Showing posts with label hike. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hike. Show all posts

10.16.2012

Mt. Kearsarge

Friday of our NH vacation the weather was nice and my sister had the day off from work and we climbed Mt. Kearsarge.

When we took on our first ever mountain-with-baby in NY, I was expecting a Mt. Kearsarge-type hike.  I was sorely disappointed.  Fortunately, the hike this time was just as I remembered it and we made it up and down the mountain only singing for a few minutes.

ready to go

on the trail
 We had beautiful, foliage-filled views



And plenty of room to play at the top
our little hiking troupe on the summit

my little climber




why do I always look weird in family portraits?  what's with my leg??

moms and daughters

with Gram



9.30.2012

Not Enjoying Fall Quite So Much

Did I say we'd been enjoying fall?  Because we definitely have been.  Though yesterday I was cursing fall weather (specifically the cold rainy kind) and my ridiculous desire to see fall foliage.

Last year I was super pregnant with MiniM.E. when we decided to go foliage hunting.  Remember this post?  This year I was determined to see some foliage.  After checking the weather (partly to mostly cloudly, high 58) we decided to drive up to Hadley Mountain for a hike.  We'd heard from a friend that the hike was fairly easy and the view was supposed to be fantastic- miles and miles, all the way to Vermont.  I figured from up there, we'd be able to see all sorts of beautiful trees.  And we'd been wanted to take MiniM.E. for a hike in the frame pack since we bought it at the Katrina Trask Consignment Sale in the spring.

When we left it was raining.  Probably the first sign that we should have just driven the car back in the garage and sat in the living room playing Toddler Tunes all day.

When we got to the trailhead parking lot, it was still raining.  Probably the second sign that we should have just called it a nice Saturday drive and turned around.

BUT the parking lot was full.  We even had to park on the street dirt road.  Might as well give it a go, we thought.

So we packed up MiniM.E. with her nylon jacket in the frame pack
and started out.

The hike did not go as expected for a few reasons...

-We have not been hiking in years.  Especially with a 20lb. kid strapped to either of us.
-We did not wear hiking boots.  I actually have some, but have never worn them hiking and was afraid of blisters.  Looking back, the blisters might have been better than rolling my ankles 17 times.
-It was not an easy hike.  Especially the parts where we had to scale 45 degree rock inclines made slippery by the never-ending drizzle.
-MiniM.E. didn't seem to enjoy it.  Was it being in the frame pack and jostled around? The cold? The damp? The constant drips from the trees?  ... Probably all of the above.

Let me say, a year ago if you had told me I would be singing "Wheels on the Bus" for an hour while hiking up a mountain in the rain with a baby strapped to my husband's back I would have laughed hysterically at the mental image that conjured.  Laugh no more... that's totally what happened.

When we arrived at the top, we were greeted with views reminiscent of our trip up Mt. Pilatus in Luzern, Switzerland.  The views were amazing non-existent.  We could see for hundreds of miles tens of feet.


We did get to see one of the few fire towers left in the Adirondacks.

That's as far as I let them climb.  Can't trust a fire tower...
By the time we reached the top (almost two hours later) MiniM.E. was not a happy camper.

Why would you keep going? You ask?  Well... I blame the 4 or 5 "Almost there!"s we received when we were still only half-way.

At least we can say MiniM.E. made it to the top of her first mountain?

We had hoped for a large flat area where she could walk around a little (holding our hands, of course- can't have a baby careening off the top of a mountain...) and where we could eat some snacks.  BUT the top was less than hospitable.

We found the cabin where the firemen who manned the fire towers must have stayed.  It was boarded up but at least there was a porch with a few feet of dry spot.

We had some snacks and MiniM.E. walked around a bit.




But when we didn't let her crawl around on the wet rocks and in the spider-infested swampy grasses, she wasn't happy.

To be honest, I felt pretty much the same way.  We were tired and cold and wet.  There was no view.  AND we had to climb back down.  With cranky baby.  Had we gotten cell phone service I would have called for a rescue helicopter.  But alas... no bars.  Good thing we signed in at the bottom of the mountain...

So we packed up the cold, wet, cranky, tired baby and started back down.

The climb up must have tired her out because she fell asleep right away.

Fortunately when she was rudely awakened by screaming children half-way down, she seemed in good spirits and we only had to sing "Wheels on the Bus" for a few minutes.

I was proud of us for making it up, but SO glad to see the car when we were finally down three hours later.

MiniM.E. was happy to see the car too.  The best part of the day for her was "driving" while we packed up the car.


She was so glad to be warm and dry and off the mountain that she didn't fuss at all on the way home.  And MiniM.E. is not a great car traveler.

The positive of the trip?  We saw some nice foliage on the drive.





When I was taking German lessons, when we learned about seasons there was a statement for each.  For fall, it read "In the fall it is cold in rainy.  The people stay inside."  Lesson learned.

5.29.2012

Fun Outside

Over the weekend we took advantage of the nice weather and the extra day off.

Saturday we hung around the house, finishing putting everything back in its place.  We grilled with some friends and enjoyed the backyard.

Sunday, we went to a BBQ where Stretchy spent some time outside on the playground,


got to meet some dogs,




(and even ride one!)

and made a new friend.

We took a hike at the Saratoga State Park.  Stretchy had a great time.


Such a good time, that this is how we ended the hike.

We also went to the park and fed the ducks

and rode the carousel.  This time, I forgot the video camera and the crazy thing was going so fast all my pictures were blurry :(

It was great to have a long weekend and spend time outside.  Today it is SUPER hot, so we'll hang around and get some errands done... looking forward to more nice weather!

5.07.2012

A Busy Week

Once Stretchy and I were both feeling better, we ended up having a pretty busy week.  I think it was really good for us because we'd been stuck in the house like we were quarantined for almost two weeks and cabin fever was starting to drive me a little nuts (and I certainly cannot afford to be more crazy than I already am).

Wednesday my sister arrived to spend part of her vacation with us.  Its always nice to see her and we haven't been home in a while, so it had been too long since we'd seen her last.  Unfortunately, it took Stretchy a while to warm up to her, but soon she had a new favorite play-mate (and I got to take some breaks to finish recovering!)  My mom came too since she's always looking for excuses to come see her favorite person... and her daughter...

We did some shopping and ran some errands.

Are we getting in the car already?
We headed up to Lake George (which was kind of a bust since most things were still closed for the season) and strolled around downtown Saratoga.  And we played with the baby...



It was really nice to see my sister and have company for a while.

They left Friday after Stretchy's first swimming lesson and we had a quiet evening.

Saturday we went up to Lake George again- this time to the Recreation Center where we took a hike in the woods, had a picnic with some friends we met in Germany and their kids.  Bob and the other dad took their bikes out on the trails there while the other mom and I watched the kids on the playground.  Unfortunately, a six-month old can't really play on the playground, but she seemed to have a good time sitting on the picnic table and watching.

Family photo... no, it's not a skirt, the baby's legs were cold- it's a blanket!

Sunday we went to a baby shower and had a BBQ with one of our friends who just moved back from Belgium and will be starting work with Bob soon.

Hanging out with the big kids...

I have to say, after more than a week of doing nothing, we definitely made up for it with everything we did last week!  Today we'll take it easy and enjoy the nice weather!

Here's some cute pictures of Stretchy hanging out on the couch this morning:

Standing and reaching

After falling over

Almost in the crawling position!