I consider myself to be a fairly experienced hiker. My parents took us on regular hikes and camping trips in my youth in California, and then after moving to the east coast, my dad brought us kids along on many backpacking adventures in the Appalachians and other state and national park destinations. I’ve maintained my love of the outdoors as an adult and have tried to pass it on to our own kids, including family hiking outings in the Cascade Mountains in Washington State, Yellowstone, and repeats of my favorite childhood hike, Old Rag in the Blue Ridge mountains of Virginia.

Living in the heart of Europe has afforded us many new opportunities to get out and enjoy the great outdoors. Regular readers might recall an early post on my first real hike in Switzerland last year, up the Rochers de Naye. I recently discovered (along with my niece Laura who was visiting) an awesome short hike on the Le Selève – our local mountain here in Geneva – that offers one of the greatest views of the Swiss and French Alps one will find anywhere. These hikes were awesome, but I think I just topped them all with a hike in Italy’s “Cinque Terre” National Park along the Mediterranean seacoast in northern Italy. Continue reading →