Being outdoors means different things to different people.

For some it's a break from the everyday routine.

For others, it's an escape.

The father and daughter you're about to meet spend time on the trails to share stories and strengthen family bonds.

Stick around.

You're going to meet them and we'll take a little hike together.

♪ Welcome to windows to the wild.

I'm Willem Lange.

Gregory Rec and his daughter, Corinna hike together.

They've been doing this for over a decade now.

Recently, Greg wrote an article in the Portland Press Herald.

He's a photojournalist there about their annual hikes.

We read in and thought, we got to meet these people.

And so we're going to do now.

Corinna.

Greg, pleasure to meet you both.

Pleasure to meet you.

All is well, I hope.

Yeah.

And you're going to hike today.

Yes.

Tell me how this little madness got started.

The background for me is, I was covering a memorial service for the newspaper of a pretty famous philanthropist in Portland.

Albert Lachman and his, children got up to talk about their dad.

And each one of them in turn, mentioned these one on one trips.

They used to they did with his dad.

And some of them were fancy trips to New York and whatnot.

But all of them, like their distinct memory, was having that one on one time with their dad.

And I was, in the beginning stages of a divorce at that time.

And I said, I need to do this for my kids.

So that's really where the idea for the hiking came.

And Corinna loves the mountains as much as I do.

So, we've just kept on doing it.

I feel so discombobulated.

I've never been.

Well, this is the roughest start we’ve ever had.

Are you kidding me?

Greg and Corinna have an ambitious hike ahead of them.

From where we are at the trailhead.

They'll take the Basin Cascade Trail to the Cascade Brook trail.

From there, they'll make their way to Lonesome Lake.

Beyond that is the Fish and Jimmy Trail.

You got the Fish and Jimmy Trail today?

I think we're going to go up Fish and Jimmy, I think it's better than going down.

Okay.

That is some trail, I'll tell you.

Yeah, I we've heard it's rough and ready.

So you never did it but your dad did it?

I don't think either of us have ever done it.

No.

And you may never do it again.

Better to do it now than another day.

Absolutely.

Yeah.

It'll be a little wet the water comes across, but that's great.

Then you go up to kinsman.

And that's both kinsman.

Yeah.

Well onto the north.

And then go down the south and head back and go along.

Is it Kinsman Ridge Trail?

Yep.

Yeah.

And go to the hut again and spent the night in the hut.

Yeah.

And then do Cannon the next day do another steep trail.

It is steep yeah.

And then that next night at Greenleaf or something?

No next night we go home.

On Monday I have a class, so we have to get back.

I spent many days hiking on the trails that await Greg and Corinna, but not today.

If they want to complete what they have planned and make it back to the Lonesome Lake hut for dinner, they won’t want me to slow them down.

Well, look, you got a hike ahead of you.

You should go.

All right.

Peace be with you, my friends.

Thank you.

It's lovely to meet you.

Good to meet you, ma'am.

Be careful.

Thank you very much.

Will do.

Keep an eye on the old guy.

That's the name of it.

Oh, yeah.

Greg lives in Maine, where he works as a photojournalist.

What lens is that?

Yeah, like a 28 to 60.

You're curious.

Oh, that's a good that's a good show of his personality.

That.

Oh, yeah.

That's exactly what kind of question he would ask.

Corinna is a university student.

We're not destination hikers.

Like, we don't really care about time, speed.

We always love to take the side trail and the over looks and beautiful cascades like this.

Greg began to hike in the White Mountains as a youngster.

He knows his way around.

My outdoor history is I first came to the White Mountains at age 14, and hiked up Liberty spring trail to Mount Liberty in the rain and wind, and I, despite the weather, fell in love with it.

So that was the start and I, from there hiked a lot in whites and some in Maine.

So I, I've just been doing it for years and, and, after I had children, it just was a natural thing.

We did a lot of day hikes early on.

Those day hikes eventually became day long hikes.

Corinna was nine years old when she and her dad took the next step to bigger mountains and longer trails.

When I first started hiking.

Hated it.

Going up little haystack.

Worst feeling in the world.

So the for the first, like two hours of the hike, I was sure I was never going to do it again.

