Just got back from a little R&R in one of my favorite places, the Eastern Sierra Nevada (home of Mount Whitney). With two young kids, I try to keep the hikes manageable. As a parent, one hopes to instill a love of nature, but with kids it can be a fine line between loving and loathing. This is Long Lake, a two and half mile hike from a trailhead that starts at an incredible elevation of  9800 ft. (just outside of Bishop, CA). It's one of the few trailheads where one can access the high country on a dayhike. The image on the left, inspired by this range but standing in for the Canadian Rockies, was done quite some time ago for a "Butterfield & Robinson Walking Tours" calendar, designed by Frank Viva/Viva Dolan Communications & Design.