adult presentations were offered about cooking, political issues and new innovations. We could not sit in on the speakers because I knew Cora would not sit still.

The thing that I found disappointing is that green marketing, the outdoor industry, and the parenting field should be working together much more closely than they are at the moment.  It seems to me that green living should be more about healthy eating and a balanced way of being.  I would love to see a larger representation of the outdoor industry at venues like this. Visiting most booths, I didn't get the impression that the reason that thinking and living green is important is that a green mindset will help us to preserve the environment, our health, and the health of our children.

 I recommend a visit to a Green Festival if you are interested in the industry’s latest trends or if you want a fun weekend indoor activity.

Heidi Ahrens

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Erik and I were talking about why we like our car camping experiences so much. We realized that maybe we like them because we become college students again when we go camping.  We stop worrying about fussing around with the minutiae of our lives and we just enjoy the adventure. We also talk very little about money and are satisfied eating simple, bland meals because it enables us to also find amazing cheap eats in new places.

When you are camping you can sleep in and lounge in bed while your kids play on and around you.  You can straggle out of bed with messy hair and let your child play in the dirt in her pajamas. There is something very appealing about returning to a simple life style.

Breakfasts can be lavish, simple or out of the ordinary.  We find ourselves eating lumberjack breakfasts, followed by a breakfast of fruit.

Your car becomes a collection ground for sticks, rocks, and garbage.  But most importantly, your car holds all of your required possessions.  There is no need for storage space full of stuff you may be using.

The above description may sound very college-student like, but I have to confess that we realized that part of the appeal of road trips for us is that we get to find fun new coffee houses to lounge in.  Now, before I continue with this thought I don’t want to scare you, by saying that we do camp off the beaten path and hike and explore interesting places, but part of what we enjoy about being on vacation is the time that we can take to just sit and enjoy each other.  For some reason, Cora really takes to this on trips and we can enjoy small luxuries like drinking coffee and reading the newspaper while she drinks her frothed milk.

Isn’t traveling about doing things that are different than your usual life?

Heidi

I had been to the Molino Basin Campground (Coronado National Forest), fifteen years ago with my Outward Bound semester course. Desert grasses adorn the rocky hills of this campsite found on Mt. Lemmon.  I did not recognize it when we pulled in but I soon recognized the area after we had settled in.  Even though the campground was relatively bare bones, it had recently received a face lift – there were new retaining walls, stable tables, grills, spruced up pit toilets and groomed tent areas.  I remembered that on one of the nights that my Outward Bound group stayed at this campground, a couple in a site adjacent to us fought most of the night. They were drunk, they threaten to kill each other, he had a gun, she had the car keys and both were used as threats. She would try to leave but was not able to back up the car and turn it around because she was so drunk. He would take the gun out and brandish it at her.  Thank God their fight ended in silent drunken slumber without injury for either of them, but I wonder if a couple who fights like this stays together or continues like that every night. Please don’t be miss led, this campsite is very safe and wonderful to visit.

Well, it happened that we pitched our tent in the exact location where this couple had stayed.  Guess, what?  The second night we were there, Erik and I fought about something or other until the wee hours of the night (without any drunken threatening). Cora was sleeping between us and we argued back and forth, back and forth.  I cried, Erik got frustrated, would fall asleep and all would start again. It made me think of the fight that Meadow Soprano has with her boyfriend in Season Five.  In the morning, we were both tired, could not really remember the issue and Cora was bouncing with energy.

What traumatized me the most was to think that our neighbors had heard our ridiculous bickering.  Tent walls are thin, you can hear everything.  It reminded me of the conversations we had as Outward Bound students about crushes we had on our instructors. The instructors probably giggled in their own tent listening to us just like I did a few years later.  When I was working for the Canadian Outward Bound School I was sewing a broken zipper on the fly of a pitched tent that some of my girl students were resting in. They were discussing sex and what they had done and not done. It was obviously a private conversation but they did not get that tent walls were thin, even after I reminded them that I was there.

Why do I share this with you?  It’s simple, spending time outdoors is about life, and life happens in a big way outdoors.

Heidi

Just this March we drove to Tucson and had a wonderful time. Cora now loves to spend time rolling down unknown roads to look at new environments. Seeing the landscape change from Rocky Mountain snow to Saguaro Cactus country can be quite breathtaking.  On the way you pass through desert plains that are abruptly adorned with red rocked mesas.  Even last year when we went to Mexico on our road trip she did fairly well.   We may not cover as much territory as when we were childless, but we drive a safe amount and everyone feels mostly rested when arriving at our destination.