And then we got above tree line and that was it.

And I had that fall in love with the mountains moment.

And not just during the hike.

Obviously we do our hikes every year, which is amazing.

And that's pretty much my hiking history.

I'm just getting into soloing now.

It's been ten years since Greg and Corinna set the wheels in motion.

Now, every year they put their busy lives on hold.

And escape to places like this.

I've always enjoyed being outdoors.

It really does something for me and my soul brings me peace.

And it's.

I have that same, reaction above treeline.

I just get mesmerized up in the mountains above treeline.

That's crazy.

The fact that she has come to enjoy it as much as I have is just, a treat to me as a dad.

Because, you know, as your kids get older, they they get busier.

They're in college, and.

And you don't spend as much time with them.

Wow this is gorgeous.

It is.

So for us to be able to spend this time together, like quality time in the mountains where we are talking about everything under the sun and, you know, like through the years, no topic has been off the table.

We talked about some pretty heavy stuff at times and, but it's all fair game.

Like in the mountains.

Everything's good.

No judgment zone.

Yeah, I think that we've, like some stuff we worked through only could have been done up here.

And, I feel really, really grateful to have this opportunity to hike with you because we make time for it every year.

And obviously, being in nature, like.

I'm sorry, but, where else are you going to get a view like that and be able to just, like, sink yourself into it and enjoy it?

Time spent on the trail can be therapeutic.

Nature's effect on well-being is a real thing.

Studies revealed that when surrounded by this moods improve, stress is released, and people feel better.

And that's super cool.

I love that and obviously getting to talk with my dad.

For this father and daughter team, it offers an opportunity to talk.

Lately it's been a lot of reminiscing, like going back on old memories.

Yes, we do have to cross.

And there have been some moments where, like, we're starting up a trail and I know I have something I want to talk about, and I can feel my heart pounding and I'm like, oh gosh, is this going to be an okay topic?

What's the reaction going to be?

And, you've always been like, okay, let's talk about that more.

Let's go into that more.

Yeah.

And then grab onto 2 edges and then pull yourself up.

Yeah.

I have like you said, I gained a lot of perspective on like, my, mom and his divorce.

Well, a lot actually.

One of the things that I think you learned a lot about was what my life was like as a teenager.

Oh, yeah, a lot of, like, lessons about, ex-girlfriends, ex-girlfriends and family.

Yeah.

And family.

Yeah.

I was the last of four boys.

And, Yeah, you're able to talk candidly about all that stuff.

Yeah, because of various things.

I, I, I had a number of years when I was younger where I was essentially raising myself, through some difficult circumstances in my family.

And that and so she got, you know, sharing those stories with her gives her insight into, you know, part of that is, is why I am who I am.

But it also, you know, there are times that we've said this multiple times, like you say, dad, how did you become so normal?

Or why are you so normal with the background and you have.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I guess something like with, with parents not treating kids like people, sometimes kids forget that parents are people.

And like, he's my dad, but then he's also Gregory, like, passionate about photography and hiking.

And he's been through all these things and has crazy stories from travel abroad in Mexico.

And like getting to know him as a person and as my dad has been really cool.

How cool is that?

Really cool.

That caves interesting in there.

Be cool if we were small enough to explore.

It.

I was a really, really anxious teenager talking about, like, getting bullied.

And I won't go into the details on this one, but, like, like the deep insecurities in family and like, family issues as well.

Lots of stuff like that.

Right.

And there were times where, you know, where we would talk about the divorce and just kind of work things through, like, I think you gain perspective of sort of what my perspective of it was.

And I gained a lot of perspective from you.

I don't think we would have gone as deep as we have on some subjects and topics as we do in the mountains.

♪ I don't think we would have shared half of what we've talked about without being up here.

Because it started as a process.

It was, oh, sorry.

I am horrified by bugs.

Thanks, dad.

It took a long time to get to the point where, like, the really fast heart beating I keep.

I'm sorry, I keep messing with that, but, the really fast heart beating would not happen anymore, and I could just talk about it instead of feeling really nervous about it first.

That took like five years and then two more years to be at this place where we're, like chatting easily about it and all of that.

