WhiteMTHike
Active member
I'll start by saying that one of the few things I'm good at in this life is planning.
This past Sunday (6/15 Father's Day) the weather in the Whites was off and on rain with a few breaks of sun. On a rainy day I like to do a waterfall hike and I think the Glen Ellis Falls is one of the best for that. After seeing the falls and spending some time there the weather started to clear. I decided to go across the street where you can pick up the Davis Path. So after pulling out my compass and trail map I started up. Along the way came a downpour and since I had my young son with me I decided to head back to the trailhead.
Now the good part...As I am almost at the trailhead I see this young well dressed couple starting to head up to the Davis Path with the woman pushing a baby carriage! I stopped and stared in amazement which prompted her to ask me if she could get a carriage up the trail I asked her if she knew anything about the Davis Path and (not to my surprise) she and her husband told me they didn't. I told her it was steep, rocky and at the time slippery due to weather conditions. As I looked in the baby carriage I saw what looked to be a baby which couldn't have been any more than a month or two old. I explained to her that her baby could get hurt and she might want to try this trail some other time. These folks also weren't dressed for hiking and had no trail map, GPS or compass. So what did they do? They park the baby carriage at the trailhead, she puts the baby over her shoulder and they start up the trail in the rain. All I could do was shake my head and hope for the best.
Have any of you ever come across a situation like this that you'd care to discuss? I hate to discourage people from hiking but common sense needs to prevail. I think people should do some planning before hiking. With trail maps, compass and all the data available online about hiking trails I see no excuse for this lack of planning. And above all use common sense when a baby is involved.
This past Sunday (6/15 Father's Day) the weather in the Whites was off and on rain with a few breaks of sun. On a rainy day I like to do a waterfall hike and I think the Glen Ellis Falls is one of the best for that. After seeing the falls and spending some time there the weather started to clear. I decided to go across the street where you can pick up the Davis Path. So after pulling out my compass and trail map I started up. Along the way came a downpour and since I had my young son with me I decided to head back to the trailhead.
Now the good part...As I am almost at the trailhead I see this young well dressed couple starting to head up to the Davis Path with the woman pushing a baby carriage! I stopped and stared in amazement which prompted her to ask me if she could get a carriage up the trail I asked her if she knew anything about the Davis Path and (not to my surprise) she and her husband told me they didn't. I told her it was steep, rocky and at the time slippery due to weather conditions. As I looked in the baby carriage I saw what looked to be a baby which couldn't have been any more than a month or two old. I explained to her that her baby could get hurt and she might want to try this trail some other time. These folks also weren't dressed for hiking and had no trail map, GPS or compass. So what did they do? They park the baby carriage at the trailhead, she puts the baby over her shoulder and they start up the trail in the rain. All I could do was shake my head and hope for the best.
Have any of you ever come across a situation like this that you'd care to discuss? I hate to discourage people from hiking but common sense needs to prevail. I think people should do some planning before hiking. With trail maps, compass and all the data available online about hiking trails I see no excuse for this lack of planning. And above all use common sense when a baby is involved.
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