Cragmama "Not all who wander are lost…" JRR Tolkien

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The Lightner Familiy: Teenage Champion, and Urban Mama Turned Mountain Mama…(Sort of…)

The Lightner Familiy: Teenage Champion, and Urban Mama Turned Mountain Mama…(Sort of…)

I’ve interviewed a lot of climbing families over the last couple of years, and all of them have had one thing in common – the kids learned from their parents…that is, until I interviewed the Lightners.  The story of university professor Constance Lightner and her 13 year old climbing champion Kai is as different as it is inspiring.  Kai has competed for  several years in both indoor sport climbing and bouldering, with a host of 1st place finishes at a national level.  In fact, just over a week ago he was crowned National Champion yet again at the USA Sport Climbing…Read the rest of this entry →

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Family Bike Day Along the New River Trail

Family Bike Day Along the New River Trail

Regular readers of this blog know we are big fans of the New River in our household.  During prime climbing season, the New River Gorge is like a second home, as we head up there almost every weekend.  But as wild and wonderful as the gorge is, the river itself is even bigger, extending down through Virginia and into western North Carolina.  Actually, I guess it’s more accurate to say that it extends UPWARDS into West Virginia, as the New is one of the few rivers of the world that flow north!  Anyway, one of the best parts about the…Read the rest of this entry →

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Cragmama T-Shirts Are Here!!!!!

Cragmama T-Shirts Are Here!!!!!

It’s official – the moment you’ve all been waiting for!  (Well, I suppose that might be a little strong…but hopefully a few of you have been at least looking forward to it?)  After I got a lot of positive feedback from various social media outlets, along with some good old-fashioned word of mouth, I decided to move forward with the Cragmama t-shirt idea.  The idea was first planted in my head by David Lithman, owner of Adayak, an online clothing company specializing in outdoor lifestyle wear.  The goal at Adayak (a combination of the words “adventure” and “kayak”) is “to…Read the rest of this entry →

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Ever Thought About an Inflatable Kayak? Maybe You Should!

Ever Thought About an Inflatable Kayak? Maybe You Should!

This summer our family visited humbersport.net and added some new paddling gear to our already overflowing adventure closet!  Though our purchase was made on a whim after some extra writing gig money came in, the idea has been brewing for a long time – as in, since the pre-Cragbaby days.  Steve and I had always enjoyed paddling and kayaking in its various forms – we’d sea kayak using fishing kayak for two people in New Zealand, rafted numerous rivers including the Upper Gauley (with a guide), and even had an epic backcountry canoeing experience in the Everglades (probably SHOULD’ve had…Read the rest of this entry →

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Tips for Camping with Toddlers

Tips for Camping with Toddlers

A couple of summers ago I wrote a post about camping with infants.  But now that I’m the proud mama to a stubborn passionate 3 year old, that old archived camping post is way outdated for our family.  Nowadays, nights in a tent look far different than they did back then!  In some ways, this makes things MUCH easier (ie, we all get more sleep!).  In other ways, some camping activities are a lot more stressful (ie campfires).  If your kiddo is one of the lucky ones that got exposed to camping early and often, transitioning to toddler camping is…Read the rest of this entry →

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“Not all who wander are lost.” —JRR TOLKIEN