Outdoor Inspiration for September

Our monthly post to highlight the best writing and most useful tips written by Outdoor Parents over the past month.

You won't typically find gear reviews or travel guides here - on this site we focus on the skills and inspiration to help you get outside and stay outside with your kids. We also believe that everyone should feel welcome in the outdoors, so we share articles by parents and outdoors-people of color to make sure everyone is learning each other's perspectives.

Hopefully, this encourages you to plan your next outdoor adventures, reflect on what you were able to accomplish over the past month, or what you learned and would do differently. Enjoy!

Bouldering at Columbia State Historic Park in Columbia, CA

Climbing:

• 10 5.10’s in 10 Sleep at 10 Years Old! (aka Big C’s Experience) | Cragmama So inspiring to see a 10-year-old climbing so many 5.10's!

Backpacking:

• Learning the Hard Way: Backpacking Oregon's Eagle Cap Wilderness | The Big Outside Good lesson on what do to when a kid forgets important gear.

School & Kids Books:

• Wild Math Second Grade Review | Tales of a Mountain Mama Interesting curriculum for homeschooling and getting the kids outside

Paddling:

• How to Stand Up Paddleboard with Kids | Run Wild My Child

Hiking:

• Adorable Hiking Gear for Your Tiny Adventurer | Outside Online

Travel:

• Dalton Highway is the "Ultimate Road Adventure" | AK on the GO This was on our list to consider for the summer, pre-Covid, and I love the tips on how to make it happen safely.
• Travel with Carson | Colorado Parent More proof that travelling doesn't need to stop when you have a baby!

Inclusion:

• Are National Parks Really America's Best Idea? | Outside Online
• The Nature Gap | Center for American Progress
• Kai Lightner Launches Non-Profit “Climbing For Change” to Address Racial Inequality in Rock Climbing | Rock and Ice
• A Trailblazer | Latino Outdoors

General:

• Does Raising Kids Outdoors Prepare Them for the Real World? | Backpacker
• Missing Your Community During Covid | Run Wild My Child
• Want Your Kids to Feel Safe? Let Them Build Forts | Outside Online

On a final note, I want to link to this article:

• From outdoors to Oprah: Rue Mapp’s mission to open nature to everyone | The Mercury News 

I was specifically impressed by Rue Mapp's quote: "I love birds and wildlife. I love identifying them. But if I were to say we’re going birding today, I don’t know if anybody would show up unless you already were a birder. But if I say let’s go to Lake Merritt for a stroll and a potluck, people are going to show up. And guess what? I’m going to still bring out my binoculars, my spotting scope and my bird ID book." 

Names and words have significant power, and we need to be careful with the words we use. They can be used deliberately or inadvertently to exclude people. They can be used to draw people in - like when we tell our kids we're going exploring when we actually mean we're going hiking. 

Names specifically have power when settlers come to a country and give new names to the mountains, rivers, plants, and animals even though most of the natural world already had names given to them by the indigenous people. There is also power when climbing routes are named with offensive or sexist names that we wouldn't feel comfortable talking to our children about.

Let's all think about the words and names we use to go play in the outdoors, both to make everyone feel welcome but also to respect the long history of the land everywhere we go.