Cannon Mountain (#4), July 5, 2008

Trail: Kinsman Ridge from the Tramway parking lot at the base of Cannon, out and back. 4.4 total miles.

We all slept in this morning, and made our way to the trailhead around 9:30am. My husband and Sage took the tramway up the mountain while Alex and I hiked it.



The trail was steep and steady for the first 1.5 miles. Both Alex and myself were fairly quiet and grumpy.



We were past the climber's cliff and into the scrub near the top when we heard Sage's voice and my husband playfully yelling, "Oh no, more mud!" Seems they had gotten bored of waiting and had begun to hike down to meet us. Alex was happy to see them. I yelled, "A bear, oh no!" and the girls laughed and ran toward each other. They hugged like they hadn't seen each other in weeks.

Alex's spirits were much revived with her father and Sage by her side.



She picked up her pace and seemed rather peppy for the first time on this hike.

About 0.3 miles from the summit, Sage began complaining that she was tired and wanted to fall asleep "right now!!"...Alex and I left Sage and my husband behind so we could finish our ascent without Sage trying to lay down on every other rock -- we agreed to meet them in the restaurant by the top of the tramway.

When Alex and I got to the observation tower, it was rather anticlimactic. Tourists in too much make-up and a profound lack of sweat stood at the top. It was a very different feeling from being with all the other hikers on top of Mt. Eisenhower and Mt. Pierce. We knew the people on the observation tower had ascended via the tramway, so that spiritual connection with others wasn't there. Alex had some fun lending her binoculars to a toddler and watching him trying to figure them out. He was cute, and he and Alex smiled and made faces at each other for a while. Apart from that, she didn't want to speak to anybody else.





We met my husband at the restaurant -- Sage was already asleep, stretched out on two chairs with her little fist on the table. Alex ate some fries and a few pieces of chicken, then we filled up our water bottles and headed back down.

The way down wasn't as speedy as we had both hoped it would be. The boulders made a quick descent fairly impossible (for us, anyway). We therefore took almost as much time going down as we had going up.



We both grumbled at each other a fair bit. I told my husband that I felt off today, and that Alex was not her usual cheery determined self. When we reached the bottom, however, Alex asked when we could do another hike, so I suppose that's a good sign.

Mt. Eisenhower (#2) and Mt. Pierce (#3), June 21, 2008

Trails: mainly Edmands Path and Crawford Path. 7.9 total miles.

This was a magical, wonderful day.

I woke Alex at 6am and we headed out early. My daughter was a bit bleary-eyed, but excited. On the way there, we saw this by the side of the road...



There's a moose in there, in the middle. It had come right up next to the car, and then when I pulled out my camera, it of course decided to walk away.

We found Clinton Road and drove to the trailhead. There were a few cars already there, and we got quite a few looks by the others while gearing up. I explained to Alex quietly that grown-ups aren't used to seeing kids on the trails...at least not these kinds of trails.





The first part of the trail was lovely. Beautiful trees, fungi, flowers, turns here and there, stream crossings (but with wooden planks and boards put over the water). The grade was easy to moderate.



We were passed by many groups of people, almost all of whom spoke nicely and respectfully to Alex and myself. There was one woman who spoke down to her, "aren't you ambitious, are you sure you can do this," etc. in sticky-sweet tones while giving me nasty looks on the side. I wanted to accidentally knock her over with my extremely-stuffed, prepared-for-every-possible-catastrophe pack. Anyway, after she moved on, Alex and I had a long discourse on the irritating qualities of adults who treat children as though they were retarded puppies.

The trail got steeper and steeper and steeper, but both Alex and I were taking it slowly and we felt in very good spirits. Alex began a rhyming game. She would say a word and I would make up rhymes, then I would say a word and she would make up rhymes. That game lasted about twenty minutes or so and got us through a particularly steep bit. I then began softly singing childhood songs that she hadn't heard before, silly ones to make her laugh (Bumble Bee, On Top of Spaghetti, etc.). We then sang together for a while. She made up some songs, I made up words to Beatles tunes, etc. This is basically how we got ourselves through an hour and a half of steep and steady hiking.