But yeah, and that.

So it took a lot of time just on its own.

So without the mountains.

Yeah, absolutely.

Hey, gentlemen.

Through hikers?

Yes sir.

Go get it.

Awesome.

Getting close.

Yeah.

Y'all have a great day.

You too.

What I found a lot of through hikers don't realize when we see him over in, like, the presidential range and stuff.

Is that, like, this is, hands down the hardest part of the whole way through New Hampshire and through parts of Maine.

And that's, when I see him on this side of the White Mountains, I'm like, I don't even want to tell him that.

It's a it's about to get.

Yeah, it's about to get difficult.

But they're troopers.

I don't know that I could do it.

I think if she ever hikes the AT I will definitely join her for sections.

Parts of it for sure.

♪ If the Appalachian Trail doesn't fit into their schedule, Corinna has a backup plan.

We were just talking on a day hike how Like, I think around maybe the eighth year we were doing this when I started to get, like, 17, 18.

I was like, oh, I, I had the thought and the plan to take these international at some point, take a hike.

The Alps, the Andes, any of those.

That's that's still the plan.

Bring us, bring us overseas at some point.

Yes.

She wants, she wants, me to hike Camino Saguaros.

No, El Camino de Santiago.

Yeah.

Oh, yeah.

I'm thinking Camino Saguaros.

Yeah, yeah, we have to go out west, obviously.

Yeah.

Colorado.

Yeah.

Well.

And that's you know, so we, in 2016?

18?

When did we go out west?

Oh, I do not.

Anyways, some years ago we, the whole family, we flew in the Vegas, rented an RV and did a trip through the southwest hitting national parks.

And we went to Zion and was we had to hike Angel's Landing, which is a pretty harry trail.

And the boys got up and they looked out at the trail that goes across these narrow rocks and they're like, nah, we're good.

And Corinna’s like, let's do it.

It was, I think, one of my favorite trails ever.

It was so much fun.

Yeah.

It was it was crazy crowded though.

Yeah.

But yeah, that was, that was that was amazing.

So.

Yeah.

Yeah.

You name the place, I'll be there.

Yeah, yeah.

How about cities across the world?

You're a worldly traveler.

You've been to Italy, France, Spain, Japan.

You should have these down.

At some points in our hikes, we will.

Usually, when things get a little arduous, we'll do an alphabet game.

Where we both have to think of something that starts with the letter A, the letter B, and the subject matter changes.

Sometimes it's names.

We do movies.

Movies.

Yeah.

So we're trying to develop a new topic for this hike.

I always like movies.

Okay, well, we can start with movies.

I think that companionship with my dad, in specific is like.

It's like having having a sanctuary from everything else.

He's a person I know I can always trust.

Person who I can always come to a like, come to for with a problem.

And a person who I know will always be there for me through everything that I go through.

And these hikes have built that relationship and that foundation of trust and everything, giving us an opportunity to talk about all that.

I should have gone first.

You making me teary.

Oh, no.

Dad.

Well, it's very.

All right.

I love you.

I'm really glad that we get to do this and, like, because I don't think that we would have had the opportunity to become as close as we have if we hadn't have had these trips.

Because we have I have three brothers, and we all require a lot of attention and energy.

Everyone is incredibly different, and obviously you and Jamie need to work and all the adult things that adults have to do.

But yeah, yeah.

How does that make you feel?

No it does.

It tears me up.

I mean, I don't know that I started these hikes with that in mind.

It was a pretty simple idea of just, just, you know, spending time in nature with my daughter.

But she's right.

It really has evolved like these trips have become a defining point of our relationship.

We have we are very open with each other.

We do feel a lot because of these hikes we can talk about anything.

You know, they're like those topics that are usually off the table between parents and kids, especially as you get older.

And you, our teenagers are headed into college.

Puberty and all.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Like there's.

Yeah, there's been nothing off the table.

And and so we just have this open line of talking and we know we can bring up everything and I think equally as important when we're out here there are no distractions.

So we are listening.

I feel like listening is something that gets lost in society these days because there are so many distractions.

There are phones you're looking at more often than we need to.

And so out here, not only are we talking, but we're both listening.

