I decided to go for a little hike with my girls and take them someplace a little different. They have hiked to the summit of Monadnock a bunch of times but it usally up one of the crowded trails. Today I decided it would be good for Sarah, 8 and Cassie, 6 to direct our route up to Bald Rock and then guide us down.
We got to the halfway parking lot around noon, had lunch and discussed the route. Old Halfway House trail to Hello Rock, Cliffwalk to Bald Rock. Each of them had a map and used a pen to trace the route. They were also told that at each trail intersection that they had to find it on the map before proceeding.
Going up Old Halfway House was a peice of cake. They kept on talking about other hikes up the same trail. We took a quick break at the field near the halfway house. During this break Sarah went looking for the next trail which she found in no time.
We headed up Hello Rock, they lost the trail once which in itself was a great learning experience for them. When they got to Cliffwalk they got really excited about the awesome views. It seemed that they wanted to lounge around at each one.
Counting "C" marks slowly turned into a game which even included Paige who was riding in her/dad's pack. They did manage to count 48.
We did stop at the intersection of Cliffwalk and Lost Farm trails for a bit while Sarah and Cassie argued (or was it discussed) which way to go while dad refused to give them the answer and just said "you gals have to guide the way"
They finally made up which way to go and headed up to Bald Rock. There we enjoyed a good 45minute of lounging around in the sun and eating.
The girls decided to use Noble trail, Sidefoot, toOld Toll Rd to head down after dad said Hedgehog was to steep. On the way down I could hear the little snores of Paige on my back.
We didn't hit a summit but in my eyes a very successful hike.
brianW
p.s. during the hike I did discuss what they should do if they did encounter a bear in the woods. thanks mav, never thought about that discussion topic for them.
We got to the halfway parking lot around noon, had lunch and discussed the route. Old Halfway House trail to Hello Rock, Cliffwalk to Bald Rock. Each of them had a map and used a pen to trace the route. They were also told that at each trail intersection that they had to find it on the map before proceeding.
Going up Old Halfway House was a peice of cake. They kept on talking about other hikes up the same trail. We took a quick break at the field near the halfway house. During this break Sarah went looking for the next trail which she found in no time.
We headed up Hello Rock, they lost the trail once which in itself was a great learning experience for them. When they got to Cliffwalk they got really excited about the awesome views. It seemed that they wanted to lounge around at each one.
Counting "C" marks slowly turned into a game which even included Paige who was riding in her/dad's pack. They did manage to count 48.
We did stop at the intersection of Cliffwalk and Lost Farm trails for a bit while Sarah and Cassie argued (or was it discussed) which way to go while dad refused to give them the answer and just said "you gals have to guide the way"
They finally made up which way to go and headed up to Bald Rock. There we enjoyed a good 45minute of lounging around in the sun and eating.
The girls decided to use Noble trail, Sidefoot, toOld Toll Rd to head down after dad said Hedgehog was to steep. On the way down I could hear the little snores of Paige on my back.
We didn't hit a summit but in my eyes a very successful hike.
brianW
p.s. during the hike I did discuss what they should do if they did encounter a bear in the woods. thanks mav, never thought about that discussion topic for them.
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