sapblatt
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With a new baby arriving almost five months ago I can certainly appreciate how Gail did not really want to camp this year, but I felt that it was important to keep Aaron at it as he seemed to enjoy the experience quite a bit last year. So, without Mom or Zach in tow we headed north at 6:15am on Saturday for our one night White Mountain adventure.
We stopped for a non-nutritious breakfast at McDonalds in Tilton (in fact poor eating would be a major theme of the weekend. Aaron enjoyed his hot cakes almost as much as the toy Hummer! We got to the Flume parking area around 9:15am after a quick stop in Lincoln and we were loaded up and ready to hit the trail at 9:45am.
This was a mountain I have never climbed, being a bit obsessed with the 48. I am really enjoying these “other” peaks now that I am not concerned with the “list.” The Mount Pemigewassett Trail is very nicely graded and has all sorts of things little boys look for in a trail – three tunnels and 4-5 bridges! I must have said “be careful” at least 1500 times over the course of the day but I was always a bit surprised that Aaron was pretty careful around the tricky spots – it must be somewhat instinctual to not want to fall and get injured. Anyways, he did very well on the log bridges!
I would guess around halfway to the summit I began wondering if I had made a mistake – he has hiked higher and further with little issue, but Aaron seemed a bit tired to me. I was keeping an eye on him, and we took a lot of breaks but he kept at it. The Peanut M & M consumption was approaching record levels at this point. Nearer the top there was a minor blow down to contend with, no big deal, but after Aaron cleared under it he nailed his back on a broken branch that was hidden. That put him over the edge for a few minutes and I carried him a bit. Some folks on there way down told us we only had a few minutes left so I continued upwards, sometimes carrying his 36 pounds and we finally made it.
I explained to him that the ledges were quite dangerous and he had to stay with me on the rock and that when we had a spot to sit down we had to stay there! For a 3-½ year old he amazed me by actually doing what I had said. We stayed on the top for a good half an hour to rest and eat junk food. The whole time there I was pretty convinced that I would be carrying him the entire way down the mountain. We both took some pics and some very nice hikers took a few of us. Aaron told me he was a little cold so we put his fleece jacket on.
When we started down I told him that I would carry him some of the way if he needed it – but just when you think you have it all figured out you are wrong – Aaron walked or ran the entire way down in very good spirits. We soon enough got back to the bridges and the tunnels and the car. The 3.8 miles - 5 1/2 hour trip (another new slow speed record for me!) was completed and Aaron got right on the telephone to Mommy to tell her all about it!
The evening continued at the campground where we got to play in the Pemi River and throw a few thousand stones, fed the ducks and the trout and have a way too big campfire with hot dogs and toasted marshmallows. We were both pretty beat – a quick shower and we were both in our sleeping bags for the night by 8:30. Glad I brought the fleece – when we woke up at 5:30am it was 48 degrees!
This was such a wonderful trip – seeing Aaron growing and enjoying the outdoors is amazing. I thanked my wife Gail when I got home for really pushing me on the “having kids” idea – as I fought it for almost eight years (lots of baggage – but that is another epic “trip report” all its own) and freely now admit that would have been a big mistake for me as I have really enjoyed being a dad and I learn from it and grow from it every day.
YES!! THERE ARE PICTURES!!!!
We stopped for a non-nutritious breakfast at McDonalds in Tilton (in fact poor eating would be a major theme of the weekend. Aaron enjoyed his hot cakes almost as much as the toy Hummer! We got to the Flume parking area around 9:15am after a quick stop in Lincoln and we were loaded up and ready to hit the trail at 9:45am.
This was a mountain I have never climbed, being a bit obsessed with the 48. I am really enjoying these “other” peaks now that I am not concerned with the “list.” The Mount Pemigewassett Trail is very nicely graded and has all sorts of things little boys look for in a trail – three tunnels and 4-5 bridges! I must have said “be careful” at least 1500 times over the course of the day but I was always a bit surprised that Aaron was pretty careful around the tricky spots – it must be somewhat instinctual to not want to fall and get injured. Anyways, he did very well on the log bridges!
I would guess around halfway to the summit I began wondering if I had made a mistake – he has hiked higher and further with little issue, but Aaron seemed a bit tired to me. I was keeping an eye on him, and we took a lot of breaks but he kept at it. The Peanut M & M consumption was approaching record levels at this point. Nearer the top there was a minor blow down to contend with, no big deal, but after Aaron cleared under it he nailed his back on a broken branch that was hidden. That put him over the edge for a few minutes and I carried him a bit. Some folks on there way down told us we only had a few minutes left so I continued upwards, sometimes carrying his 36 pounds and we finally made it.
I explained to him that the ledges were quite dangerous and he had to stay with me on the rock and that when we had a spot to sit down we had to stay there! For a 3-½ year old he amazed me by actually doing what I had said. We stayed on the top for a good half an hour to rest and eat junk food. The whole time there I was pretty convinced that I would be carrying him the entire way down the mountain. We both took some pics and some very nice hikers took a few of us. Aaron told me he was a little cold so we put his fleece jacket on.
When we started down I told him that I would carry him some of the way if he needed it – but just when you think you have it all figured out you are wrong – Aaron walked or ran the entire way down in very good spirits. We soon enough got back to the bridges and the tunnels and the car. The 3.8 miles - 5 1/2 hour trip (another new slow speed record for me!) was completed and Aaron got right on the telephone to Mommy to tell her all about it!
The evening continued at the campground where we got to play in the Pemi River and throw a few thousand stones, fed the ducks and the trout and have a way too big campfire with hot dogs and toasted marshmallows. We were both pretty beat – a quick shower and we were both in our sleeping bags for the night by 8:30. Glad I brought the fleece – when we woke up at 5:30am it was 48 degrees!
This was such a wonderful trip – seeing Aaron growing and enjoying the outdoors is amazing. I thanked my wife Gail when I got home for really pushing me on the “having kids” idea – as I fought it for almost eight years (lots of baggage – but that is another epic “trip report” all its own) and freely now admit that would have been a big mistake for me as I have really enjoyed being a dad and I learn from it and grow from it every day.
YES!! THERE ARE PICTURES!!!!
![Yellowstone National Park [Map Pack Bundle] (National Geographic Trails Illustrated Map)](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51kGuJ72qjL._SL500_.jpg)
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