I have been playing in the outdoors in some form since I was allowed outside of the house, from hiking in the woods behind my childhood home, to building tree-houses, to riding my bike.
Growing up on 4 acres of wooded property that butted up to another untold amount of acreage to explore had me interested in backpacking from an early age. Also having readily accessible entry to major bodies of water put me in a canoe at a very early age as well.
Once I got into college I discovered rock climbing and ice climbing. Having never realized that there was this kind of terrain in Michigan I was stunned.
After College I had the good fortune to have a friend that needed a roommate for a place in Colorado Springs, having never been west of Kansas I had no idea what the Rocky Mountains had in store for me.
With that in mind I packed my life into my Jeep Cherokee and made the trek out to the front range, at the foot of Pikes Peak.
Since then I have backpacked all over Pikes Peak and the surrounding wilderness, skied on her faces in the spring, climbed in the foothills and biked off the summit.
The distances I’ll go have gotten longer and the environment has changed significantly elevation wise, but I will never stop reaching for new goals, be it personal or professional.