Category Archives: Outdoor Adventures

In the outdoor adventure section of the Sierra SocialHub we share real life experiences about enjoying the great outdoors. You’ll gain first hand experience from real outdoor adventures and expeditions such as day hikes, backpacking trips, cycling races, rock climbing mountain biking, skiing, snowboarding and even family adventures for children. Be ready to be inspired to get outside and enjoy nature with kids or on your own.

Kids Nature Activity: Nature Bingo

by Andy Hawbaker.
Kid nature activities

Are you looking for a fun kids nature activity? Have you tried Nature Bingo? It’s a fun and easy outdoor adventure that is suitable for preschoolers through elementary aged children. This fun nature activity will have your kids busy searching for items in the outdoors and will sure to make your time in the outdoors more fun. It’s like a nature scavenger hunt but when you find something you simply draw a picture of it and leave it behind for others to enjoy. This is a really easy kids nature activity that is fun for kids to do while on [...]

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Bike to Work: Overcome These Top 5 Excuses

by Andy Hawbaker.
Bike to Work

May is National Bike Month and Bike to Work Week is May 13-17. Now is a great time to start using your bike to commute to work. You can get some exercise and save money on gas. It’s easy to come up with excuses why you can’t ride your bike to work. Keep reading to overcome your bike commuting concerns. Top 5 Excuses to Not Bike to Work 1. I’m not in good enough shape – Start slow. If you ride at an easy pace just one day a week you’ll slowly get in better shape. In a few months, [...]

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Best Hikes for Kids in Arches National Park

by Andy Hawbaker.
Arches

I remember long road trips in the van with my family. My mom and dad would load us up and head out west on the stereotypical family vacation. Now I’m taking my kids on family adventures but I’m careful to make sure the trip is fun for everyone involved. If Arches National Park is on your radar, be sure to check out the best hikes for kids in Arches National Park, listed below. Moab, UT is an amazing area to explore by bicycle, kayak, Jeep or ATV but it’s also a great place to visit with the whole family. I’ve [...]

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Outdoorsy Moms: Why it’s Important

by Andy Hawbaker.
Kids thumb

With Mother’s Day coming up this weekend, we decided to feature some outdoorsy moms in a recent post. We know that all mothers love their children and try to raise their kids in the best way they know how, but I wanted to take a moment and talk about those moms who go out of their way to make sure their children learn to truly enjoy time outside. When I’m asked why I love the outdoors so much, I always go back to the hikes, bike rides and family camping trips that I took as a child. Most of my [...]

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Mother’s Day Gift Ideas, Sale and Giveaway!

by Andy Hawbaker.
Mothers day

This Sunday May 12, 2013 is Mother’s Day. It’s a great reminder to take a moment and thank our mother’s, grandmother’s and the mother’s of our children. From birth on, these fabulous women do so much for their families. Keep reading because we’ve got great Mother’s Day gift ideas from 4 different outdoor mom bloggers, a big discount on Sierra Trading Post and even a Mother’s Day Giveaway. My wife made a rule a few years ago that when she gets flowers for Mother’s Day it actually means that I’m inviting her to go on a shopping spree. Apparently, flowers [...]

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Without Boxes

by Andy Hawbaker.
Without Boxes

*Guest post from Gina Bégin* It begins with your first summer job. Maybe you took it to save up for a big-ticket item your parents wouldn’t purchase, or perhaps it was under their direction that you found yourself coerced into seasonal labor. Either way, you entered the workforce and gave up the freedom of summer’s play in the name of responsibility and the almighty dollar. This is how it all begins. You become accustomed to increasingly shorter stints of play as you move through school — recess disappears as homework grows more time-intensive. That summer job somehow creeps into a [...]

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Let’s Turn Off Those Screens and Head Outside-25 Ideas to Make Screen-Free Week Fun!

by Andy Hawbaker.
Screen-free week

*This is a guest post from Debbie Steinberg Kuntz, founder and editor of OdysseyOutdoors.net* Every year the CCFC (Campaign for a Commerical-Free Childhood) organizes Screen-Free Week to help families reconnect with the feeling of life without plugged-in entertainment. If your family needs a digital detox, unplug those screens and get outside!  Here are 25 ways to reconnect with outdoor play during your screen-free week. When the week is over, think carefully about how you want to restructure your family screen time.  See our screen time rules for guidance and leave plenty of time for outside fun! 25 ideas for kid [...]

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Day Hiking: Crosier Mountain

by Andy Hawbaker.
Day hiking

We experienced some wonderful spring weather this weekend and all I could think about was getting in as much day hiking as possible. I have a big backpacking trip coming up this summer and what seemed like a long 6 months away is suddenly just 2 1/2 months. I definitely need to get in better shape if I’m going to complete over 200 miles of backpacking on the John Muir Trail. With that in mind, I squeezed in a 6 mile hike on Saturday and over 8 miles of day hiking on Sunday. Saturday I hiked with members of my [...]

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National Parks Week: 7 National Parks You Should Visit

by Andy Hawbaker.
Park Thumb

It is National Parks Week, that time each year when we celebrate the beautiful areas that have been preserved through our national park system. To celebrate, all national parks are free of admission Monday through Friday April 22nd – 26. Did you know that our national park system has preserved over 84 million acres of national treasures. These parks include 17,000 miles of hiking trails, 43,000 miles of shoreline and 12,000 campsites. Below are 7 national parks we think you should be sure to visit. How many of these parks have you visited already?  7 National Park Facts You Didn’t [...]

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GNU Project: Studying the Wildebeest

by Andy Hawbaker.
Elephants in Africa

Colorado State University graduate student, Jared Stabach, has returned to Kenya to complete his field research on white-bearded wildebeest (Connochaetes taurinus). The project, funded by the National Science Foundation and supported by Sierra Trading Post, aims to understand how landscape factors, such as human land-use, are affecting the movements and ultimately, the population dynamics of wildebeest over time. Throughout each of the study areas where research is focused (Amboseli National Park, Maasai Mara National Reserve, and Nairobi National Park), widespread and precipitous population declines have occurred over the past 40 years. The goal of the current field season (January – [...]

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