climb, hike, backpack with kids; partner(s) wanted

[wolffie]

I'm looking for other (ex)climbers who like to do fairly ambitious stuff with their kids. My daughter is 12 and sometimes has more fun with a playmate(s) along. We've been climbing easy peaks -- the kind that have trails to former fire lookouts -- since she was 4, she's used to alpine starts and hiking out by headlamp, got to 6700' on Daniel last June in a 14 mi. roundtrip day that included a bit of roped snow travel. Haven't done any rock outside of a couple trips to the gymn, but she seemed to like that. Mostly long alpine hikes and overnights. I THINK she likes summits, but face it, a lake with friends can be a bigger draw -- catching frogs and making mudpies are high on the list. She loves nordic skiing and gymnastics and seems comfortable with kids outside her age range. We love the Olympic beaches in the offseason and can even talk Mom into going there.

When I cannot talk, coax, wheedle, cajole or bully the twerp into going with me, Plan B is usually a long solo to some weenie Mountie peak, and if I had a partner with a vehicle, I wouldn't have to stick the mom without a car for the weekend (my pals mostly fled Seattle when the rush hit 12 years ago).

We're in north Seattle. Contact me at:wolffie@u.washington.eduJohn Wolff