About me
Why I Climb
A city girl’s notes from the mountains
Since I was four years old, I’ve always loved hiking and mountaineering.
I’m a city girl chasing ‘out of the world’ mountain views. I write about the challenges, discoveries, and unexpected moments that make every mountain different — and why I keep going back for more.
Most of my climbs have been with my dad, and some with both my parents. Between us we’ve summited peaks, hiked volcanoes, scrambled up rock faces, trekked pilgrimage trails and traversed high-altitude passes on six continents.
- Climbs
- 43
- Continents
- 6
- Personal best (altitude)
- 15,550ft
Milestones
How I got here
- 2014First hikeLake Bled viewpoint in the Julian Alps, Slovenia.
- 2016First big hikeLaguna de los Tres in Patagonia: over 20 km to the lagoon beneath Mount Fitz Roy.
- 2016Hiked the iconic Pulpit RockSoaked to the bone in wet Stavanger, Norway.
- 2017First glacier walkFirst time with crampons in Iceland.
- 2019First summitClimbed Slaettaratindur, the highest mountain peak in the Faroe Islands.
- 2020Biggest single-day ascentAlmost 4,000 feet of elevation gain in the Granite State, hiking Franconia Ridge.
- 2020First time leading the wayA new kind of climb: a steep, exposed scrambling route with iron rungs and ladders on the Beehive Trail, Acadia.
- 2021First time scrambling boulder fieldsA rocky surprise on the way to Delta Lake.
- 2022First time hiking a volcanoTrekking across ancient lava fields in Lanzarote.
- 2023First FourteenerQuandary Peak in Colorado, my first summit above 14,000 feet.
- 2023Summitted Japan’s highest mountainLongest descent, a killer for the knees. Also my first multi-day expedition and first time making a summit push after midnight in pitch darkness.
- 2024Avalanche rescue certificationIce-climbing and avalanche rescue clinic (Mount Shasta), A3 certified.
- 2024First stream fordingSurprised by icy cold glacial waters on the way to Ganda La Pass in Ladakh.
- 2024Longest day hikeA 4 am start to hiking the 21 km Tongariro Alpine Crossing in New Zealand, on Christmas Eve.
- 2025Reached personal best of 15,550 feet5-day, 37-mile trek at high altitude in the Annapurna Circuit, Himalayas.
What the mountains have taught me
Three lessons from the trail
- 01The summit isn’t the only goal.On Ganda La I turned back short of my 15,000-foot goal, and still came home with a personal best.From my Ganda La story
- 02Fear is part of the climb.Heights still make me nervous. On Slaettaratindur, determination got me to the top anyway.From my Slaettaratindur story
- 03The hardest part isn’t always the climb up.Mount Fuji taught me that a descent can be just as demanding as the way up.From my Mount Fuji story