What fascinates me about these road trips is seeing everything through her eyes.  Cora gets very excited by signs that have very large O’s and gets quite animated when she sees livestock grazing.  Her descriptions of different cars driving by is also hysterical.  In her mind tiny cars are SUV’s and sedans are described by their color.

Time and space is always an issue as well. If we run out of some specific food she will say, “Let’s go to City Market,” and describe the special grocery cart that they have at home.  If we say we will be at our campsite soon, she will tell us we could sleep at home, even though we have been driving for three days straight.  If we see cows with a horse she will ask if it is ours (we often walk her to visit Jessie the horse who lives with cows).

For the most part what fascinates me about traveling with a toddler is not the way they perceive the world through their developing brains, but the simple pleasures they can take from such travels.  Toddlers help you to slow down (if you let them) and to look around at the world with fresh eyes.  They love to point out odd things that you can see from your car window, but they also like to play with rocks and create fascinating imaginative games on the side of the highway when you stop for a pee.

Once, we had to walk a ¼ mile to the ‘toilet’ and then squat next to what seemed to me like the exact same sagebush that was next to the car.  In southern Utah, Cora made us walk around a ditch carrying imaginary friends back to our house. She had all kinds of explanations on how this was our house when we got there. This is your bed, this is the kitchen, etc.  In northern Arizona we pulled off the highway on an unknown dirt road and after we ate she lead us through an interpretive dance of feet stomping and twirling, while we overlooked endless red desert mesas.

On a horrible pull off,  where I was very disgusted by the toilet paper and old clothing laying around, Cora played a running game and did not seemed to be fazed by the  collision of human trespass and beautiful landscape.

At campsites she easily finds interesting rocks, sticks, or nooks to play in.  She gets comfortable and at home in minutes.  As we adults go busily PREPARING the camp site and reorganizing the car.

Toddlers know how to live life.

Heidi

Last weekend I found myself driving to Grand Junction for an outdoor gear festival.  For some reason leaving my family behind for 24 hours was excruciating.  I had left them before but I really felt nervous this time.

I had to set up my outdoor ‘booth’ by 8 a.m. on Saturday.  Things did not look so good when I woke up – the sky was thick with clouds and the first thunder showers of the day had already commenced.  Also, when I arrived at the festival location, every other retailer had wonderful displays, tents that had their logo, fancy looking banners, and a lot of gear to sell.  My (wet) OutdoorBaby.net space consisted of a white folding table, a lawn sign displaying my logo and a few props to interest visitors.

My plan had been to set up with chairs to make people feel comfortable to stop and take a rest, but the weather was terrible.  I was feeling cold, very pregnant and out of place.  At least I had been inspired to use my car to create a tail gate ‘booth.’ I sat in the back of my car with the rear door up and my table scooted all the way to the bumper.  I stayed relatively dry while my promotional materials got wet.

Laken, Playoutdoors.com, Bridgedale Socks and Lara bar kindly offered me some free samples and raffle prizes.  That is what made 50 people stop at my booth in the span of 7 hours.  Other than that I got comments like:  “What are you selling?  Nothing?”  “Oh,… “  and they would walk away. Or when a couple stopped by, one woman started to laugh uncomfortably and then she said, “Babies outdoors, that is just wrong!” as she slapped her partner’s shoulder.  I also was asked, “What is an  outdoor baby net?”

Maybe I sound discouraged or disappointed about my experience but in the end I really was not.  I felt very uncomfortable because of the wetness and my swelling body and the weird crushed position that I had to stay in, but other than that I reconnected with old friends (we lived in Grand Junction for two years), met some amazing new families and made many new contacts with people who are excited about doing things in the outdoors with their families.

I also realized how I am swimming in a vast pool of amazing resource like the support I get from Jen Taylor at Mountain Sprout. Or the funny interaction I had with a father who looked at my hiking boots that I had placed on my table as a prop and commented on how used they were.  He asked me if they were comfortable and how the tread was holding up.  I said they were amazing boots with great treads and picked them up and showed him the bottom: They were all worn out with gaping holes and huge cracks on the bottom.  We both laughed and he said “You are the real thing man, I can tell you backpack with heavy packs or a kid on your back. I hope you get new boots soon!”

One difficulty that I realize that I am facing is that people love to be consumers, not consumers of free information, but of goods they can spend cash on. Since I don’t provide that kind of service I lose some clientele that may be interested in what I have to say.

A friend who is starting a high school outdoor program in the Grand Junction area said to me:  It should be a requirement for people to stop at your booth and the Leave No trace booth before they are allowed to purchase anything. That way they would get the proper education in how to use all this gear in a responsible way.”  I wish everyone thought that way.

Heidi

The Participants:

Myself, Heidi Ahrens, 6 month pregnant with significant sciatic pain because of the pregnancy.  I have these used, cheap, old, thin, track skis that made me skate the whole way in the tracks.

