I have been climbing mountains for seven years now. I’ve hiked 25 of the 4000 Footers in New Hampshire, USA and I’ve hiked many of our local mountains here in Quebec, Canada. I love being out in the woods, pushing my body and my mind to finish the hike, to summit, see the views and conquer another mountain.

I’ve shared my photos on social media often over the years and my sister, Corinne, has always been interested in trying but she has been worried that she wouldn’t be able to do it.

This last weekend, I texted her and ask her to join my kids and I for a hike. It is March break here and I have been searching for fun things to do with the kids since most things are closed. Thankfully, the outdoors is still open. 🙂

I was so happy when my sister agreed to come. It was her weekend off of work too which was very lucky. She is a nurse and works every other weekend and often replaces for people as well.

The mountain was an hour drive away. We started hiking at 10am. We could not have asked for nicer weather. Blue bird skies, +4 degrees Celsius temps and trails that were still hard packed. We were able to hike in just our boots.

My four kids are 8, 9, 10, 10 years old. They did really well. My youngest son struggled at the beginning but then he and his sister teamed up and charged ahead of us. Making it to the summit first. On the way down the two oldest teamed up and ran down the mountain getting to the bottom first.

Corinne and I stayed in the middle, chatting and taking our time. It was great. I was so impressed with Corinne. Her very first mountain and she had no difficulties at all.

We reached the summit at noon. It was so sunny our eyes were burning. We had to take dozens of photos to get ones with all of our eyes open. There were a few other people at the summit relaxing as well.

We had our lunch and enjoyed the view. I had never hiked this mountain before so I didn’t know what to expect. I was thrilled to discover such a great view reward for Corinne and the kids. I’ve hiked mountains for hours before just to have the peak surrounded by trees. This was a much nicer pay off for the time spent.

The descent was much faster but also had a lot more traffic. We ended up in a train of people to the trail head. We hiked for 8km (5miles) in 3.5 hours.

It was a perfect day spent with my family. My sister and I got to chat for hours which we don’t usually get to do with our busy schedules. My kids got lots of fresh air, exercise and time to connect with nature and their aunt.

I’m really hoping Corinne has caught the hiking bug and will join me on many more hikes. Super proud of her for believing in herself and trying a new challenge. I know her efforts will inspire many more women to get out there. Cheers!

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