Hiking
        Hiking and I go way back.  In fact, My parents took me hiking two days before I was born, believe it or not.  For a while, my hiking was done on my dad's back in the Gerry carrier, but once I had the walking thing down, I was able to hike!  My parents took our family hiking often while I was in grade school, and many of the 4000 footers I have climbed were climbed during that period of my life, so I don't think they count.   But I haven't stayed in New England for my hiking by any means!  See my travel section for an idea of where else I have been hiking.

Backpacking
        I haven't been backpacking for as long as I have been hiking, mainly because I couldn't carry a backpack at the age of two.  I remember my first backpack only vaguely, and the ones that stand out in my mind are those of more recent years.
        The all-time best place I went backpacking was Isle Royal National Park, an island in the middle of Lake Superior that has no motorized transportation, just backpacking and canoeing.  I went with my family in the summer of 1994, and we hit it right during berry season!  There were blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, wild strawberries, and thimbleberries, which I had never even heard of before.
        My family also took a backpacking vacation in Baxter State Park in Maine.  We camped outside the park, and got there bright and early to climb Mt. Katahdin, which did take all day.  Then we had reservations at several back country campsites, one of which I remember being Lower Fowler Pond, which was a most agreeable site, indeed.  The back country of Baxter was an absolute pleasure to hike in, except for the occasional wasps we had to avoid (they seemed to be everywhere!).  I would definitely like to hike in Baxter again, and heartily recommend it to any who enjoy backpacking.
        My first non-family backpack was with my friend Lauren Williams-Barnard, in the summer of 2000.  We did a section hike on the Appalachian Trail from the highway just north of Rattle River Shelter, over Mt. Moriah, and the Carter ridge, hitting North Carter, Middle Carter and Carter Dome, and staying a second night at Perkins' Notch Shelter, which I highly recommend that you avoid, before hiking out past the Carter Notch Hut.
        The best and worst backpack that I had was one and the same.  From June 21 to June 24 of 2001, I did a through hike with Ed Sanville, whom I have been dating since.  We met just north of Mt. Mousilake, at Lost River, and night hiked in to the shelter...which we never found, and ended up pitching the tent off the trail.  The next morning, we left his car in the parking lot there, and drove mine up to the Lafayette SP Campground, where we left it.  We hiked up Cannon Mountain, starting in reasonably good weather, but on the summit, it was grey, windy and chilly.  We then trekked over the Cannon Balls, which would have had beautiful views...if it hadn't been clouded in and misting.  The Cannon Balls seemed a never-ending series of ups and downs, then there were North Kinsman and South Kinsman to contend with.  It took us a lot longer than we had thought it would, but we pushed on to the shelter, which we arrived at finally, at about 10:30 pm, only to find it full, and tents scattered all around.  We squeezed our tent between some trees, and made dinner in the dark.  My knee had started hurting during the day, but we hadn't been able to stop, so it had gotten worse.  We departed the next day, heading for Lost River.  The signage wasn't so hot, we got started the wrong way, which we didn't immediately recognize because we had hiked in exhausted the night before.  We got ourselves turned back around and hiked past the shelter, passing a sign saying it was 7.1 miles to the road.  The northbound through hiker that we had run into said it was a three to four hour hike, and not very difficult terrain.  A little ways down the trail, another sign advertised that it was 7.2 miles to the road.  We passed a few people during the hike, and each one told us that it was further to the road than the one before.  And during this all, it was grey and wet.  We finally drew near the road, and Ed went ahead to get the car while I plugged along slowly favoring my knee.  It started pouring the last couple tenths of a mile of my hike out.  So, although it was wet and rainy and grueling, I still felt a sense of accomplishment at completing this through hike.

Camping
        I've been going camping with my family since I can remember.  I remember when the three of us (before my sister was born) crowded into a pup tent, and when we got a family sized tent how roomy that seemed.  Despite my proximity to the White Mountains, I haven't done a lot of camping there, mostly because when we are going camping, we don't have to stay within a day's drive.

Sailing
        I have been sailing since I was about eight years old.  I was certainly taken sailing by my father before that age, but that is when he started teaching me how to handle his sunfish.  I learned to sail during the summers in Cape Cod, Massachusetts' Vineyard Sound, around Falmouth Harbor and the Falmouth Heights.  While I was in high school, I took a sailing course through UNH, where we learned to sail 420s, two person crafts with a mainsail and a jib.  My family purchased a Widgeon, which for all intents and purposes, is like a 420, but the hull is a little wider and it can hold more people.  It can still be sailed by one or preferably two people, though.  At Wesleyan, I was tipped off to the existence of the Sailing Club, which would go down to sail on the Connecticut River near Old Saebrook every Friday afternoon.  While I  have not by any stretch of the imagination gone every Friday they go down, I have been a semi regular member of the club.  I never have done any racing, and am not really that interested in it.  I just like being out on the open water with the wind and the quiet all around me, feeling the tug of the sail in my hand.

Canoeing
        Canoeing is another family activity that I have enjoyed so much that I continue doing so even without my family.  My parents own a fiberglass Mad River Canoe, which used to have wooden gunnels, but we've had to replace them with plastic ones just recently.  It's so old, that the serial number is hand-written on!  We've taken beautiful paddles on various ponds in New England, and once up and down a section of the Saco River in NH, which I highly recommend.  It's flatwater, and a great place to jump over the side on a hot summer day whenever you feel like it.  My latest canoe was with my boyfriend, Ed.  He lives in West Lebanon, and we put in on the Connecticut River just above the dam between there and Hanover, then paddled north.  We went past the Dartmouth boat docks, quite a ways, before we turned around.  We noticed a campground that is on islands in the river that looks like it would be fun to camp at.

Snow Shoeing
        I went on my first honest to goodness snowshoe just this winter.  My parents used to have to old wooden snowshoes, which were terribly large and clumsy, but this year they got each other the new small metal and plastic ones for Christmas.  I went with them a couple times, and they let me borrow them to go for a snowshoe with Ed one weekend.  We went northbound on the Appalachian Trail from Hanover, NH, and though the first bit is a fairly steep climb, it makes a really nice snowshoe trek.

Cross-Country Skiing
        I have been skiing since I was a tyke.  I don't remember a time when I didn't ski.   I love getting out in the backwoods where I can't hear the sound of traffic, and me and mine are the only ones within earshot.  My favorite ski trail is Greeley Ponds X-Country Ski Trail off the Kancamaugus Highway in New Hampshire's White Mountains.  In fact, that's my whole family's favorite trail, so much so that we named our cat Greeley.

Downhill Skiing
        I have a limited experience with downhill skiing.  I started when I went on a downhill ski trip in middle school, and have gone at most four times in any one winter since then.  I usually go so I can hang out with my friends who downhill ski.  I've been to Mt. Cranmore, which I like, Black Mountain, which was really small, Wildcat Mountain, which was too icy, Sunday River, which is huge and I loved it, Bretton Woods, which was my favorite mountain, and Ragged Mountain, which was a nice, if small, mountain.