My husband Erik, almost 40, who carried all our gear and pulled our Kinder Shuttle

Ahrenskeaff #1, Cora, our 2 1/2 year old daughter.

Our Sherpa, Lara, my best friend who carried all the food and took care of Cora on the way because I could not bend over.

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Last weekend we drove to Crested Butte, Colorado in the middle of a blinding blizzard to ski to a backcountry hut.  Needless to say, the drive was difficult.  We could not see the lines on the road, and turning on the high beams only created more of a whiteout. Thankfully, the snow let up momentarily in Gunnison before resuming on the last leg up to Crested Butte. When we got to our hotel there was already a fire roaring and we were all able to get some sleep. In the morning, when we woke up we ate the continental breakfast and organized our gear. We stayed at the Cristiana Guest Haus .  It was a clean and mountain town hotel with friendly staff and a low key feel.

Since the continental breakfast didn’t come with eggs I had to stop and get some protein, since I can’t sustain myself on grains alone. We discovered the most amazing bagels this side of Montreal at Izzy’s, which is just off of the main street. They had great service along with atmosphere and wonderful coffee.  By the time we actually hit the trailhead it was noon. As we drove four miles up valley we could see the mountain faces rising above us and giving us a glimpse of their rocky sheerness. The weather seemed tolerable compared to our drive into town. The sky was slightly overcast but the weather was mild, but it soon turned to a windy, gray and the snow on the ground took on a downright malevolent texture.  Colorado has been hit by some really weird dust storms that turn the snow a startling burnt sienna color. It makes for interesting color contrasts, but it also created a disheartening melt ‘y’, icy, slushy mess that began to stick to the bottom of our skis.  It took us 5 ½ hours to cover the approximately 3.5 miles to our hut.  As snow began to adhere to the bottom of the Kinder Shuttle, it started to continuously tip over.  Cora had moments of frustration, mostly because to the tipping and she cried herself to sleep once (she also managed to ski a half mile). Erik had to break his own trail for the final half mile so that the sled would stay upright. This proved to be excruciatingly slow as he found that he could only take between thirty to fifty steps at a time before having to rest. We were all tremendously relieved to get to the hut.

Since I was pretty useless taking care of anyone on the trail I made sure that everyone had a good snack (fruit, crackers and salami, and fruit) and hot drinks before we cooked dinner.  We stayed in the larger and more luxurious hut which had running water, a microwave and radiant heat.  We had intentions of staying the more rustic log cabin, but the care taker led us to this mansion of a hut (bigger and crafted with better construction than our own home) and we could hardly refuse with our exhaustion and dream of our separate, comfortable beds.

The evening went very smoothly except for Cora’s refusal to use the outhouse (“It’s stinky!”).  We slept warmly and soundly and ate a hardy breakfast.  Erik finished a cinnamon roll, sausage, huge dry multi-grain pancakes, hot drinks, grapefruit juice, but could not quite make himself eat his left over dinner that he had promised Lara he would eat so she would not have to carry it back out.  We left the cabin at 10:00 a.m. It took us four hours to get back including a long lunch break.  The sky was clear and blue, it was mostly warm in the sun and we enjoyed the ski back.

When we got to Crested Butte we visited a good coffee shop, Camp4coffee, that had the best Chai this side of San Francisco (look for the old license plates that are plastered all over the exterior).   The drive back home went smoothly, even though we were all tired and slightly sun stroked, and therefore cranky.

Along the way, Cora offered Erik a drink of her Tomato juice and he mumbled something to her because he was asleep.  We both thought he said yes, so she uncapped the juice and handed it to him.  Because of the position of his hand, he poured the whole juice onto his lap, which was covered by the map.  It created a lot of laughter and Lara had a hard time keeping her cool while driving.  On our way back to Carbondale we took a short cut along winding, picturesque 92. I was nauseous for 24 hours afterwards, but impressed by the views.  A stop in Peonia for dinner was a great idea, since we discovered a good restaurant, the Flying Fork Café, which surprised us since we did not really have intentions of eating fancy fair.  We were very out of place in our ski gear and sunburned face (Erik has this weird Red Crescent tan line on his forehead) amongst the romantic couples.

This trip would not have been possible for us without Lara.  She helped so much with Cora that you would think that she was her mother.  It is amazing to be injured and pregnant and still be able to discover these amazing paradises.  The surrounding mountains, rock faces, valleys and hills were absolutely stunning.  The aspen trees were really beautiful to look at while we struggled with our skis.

It is so important to do the things you love while pregnant. It is great to have friends that step in for you.

