Welcome to Up (But Not Over) The Hill!
Sometime around 1996, while checking around our houses for dirty laundry to pick up, we both made the startling discovery that our nests had emptied out. To the best of our ability we had "done" motherhood! Now we needed new challenges. True, those nests did still contain our husbands, but their lives had not changed the way ours had, and did not need the remediation that we thought ours did. We floated the idea of the two of us taking a hiking/climbing trip without them, and not only did they voice no objections, but they promptly offered to drive us to any airport, at any time of the day or night. They were probably relieved at having been let off the hook so lightly. But having got that far, backing out was no longer an option for us. We felt committed, and began to wrestle with the many new terms and concepts that faced two inexperienced hikers.
This website is an unintended consequence of that spur-of-the-moment decision. Hiking became an annual ritual for us, and within a few years we had invested far too much in time, sweat and dollars to let it all amount to self-indulgence. Luckily one of us has always kept a journal; hence these reminiscences. We hope some of them will inspire others to undertake journeys they never thought they could do.
We are now both closer to 80 than to 70, but there is still room for additions to the list of Our Trips (to the right on this page). We intend to keeping adding to that list.
Click here to find out more About Us and look at At a Glance where you will find brief descriptions of all the trips we have taken so far.
5 Comments
Reader Comments (5)
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Hi Susie,
I am so enjoying "Up the Hill"---hilarious---informative--beautifully written.
Ellie and Susie - your website is just as awesome, fun, and inspiring as you are!
Ellie and Suszy,
Thinking of you as you are basking in the beauty of the Dolomites. Any blisters yet? Send us updates as much as you can! With you in spirits all the way upthehill.
Ellie and Susie:
Am enjoying your site as I am in the same position as you when you decided to
hike the TMB. I hope to do it in 2015.
Would like to ask which company you travelled with on the TMB. I want a guided
trip for the security of someone who knows the Alps.
Looking forward to hearing from you. Keep hiking!