Several years ago Corinna wrote an essay.

It became part of her college admissions application.

Yeah.

So I broken up into parts, and it was like how these hikes have impacted my life in different sections.

The one I think I wrote the most about was how interacting with people on the trail had instilled a certain kind of kindness in me.

And like, I don't know, everyone here is so friendly and it's, it's it's really a community.

When you're hiking, everyone says, hello, good morning.

And some people don't.

I'm painting with broad strokes here, but, yeah.

And then there was another part of the essay that's a little embarrassing to talk about, but it was about perseverance and learning perseverance in the mountains.

When I wrote it, I hadn't done, the gailhead hut trail yet, which has been the toughest so far.

But there is another one that we had done where it was down pouring rain.

It was really strenuous.

I felt like I was going to fall over, and I really had to use the bathroom.

And pooping in a downpour in the middle of the woods really changed my life forever, which is so silly to talk about.

But also, I don't know.

It taught me about getting over hard things and doing what you have to do.

In in sort of a hilarious way.

Yeah, yeah.

Perseverance.

Yeah, yeah.

And I mean, another part of the essay that I remember is like, how you have come away with life lessons from our time in the mountains, like being prepared.

That’s a state park pole.

So sad.

Somebody needs to come back and get their pole.

I’d come back for that pole.

And I think part of that was don't be so fixated on your goal of getting up to the mountain that you are ignoring your present.

Yeah, yeah.

Like there may be there may be something going on that's telling you, you might not.

Maybe it's not a good idea to try to get up that peak today.

Or to trust your gut.

Trust your gut.

♪ Got to start, like, charging for the photo.

Yeah, yeah.

Okay.

Okay.

Here we are with an update.

We are on Cannon Mountain.

We're trying to film this in between a lot of tourists walking by the Rim Trail who came up the tram.

Some are looking at us like we are a museum exhibit or something.

Should be behind glass.

I know we're sweating.

We smell a little bit, so maybe that's part of it.

So what's the first thing?

I think the first thing is we're not sure we like.

We don't consider ourselves hardcore hikers, but we didn't find Fish and Jimmy Trail to be all that difficult.

Yeah.

Everybody said, oh, it's hard up.

It's a hard down.

Don't come down it and flew down it.

Yeah, we kind of flew down it.

We made good time.

So we're not quite sure what that was about because we don't consider ourselves hardcore hikers.

But Fish and Jimmy was okay, and we made it to both North and South Kinsman.

And we did have a motivation for making it back down to the hut, because dinner was roast turkey, corn chowder, a boreal salad, and mashed potatoes.

So that was a motivator to get down to the hut for, on time for dinner.

Yeah.

All right.

Yeah.

That's it.

The father and daughter hikes began ten years ago.

Together, they've covered a lot of ground.

Okay.

All right, we ready?

Yes.

right behind you.

So pretty.

This hike will end today.

As they look ahead, though, neither Greg nor Corinna can see a finish line in sight.

This is my top priority of things to do.

If there's something I'm going to make room for every single year, it will be this at least a three day weekend.

Something.

It's as busy as I get.

I will always make time for this and I hope we can do it as long as your knees will hold up.

I'm right there with you.

As long as my knees can make me get me down the mountain.

I'm going to be hiking with you.

♪ Well, we've come to that part of the program that I've learned to like the least.

The time we have to say goodbye.

But we do.

We had a great time meeting Greg and Corinna and we wish them well on all their future hikes.

I'm Willem Lange and I hope to see you again on windows to the wild.

♪ Support for the production of windows to the wild is provided by the Alice J. Reen Charitable Trust, Bailey Charitable Foundation, the Fuller Foundation Road Scholar and viewers like you.

Thank you.

Make a gift to the wild and support the Willem Lange Endowment Fund, established by a friend of New Hampshire PBS, to learn how you can keep environmental, nature and outdoor programing possible for years to come.

Call our development team at (603) 868-4467.

Thank you.

When I got deep into hiking and hike with a friend named Ernie.

He had a rule that no hike was successful unless you could find the keys to your car at the end of it.

So we're going to do that right now.

♪ High five daughter.

The hike was a success.