McRat
New member
This last Sunday, I got a great father's day present in that I got to take my oldest daughter Abby on her first "big mountain". She's eight and made the mistake of showing interest in Daddy's weird hill walking obsession. She described our walk up Mt. Wachusett, as her favorite hike EVER. Clearly she needed to get out more.
For Father's Day, the only gift I ask for is time to go hiking around. When Abby started showing interest in joining me, I scrapped yet another planned date for the Osceloas, and decided to take her up my first, Cardigan.
I had always done this from the Alexandria side, by the AMC Cardigan Lodge, and decided I'd try from Cardigan State Park in Canaan.
I dragged my buddy Dennis along as a practice hike, and we headed off on a two-fold mission: Practice hike up Cardigan, and to deliver ice-cream sandwiches on the summit.
We got out in the parking lot and were immediately greeted by a snake in the parking lot which fascinated Abby quite a bit. The parking lot was filling up and we headed up the West Ridge Trail around noon.
The previous few days of rain had muddied the trail up, but it was generally passable on rocks. The bugs were swarming quite a bit, but either they weren't biters, or the DEET was working. They DO keep you moving along nicely. We did stop breifly to stare at every 'waterfall', flower and bug along the way. It was great to see her so fascinated by the whole scene.
After a few "Is that the top?" false summits, the fire tower came in view. A quick scramble and we were at the top. After the obligatory summit shots and a snack, I checked in on the ice cream sandwiches, and they were still in great shape.
Have you ever tried offering someone an ice cream sandwich on a hot day at 3100'? I can finally say I have. The responses ranged from delighted suprise to total skepticism. brought some over to a group of German tourists, who had to quiz me before eating.
"Hi, would you care for a free ice cream sandwich?"
"Free?"
"Yup, I carried them up all the way here on dry ice just for you."
"Why??"
"Because the last time I was up here with a friend, we were discussing a sudden hankering for an ice cream sandwich, then we thought 'wouldn't it be awesome if someone walked up and gave us one right now?' Then we realized that no one was going to do that unless we did. And thus the Fool Scouts were born."
"Aren't they melted by now"
"Nope, we've been working on this idea a while - try one."
"Thank you."
Variations of this repeated until we had given away the two dozen. Including one to a young couple with a slightly nervous looking guy who had declined. They stood off on one of the northern edges hugging and just looking like a genuinely cute couple for a while. Before long a plane circled the summit three times with a banner reading "Marcie: will you marry me?"
She said 'yes'. Behold the power of a free ice cream sandwich.
We walked out the South Ridge trail over the south summit, and headed back to the car around 4:00, with Abby eager to get in four more towers to get the 'Tower Quest' patch mentioned elsewhere - and me thrilled to get another four more hikes planned with my big girl.
Pic at - http://img112.echo.cx/my.php?image=abbycardigan4os.jpg
p.s. The approach we took is much easier and quicker than from Alexandria, and is great for an introduction hike for kids or non-hikers. But I still think that the trails up from Cardigan Lodge, while somewhat more difficult, are even nicer IMHO.
For Father's Day, the only gift I ask for is time to go hiking around. When Abby started showing interest in joining me, I scrapped yet another planned date for the Osceloas, and decided to take her up my first, Cardigan.
I had always done this from the Alexandria side, by the AMC Cardigan Lodge, and decided I'd try from Cardigan State Park in Canaan.
I dragged my buddy Dennis along as a practice hike, and we headed off on a two-fold mission: Practice hike up Cardigan, and to deliver ice-cream sandwiches on the summit.
We got out in the parking lot and were immediately greeted by a snake in the parking lot which fascinated Abby quite a bit. The parking lot was filling up and we headed up the West Ridge Trail around noon.
The previous few days of rain had muddied the trail up, but it was generally passable on rocks. The bugs were swarming quite a bit, but either they weren't biters, or the DEET was working. They DO keep you moving along nicely. We did stop breifly to stare at every 'waterfall', flower and bug along the way. It was great to see her so fascinated by the whole scene.
After a few "Is that the top?" false summits, the fire tower came in view. A quick scramble and we were at the top. After the obligatory summit shots and a snack, I checked in on the ice cream sandwiches, and they were still in great shape.
Have you ever tried offering someone an ice cream sandwich on a hot day at 3100'? I can finally say I have. The responses ranged from delighted suprise to total skepticism. brought some over to a group of German tourists, who had to quiz me before eating.
"Hi, would you care for a free ice cream sandwich?"
"Free?"
"Yup, I carried them up all the way here on dry ice just for you."
"Why??"
"Because the last time I was up here with a friend, we were discussing a sudden hankering for an ice cream sandwich, then we thought 'wouldn't it be awesome if someone walked up and gave us one right now?' Then we realized that no one was going to do that unless we did. And thus the Fool Scouts were born."
"Aren't they melted by now"
"Nope, we've been working on this idea a while - try one."
"Thank you."
Variations of this repeated until we had given away the two dozen. Including one to a young couple with a slightly nervous looking guy who had declined. They stood off on one of the northern edges hugging and just looking like a genuinely cute couple for a while. Before long a plane circled the summit three times with a banner reading "Marcie: will you marry me?"
She said 'yes'. Behold the power of a free ice cream sandwich.
We walked out the South Ridge trail over the south summit, and headed back to the car around 4:00, with Abby eager to get in four more towers to get the 'Tower Quest' patch mentioned elsewhere - and me thrilled to get another four more hikes planned with my big girl.
Pic at - http://img112.echo.cx/my.php?image=abbycardigan4os.jpg
p.s. The approach we took is much easier and quicker than from Alexandria, and is great for an introduction hike for kids or non-hikers. But I still think that the trails up from Cardigan Lodge, while somewhat more difficult, are even nicer IMHO.
![Yellowstone National Park [Map Pack Bundle] (National Geographic Trails Illustrated Map)](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51kGuJ72qjL._SL500_.jpg)
![Grand Canyon, North and South Rims [Grand Canyon National Park] (National Geographic Trails Illustrated Map)](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/419Y-ycyVUL._SL500_.jpg)
![Grand Teton Day Hikes and National Park Map [Map Pack Bundle] (National Geographic Trails Illustrated Map)](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41DB0jvRnbL._SL500_.jpg)