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Specs:   3.5 miles of virtually flat Nordic skiing (not groomed), 9,500 foot elevation 16-20 $ per person, low avalanche risk, Reservation required.  For more information visit the Nordic center.

There are two different cabins with different amenities but both have the basic heat, bed, water, cook wear, outhouse, stove.

Heidi

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We still have some Bridgedale Socks as giveaway.  Sign up for our newsletter or share a story for your chance to win these amazing socks.

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I also wanted to let you know about these events:

Go Green Expo, the largest environmentally-focused business and consumer show will be in New York City April 17-19 and in Atlanta, June 26-28, 2009.

Erik and I choose to travel outdoors and to spend our vacations camping, hiking, and exploring new environments.  We also make sure to experience local culture as well, but most of our time is spent in the outdoors.  If you find a pattern in the places we visit (mostly within driving distance) it is because budget restrictions do not enable us to go abroad or even hop on an airplane.  We do dream of traveling to foreign, remote areas all around the world and to introduce our daughters to new countries, cultures and landscapes but that is not part of our immediate future. We left for a ten day road trip with a budget of 400 dollars (saved over six months) over our regular cost of living.   Camping has the wonderful advantage of being simple, beautiful and cost-effective when all goes well.

We drove following the same route we followed last year to get to Kino Bay Mexico, but our destination was Gilbert Ray Campground in Tucson, Arizona (Pima County).  When we got to the campsite it was 6:00 p.m. and we were expecting a quick camp set up, with a nice meal of sausage, quinoa, and green beans.  Unfortunately, the campsite was closed to new campers because of a problem with their water supply (which comes from a well).  The friendly women at the desk informed us that we could camp on some BLM land for free. It was close to the campground and was located near an urban development (this was a positive point according to her).  You can understand our disappointment at having to find another place to stay and to not be able to stay at the campsite that we had been planning for and saving to stay at for months.  I was tired and feeling very pregnant and Cora was tired of being in the car.  On top of it we noticed that most of the Gilbert Ray Campground was populated by RV campers and since they were already checked in, they were allowed to stay.  That evening Erik and I talked about how some campground culture has changed from accommodating mostly tent campers to mostly RVers.  How can a beautiful campground suddenly be taken over by RV vehicles (when I first visited fifteen years ago, the campground was only used by campers with tents), where tenters are now excluded?  We did not even need water and are quite knowledgeable about Leave No Trace and minimal impact camping so would probably do less damage than the current RV occupants.

We  drove  to  the BLM land and  this is what we experienced:  A whole bunch of RVs scattered around an abandoned lot of very dry, depressing looking desert landscape.  One of our neighbors, the one with the portable, handmade solar panel of different sizes seemed to be a long term resident, along with the only other tenter who had covered his tent with old palm leaves. There was also a very large shirtless man with a very long matted beard who had a “shaggin’ wagon” that pulled a large handmade trailer.  The trailer was full of trinkets and things and he was playing with his trinkets.  The rejected RV’ers from the original campsite were there but we never saw them walk out of their protective plastic shells.  They were all rejects from the campground and were probably not too thrilled.  The area was straddled by a highway and country road.  I walked out of the car, looking for a tent spot, looked around and started to cry.  I was frustrated, slightly afraid and pissed off at our situation.  I was scared because of my experience camping with Hell’s Angels when I was a teenager (read story), pissed off because the only sane solution for a tired pregnant women, with a 2 ½ year old and a exhausted husband would be to get a hotel room for the night and then pick another safe campground in the morning but this was not possible because of our budget. I was frustrated because things were not going according to the plan and we would not be able to stay where we wanted to and because the world was not making rules that I liked.

Cora got out of her seat and told me it would be o.k. and to not be sad.  She held my pregnant belly saying hello to her unborn sister.  I had no choice but to get myself together and start unpacking. I was surprised by a a rattlesnake that toured our camp until nightfall.  While I cooked dinner and watched Cora play amongst rubble and beer bottles I tried to stay positive so that Cora wouldn’t pick up too much on my negative feelings towards our campsite.

During the evening the RV’ers ran their generators, ATVs rolled by our tent on joyrides and the highway was our background music.  On top of it, at different intervals one of us would get up to support Cora while she had diarrhea all around the campground.  In all fairness I must note that all our neighbors were quiet during the night and that the site did end up being safe.

As the sun rose I forgot about the large breakfast that we had planned and that I had been looking forward to. We ate a quick breakfast of cereal.  Just before we left I pulled my pants down to pee and this is the  only time that our neighbors step out of their RV staring at me.

To read the following installment of this trip, please visit us next week. You will be happy to know that our trip did take a turn for the positive...

Heidi

This week our giveaway is a pair of Bridgedale Socks.