If your summer has been like mine, and hiking isn’t happening with the frequency you’d hoped, you probably shouldn’t read this book. It will create jealousy and sadness. This great account of hiking with kids in America’s beautiful national parks will leave you desperate for a hike — TODAY!
In just one year, Mr. Lanza hiked with his 10 year old son and 8 year old daughter to locations in the Grand Canyon, Yosemite, Glacier National Park, Joshua Tree National Monument, Yellowstone, Rocky Mountain National Park, the Everglades, Glacier Bay in Alaska, Mount Rainier National Park and the Olympic coast. This book, half climate-change warning, half hiking journal, speaks to a desire most people have– to share the things they love with the people they love. Unfortunately, many of the things we love, including the national parks, are endangered by global climate change. While Mr. Lanza speaks very definitely about the way climate change is and will effect some of the world’s most beautiful places, he also talks about the wonderful character growth kids experience with frequent exposure to natural places.
Although the places they visited were probably among the most beautiful and unique in the world, many share one problem in fitting in with my hiking plans: too many people. Hiking in a line to see Upper Yosemite Falls doesn’t sound like a way I want to spend a day. In fact, we spent a recent holiday hiking with many other people, and while I am glad to see others out enjoying nature, I have a hard time enjoying my day with that much noise around. The time for me to see those wonderful sights will have be a time when no one else is around (I think I’m going to be waiting a long time.) In the meantime, I will continue to enjoy more pristine (if less beautiful) areas without the company of crowds.
My favorite parts of this book were his details about hiking with his children. Hearing his children try to decide which was their favorite trip must have made him so happy. I feel similarly when my kids are making top 10 lists of their favorite hikes. In a world where so many kids have no exposure to nature and no love of the outdoors, hearing them express their feelings is delightful. Of course, no one loves the exertion and effort of hiking all the time, and this is reflected in his children as well. I laughed over his “potty break” to put a little distance between him and his (stationary) children so that he could calm down after listening to the kids complain and bicker. And his advice about feeding them often is something we’ve put to use in the last couple hikes to good effect.
I hope you find this book and read it. You’ll enjoy it. Have you read any good hiking books lately? Please leave me a comment.
anothergranolamom 
Laura Grace Weldon
/ December 2, 2013Inspired by this. Thanks. I’ll be looking for a copy.