Odds and Ends

I thought I’d take a moment today to catch up on some of the details of what’s been going on here on the website. I’ve been doing a lot of work behind the scenes.

First of all, congratulations to Sarah K. for winning Scott Sampson’s book, How to Raise a Wild Child! Thanks so much for everyone who took the time to comment and enter. (If you missed my review, here’s the link.)

Second, I’ve been working on the “guide book” portion of this website. Many years ago, I created the first Hiker Mama website. I made it with software that came with my old Mac, and it was a bit clunky. When I got my newer Mac, it didn’t come with that software (it had been discontinued), so I cobbled the WordPress portion onto the side, and that’s where I put all my efforts. But I felt so sad and slightly embarrassed for neglecting the original part of the website. Fast forward to last year, when I decided to get serious about the entire site, not just the blog, and after a few failed experiments, finally figured out a way to create the website I wanted while keeping up with the powerful tools of WordPress.  It’s got a steep learning curve, for sure, but I’m happy with the way things are progressing.

SO, all of that is to say: go check out the hikes on the Greater Seattle Area Page! I’ve gotten most of the local hikes completed. Many of these are wonderful hikes to do in these early months, before the high country opens up. I’m also working on the Anacortes and Whidbey Island area hikes. These are a bit more of a drive but still close enough to do in a half day. And they have a different feel: slightly more wild, and many have a view of water or even the opportunity to play on a beach. I’ll work my way through the geographic areas. And I’ll keep adding hikes as we do them. I’m almost to the point where I will disable the old website, but I have to re-learn how to do that! On the front page of the blog, I plan to keep a slider/photo show with hikes you can do in the current season. I hope you’ll come here any time to get inspiration for your adventures!