Feature
Tanya and John Sorem pose for a photo during one of their many hikes together. Contributed photo
No one has to tell this Nevada mom to ‘take a hike!’ By Marlys Barker Contributing Writer
14 | FACETS | APRIL 2020
T
anya Sorem has made hiking her top hobby in life. “I have always enjoyed the outdoors,” said Sorem, 37, who was born and raised in Elk River, Minn., about 30 minutes northwest of the Twin Cities. “I grew up tent camping with my family on our summer vacations.” Sorem, who ended up in Nevada after marrying hometown native, John Sorem, graduated from college with a degree in recreation and leisure with an emphasis on outdoor recreation. In college, her love of hiking was shown as she planned a “thru-hike” of the 2,200-mile Appalachian Trail. “I’ve always enjoyed the outdoors,” Sorem said. Her first job out of college was as a naturalist at an environmental learning center in southeast Minnesota. Now working as part of the Sorem family business in Nevada, she said it wasn’t until her second daughter was born that she emphasized her desire to hike. In 2017, when her youngest daughter was 1-and-a-half, “our family began our first 52 Hike Challenge,” she said. This challenge means the family attempts to hike at least one mile on a trail 52 times in 52 weeks. “We completed the (2017) challenge with one week to spare and immediately began our second challenge.” The family wasn’t as successful in 2018, but she said, but they were able to wrap up their 2019 challenge not long ago
and have now started their 2020 challenge. “By starting a new challenge each year, it motivates us to make this a priority,” she said. Proudly, she shares, “since January 2017, we have hiked together as a family a total of 124 times and (have hiked) over 300 miles and in 16 different states.” One thing that Sorem and her family have embraced with their challenges is the idea of hiking in all seasons. “We log just as many hikes November through March as we do April through October,” she said. “Winter is one of my favorite times to hike. There are no mosquitos or ticks. I don’t have to worry about getting into wild parsnip or poison ivy. There isn’t much foliage, which makes it easier to see the landscape or animals in the woods. And, after a fresh snowfall, it is easier to see all the different animal tracks in the snow.” The 52 Hike Challenge does require a lot of planning, Sorem said. And, it has forced the family to search out the trails in and around Story County. “I discovered so many new trails and was amazed at how many miles of trails are really out there for us to use.” Her family loves Robison Wildlife Acres, just south of Nevada, and McFarland Park near Ames, which has quite a few miles of trails that “lead through the woods and up and down the hills along the creek and also along the South Skunk River.”
