Boston Globe article on Mt Washington hiking

[Kevin Rooney]

Well, ya can't hype up your story--numb, shivering, soaked, frightened looks, anxious kids, blow 'em down winds, blah, blah, blah--and not expect criticism and concern about the kids. C'mon. The world doesn't work that way. Thankfully. It doesn't really cut it to backpedal later on and say aw shucks, the kids were fine, it really wasn't so bad, the editor who cut the story is to blame. Accept responsibility. Thank concerned readers for their concern about your kids, all kids. Learn something about writing; move on.

This is a good summation - thanks, Waumbek.

Accept responsibility. Instead, the writer has attacked me because I now live in CA (although hike in NH regularly). How far away can you live from Mt Washington and still be considered 'credible'? Concord? Albany? Philadelphia? He even attacked my dog, Brutus!

Give me a break. He messed up. Admit it, suck it up, and as Waumbek says, move on. Many of us have. Life doesn't end.

And while I'm on it, how old do we have to be before we have enough "psychological distance" from our fathers so we can say "Remember that time we _______ (fill in the blank)? Holy Cow, Dad, what were you thinking?!" and still love, respect and honor him as much as ever? 40 years old? 60? 80? Never?

Edit: And just because you make it off a mountain in one piece doesn't mean you did everything right. In some cases you say "Thank you, Mountain Gods and Goddesses - you cut this fool some slack".

 

[dvbl]

...BTW, I believe most kids are tougher than many adults. They just see the fun part of it and they don't feel the discomforts that usually hold up the adult's motivation.

True to some degree. But keep in mind that many of those "discomforts" (rain, wind, cold, sore legs, hunger, etc.) are Mother Nature's way of telling us, "Hey pal, slow down and think about this before you do anything stupid."

 

[timmus]

True to some degree. But keep in mind that many of those "discomforts" (rain, wind, cold, sore legs, hunger, etc.) are Mother Nature's way of telling us, "Hey pal, slow down and think about this before you do anything stupid."

My instincts are telling me this, not Mother Nature.

Who is she anyway, does she always wears a hat, gloves and gore-tex ? Maybe she hangs with Darwin, and laugh at us, weak and stupid humans that ruins her land !

 

[skiguy]

I agree.

Hiking with a 4 yo I would just take a decision myself and make the child follow me.

Hiking with a 8-10 yo kid I would ask him what he thinks, let him take a decision. Chances are his conclusion will be the good one.

We all make the mistake to under-estimated the children's intelligence, and this is why we end up over-protecting them. Kids are not idots, they can feel the danger too.

BTW, I believe most kids are tougher than many adults. They just see the fun part of it and they don't feel the discomforts that usually hold up the adult's motivation.

First of all I am not advocating that the Author did anything right or wrong when it came to his judgement regarding the children on his trip. What I do have difficulty with is putting an experience/intelligence meter on children regarding their age and there use of the outdoors. In other words I think it is very difficult to generalize when it comes to this part of the discussion and each child's ability can vary widely. Having led trips for a summer camp for many years with kids of various ages I can attest to this on a personal level. There are kids who have completed their NH48 by the age of 10 and younger and there are 15 year olds and older that will be lucky to have the ability to climb even one 4000 footer. IMO hiking with children is very situationally specific. One thing that I am sure of is that they too can experience the passion that we adults do about the Mountains; and as it has been mentioned it is our job as adults to properly funnel that passion.

 

[Gris]

Mother Nature...Who is she anyway?

NOW, this is getting interesting! (my thoughts exactly BTW)

But be careful Timmus, you may be burned at the stake if you proceed further down the blasphemous path. Take it from one who knows what it feels like...

 

[Roxi]

What I do have difficulty with is putting an experience/intelligence meter on children regarding their age and there use of the outdoors. In other words I think it is very difficult to generalize when it comes to this part of the discussion and each child's ability can vary widely.

Well put! In addition to raising my own child, I work in a school system and see this first hand every day. Another factor to keep in mind is that kids don't have control over the decisions that adults make, and often have to go along with what the adult has decided to do, right or wrong, whether the child wants to or not. Because of this, I disagree with the idea that being a parent automatically makes you better at deciding what's best for children. I've known parents who should have been prevented from having children, and I also know people who are childless, but with whom I would trust my child's life because they are good, compassionate people with lots of common sense. Please do not interpret my remarks as being either in favor of or against what the article's author did. Enough people here have already passed judgement on him. I don't feel a need to.

Timmus, Mother Nature is a goddess who wears whatever she wants, although she's usually draped in a wicked sense of humor; just watch how she redecorates!

And Kevin, I know that she has cut me some slack on more than one occasion, and I am eternally grateful that she gave me the opportunity to later apply the lessons she taught. She obviously smiled on this man and his children too. There must be a reason....and I doubt it was so that we could all pass judgement on him.

 

[Kevin Rooney]

Roxi -

You make some good points. One time my brother said to me "There's a difference between passing judgment and making a discernment. Sometimes it's a fine line". I've often thought about that point (and wondered how my younger brother got to be so wise).

I think we can look at something and say "In a similar situation I would have done it differently" without that being considered a judgment. Some may argue that it's a difference without a distinction.

Kevin

 

[Roxi]

I think we can look at something and say "In a similar situation I would have done it differently" without that being considered a judgment.

Absolutely! I agree completely. And how people say that has a lot to do with how it's perceived.

 

[Kevin Judy and Emma]

Washington Thunderstorm W/ Hail

Mike Pelchat of the Mount Washington State Park rescues a lot of people in the Presidentials. He just sent me this link to video he took of the thunderstorm they had yesterday. I am not trying to imply that the weather that the Globe writer dealt with was anything like this, but these are the conditions one might find themselves in when trying to summit in deteriorating weather.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1oKNMjfXEBs

KDT

 

[Grandaddy]

You can only trust a weather report so much. IMO, anytime there is a at least the slightest chance of T-Storm, you've got to keep an eye to the sky and have a plan.

I got caught in a nasty t-storm at about 5000' decending the Lion's Head Trail and was able to make it down to some large boulders to hide under. While doing so, some hikers continued along as if were a peaceful sunny day. When we suggested to a couple hikers wearing ponchos (who were apparently part of a larger group) that they might consider waiting out the storm, they told us that they were just following someone ahead who was an *experienced* hiker, that told them it was best to keep hiking.