Recently my wife Kris and I took our 2 year old son on his first 'real' hike'. Oh sure, we had taken him on short walks through the local woods before, but this was going to be our first attempt at a longer hike. Since Kris and I were familiar with Cathedral Ledge we decided that would be where we would take him.
It was a humid but breezy saturday morning in August when we arrived at the Echo Lake parking lot. It seemed we would have the trail to ourselves at least at first as we were the only car in the lot other than the lot attendant who kindly pointed us towards the trailhead.
After gearing up, we started along the Echo Lake trail which runs along the edge of the lake. From here we already had a classic New England view of both Cathedral Ledge to our right and Whitehorse ledge to our left. Kris and I both agreed that the view rivalled that of Lake Tahoe, where we had honeymooned 6 years before, although on a somewhat smaller scale.
The beginning of the trail was flat and easy going but soon we reached the fork where we took the Bryce Path. This is where it started getting steeper. Coincidentally its also where I realized that a 2 yr old can be much heavier than he looks! But onward and upward we went.
Following the trail up we came to 2 wooden staircases and Kris and I both wondered at the fortitude it must take for the people who maintain these trails. Good job! This is also about when Jason decided to start tugging on his daddy's hair and digging his heels into daddys side....now I know how a horse feels....giddy up.
Carrying a 35 pound 2 yr old up a steep trail seemed like a good idea back on flat ground. After all...I had spent 4 years carrying much heavier packs in the Marine Corps.....however, those packs didnt spontaneously shift their weight or bounce up and down or pour juice over my head. There was a lesson to be learned here: Kool Aid soaked hair cancels the benefits provided by deep woods off.
About a half mile past the staircases the trail flattened out and the footing got easier which was a break I needed badly at that point. Soon though the trail turned up again but only for a short amount of time as we soon reached the top of Cathedral Ledge. We rested atop the fenced in scenic lookout for lunch, and took in the view. Kris and I reminisced about another classic day we had here a few years back when we had climbed the Thin Air route up the right-hand face of the ledge. If you've never climbed it do yourself a favor and hire a guide to take you up....its classic.
When it was time to gear up and head down we decided to forego the use of the access road and backtrack down the trail. Descending was a little rough on the old knees and trekking poles probably wouldve been a good idea. Normally Kris and I are both surefooted but today I was carrying precious cargo so falling was absolutely out of the question. We took it slow and easyand suffered no mishaps.
Shortly we again reached the junction of the Cathedral ledge/Whitehorse ledge and Bryce Path trails. I forget which one of us decided that we were still young and energetic enough to skip descending and instead to attempt to summit the Whitehorse Ledge. It couldnt have been me though....I usually have more sense. At any rate...we took Whitehorse Ledge trail which again sent us up....and up....and up.....how did this kid get to weigh so much!?!?
After some complaining on my part and encouraging on Kris' part we reached the top of Whitehorse Ledge. The view was worth the effort. Below us Echo Lake sparkled like a jewell in the sun and in the distance Cranmore ski resort patiently waited for the winter snows to fly. It doesnt get much better than this.
We followed the blazes on the rocks down and around the back of Whitehorse. Again the descent was arguably more tiring than the ascent and this part of the trail was obviously less used than Bryce or the Cathedral Ledge trail. In places the underbrush overgrew the trail and the blazes were a little more difficult to find. In other places though we passed giant boulders which made me wish that we had the foresight to bring our bouldering shoes with us. Next time...
Eventually we made it back to Echo Lake and as it was a gorgeous summer day we took the opportunity to wade in and wash away the sweat and dust of the trail. It turns out that the hardest part of the day was getting Jason to leave the lake....he loved it!
All in all our adventure took us 4 hours, including a 30 minute lunch break and at least 30 minutes of swimming. Not bad at all for Jason's first 'real' hike. But it wont be his last....
It was a humid but breezy saturday morning in August when we arrived at the Echo Lake parking lot. It seemed we would have the trail to ourselves at least at first as we were the only car in the lot other than the lot attendant who kindly pointed us towards the trailhead.
After gearing up, we started along the Echo Lake trail which runs along the edge of the lake. From here we already had a classic New England view of both Cathedral Ledge to our right and Whitehorse ledge to our left. Kris and I both agreed that the view rivalled that of Lake Tahoe, where we had honeymooned 6 years before, although on a somewhat smaller scale.
The beginning of the trail was flat and easy going but soon we reached the fork where we took the Bryce Path. This is where it started getting steeper. Coincidentally its also where I realized that a 2 yr old can be much heavier than he looks! But onward and upward we went.
Following the trail up we came to 2 wooden staircases and Kris and I both wondered at the fortitude it must take for the people who maintain these trails. Good job! This is also about when Jason decided to start tugging on his daddy's hair and digging his heels into daddys side....now I know how a horse feels....giddy up.
Carrying a 35 pound 2 yr old up a steep trail seemed like a good idea back on flat ground. After all...I had spent 4 years carrying much heavier packs in the Marine Corps.....however, those packs didnt spontaneously shift their weight or bounce up and down or pour juice over my head. There was a lesson to be learned here: Kool Aid soaked hair cancels the benefits provided by deep woods off.
About a half mile past the staircases the trail flattened out and the footing got easier which was a break I needed badly at that point. Soon though the trail turned up again but only for a short amount of time as we soon reached the top of Cathedral Ledge. We rested atop the fenced in scenic lookout for lunch, and took in the view. Kris and I reminisced about another classic day we had here a few years back when we had climbed the Thin Air route up the right-hand face of the ledge. If you've never climbed it do yourself a favor and hire a guide to take you up....its classic.
When it was time to gear up and head down we decided to forego the use of the access road and backtrack down the trail. Descending was a little rough on the old knees and trekking poles probably wouldve been a good idea. Normally Kris and I are both surefooted but today I was carrying precious cargo so falling was absolutely out of the question. We took it slow and easyand suffered no mishaps.
Shortly we again reached the junction of the Cathedral ledge/Whitehorse ledge and Bryce Path trails. I forget which one of us decided that we were still young and energetic enough to skip descending and instead to attempt to summit the Whitehorse Ledge. It couldnt have been me though....I usually have more sense. At any rate...we took Whitehorse Ledge trail which again sent us up....and up....and up.....how did this kid get to weigh so much!?!?
After some complaining on my part and encouraging on Kris' part we reached the top of Whitehorse Ledge. The view was worth the effort. Below us Echo Lake sparkled like a jewell in the sun and in the distance Cranmore ski resort patiently waited for the winter snows to fly. It doesnt get much better than this.
We followed the blazes on the rocks down and around the back of Whitehorse. Again the descent was arguably more tiring than the ascent and this part of the trail was obviously less used than Bryce or the Cathedral Ledge trail. In places the underbrush overgrew the trail and the blazes were a little more difficult to find. In other places though we passed giant boulders which made me wish that we had the foresight to bring our bouldering shoes with us. Next time...
Eventually we made it back to Echo Lake and as it was a gorgeous summer day we took the opportunity to wade in and wash away the sweat and dust of the trail. It turns out that the hardest part of the day was getting Jason to leave the lake....he loved it!
All in all our adventure took us 4 hours, including a 30 minute lunch break and at least 30 minutes of swimming. Not bad at all for Jason's first 'real' hike. But it wont be his last....