Steeper and steeper and steeper...and then the views opened up while we hiked. Alex took a look over her shoulder at one point and went, "Woooowwwww!!!" From here on out, we had views, views, and views. Gorgeous, amazing, on-top-of-the-world views. We hiked over rocks and splashed through a bit of water running down some boulders (we passed a nice man and his dog here), then made our way up up up. Once we got to the alpine zone, the hike became much less steep and we made our way over loose rocks and boulders.



Finally we made it to the Mt. Eisenhower loop trail.



From here we went almost straight up....



and up...



until we reached the...summit.



Alex was so happy and proud of herself. We sat for a long time, ate Powerbars, and chatted with the four million hikers who passed by. The views were so clear and beautiful that Alex did not want to go back down. After she drew her summit picture, I asked if she wanted to try to hike over to the top of Mt. Pierce, and then go down from there. She said yes.





We took the Crawford Path (part of the Appalachian Trail) from the peak of Eisenhower to the top of Pierce. Completely spontaneous, the hike felt free and wonderful. Alex chatted up everyone we saw along the way (these trails are very popular, people climb up one mountain and then just go from peak to peak...they stay at huts along the way and sometimes make it a two or three day trip...so there were a lot of people up there). The two of us discussed pirates (their parents must not have loved them very much), and we had a few philosophical discussions on death and dying.

After much conversation and easy hiking, we got to Pierce and took a rest...



Alex drew her summit picture, and then accepted chocolate from a couple of very nice ladies who thought that any five year old who hikes two mountains in one day should have some chocolate. We enjoyed the weather, the views, the conversations with other hikers, and the friendly dogs who took a shine to Alex. We then we took a sidepath down Pierce to Mizpah Spring Hut.



After we used the facilities and refilled our water bottles, we began the descent toward the valley.

Alex was peppy and cheerful the entire way. We actually passed other hikers, most of whom enviously commented on her energy. We met up with a couple close to the bottom and hiked most the remaining mile or so fairly close to them.

And..we made it to the bottom!!



I sheepishly asked the couple for a ride to our car...since we had gone to Pierce and come down a completely different trail, we were now about two miles from our vehicle. They graciously complied, and we arrived at our car approximately 10 hours after we had left it.

What a lovely day with my daughter!

Tecumseh (#1) -- June 7, 2008

Note: pictures on this trail were taken with a disposable camera, so please forgive the fuzziness.

Our first 4000 footer!



We all started out on this one -- myself, my husband, and both my two daughters. Alex and I are the only ones committed to doing all 48 peaks, but since this is the shortest of the 4000 footers, my husband wanted to give it a go as well. He ended up carrying Sage (our youngest, who is only 3) much of the way. I carried the pack with all our emergency gear, food, water and extra clothes. Alex and Sage each carried their own pack with even more extra clothes and emergency provisions -- they like having their own packs, and we like them carrying their own belongings just in case they ever become separated from us.

Our route was the Tecumseh Trail, from the Waterville Valley ski area, out and back. 5 miles total.

It started off well enough. The stream crossings were much fun for our two girls, and the grade was easy for the first leg of the trip. However, after the last stream crossing, the path became steep and steady. We took many breaks, and Alex never complained a bit. Sage however, even though she was being carried, began to proclaim that it was a "howwible, howwible day."



My husband graciously offered to sit with her and wait, so that Alex and I could continue without having to go at a snail's pace or listen to Sage's extremely unhappy proclamations.

Off the two of us went...



Turns out we were only half a mile from the top -- Alex and I reached the summit on our own about half an hour after we left my husband and Sage.





She was very proud to have made it, every step of the way on her own two feet (she understands those are the rules). She happily chatted up a nice hiker who was having lunch at the top, and drew a picture of the mountain.



We rested a bit, then we hiked back down. Sage and my husband were halfway to the trailhead when we caught up with them.





We sat with them for a while, then we all trudged out. Alex was very happy to have hiked her first 4000 footer, and she said she wanted to do another one soon. I was happy she felt this way, after all that slow trudging (because of her little sister in tow) with practically zero summit views for a reward.



We both felt proud and happy, and inspired to do more in the months and years to come.