Mt. Washington Post #2

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Reading Camp Presentation

Before I get to my Mt. Washington climb, I want to tell you about a presentation I did two weeks ago.  I was invited to speak at a nearby town's elementary school reading camp!

I put together a slide show of pictures from my year in the tent and my Royal Arches climb, and also the Royal Arches video. I also set up our family's L.L. Bean tent that I spent the last few weeks of 2013 in.

It was a lot of fun, and I want to thank Ms. Robins for inviting me to give the presentation!

Now on to my Mt. Washington climb.

My dad and I started at Pinkham Notch Visitors Center at about 9:45 a.m.  For over half of the 4.2 mile ascent, we were climbing a pretty steep, REALLY rocky trail.  It was pretty hard on our knees.

After that, we took a turn where the Lion’s Head trail comes off the Tuckerman Ravine trail.  From there it was scrambling in fairly thick woods.  That led us above treeline.

Next we started climbing up Lion’s Head, which helps form the Tuckerman Ravine.  We then descended a tiny bit from Lion’s Head and spent about an hour scrambling in the open up to the summit!  It was just about four hours to the top.

We took a few pictures at the summit sign, then went into the visitors’ center and got lunch.

We descended the Tuckerman Ravine trail, which actually goes down into the ravine, then connects with the main, steep, rocky trail.

We started the descent on the same scramble we had just climbed up (the Lion’s Head and Tuckerman Ravine trails are the same there).  Then we continued into the ravine.  It was VERY steep, and we had to switch back down the trail, which was only about 6 feet wide in places.

Part of the way down the ravine, we ran into some snow that was at about 5,000’.  Meltwater had hollowed the snowfield out underneath, and there were caves that were big enough to crawl into (although that would have been dangerous).

From there we continued down onto the rocky trail again, which took us back to the visitors’ center at Pinkham Notch.  It was just about 8 hours round trip, and REALLY tiring.

I think our next high point will be New Jersey, but first we’re hoping to do some climbing outside!

Thanks for reading!

Mt. Washington, Post #1

Hi and welcome back!

As some of you probably know, tonight is the Great American Campout. I don't have any friends over, though, because we're getting ready to go to New Hampshire and climb Mt. Washington.

Mt. Washington is the highest peak in the northeast at 6,288 feet tall. My dad and I climbed Mt. Washington three years ago when I was eight, but we drove down so I won't count that ascent for my 50 Highest project.

If my dad and I summit, I'll do a follow-up post with the details of the climb.

Thanks for reading!

Hi and welcome back!

Fishing the Mud Run

Brook Trout in the Mauch Chunk Creek

Two weeks ago, my dad and I went fly fishing on the Mud Run Creek in the Pocono mountains. Neither of us caught anything, but I hookedan 11-inch brown that broke my line right before we got him in the net. He then swam away with a White Wulff fly stuck in his mouth. Thankfully, one of our friends said that the fly would rust out of his mouth eventually.



Today my dad and I went fly fishing once again, but this time in the Mauch Chunk Creek. This time I caught an 8-inch brook trout, which we were able to get in the net.  Dad texted a picture to my teacher Mr. Rabenold, who we saw at the Memorial Day parade this morning, and he said that with a few more I would have a tin of sardines...


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Banff Mountain Film Festival

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Last Sunday my dad and I went to the local screening of the Banff Mountain Film Festival. All of the films were great.

I especially liked The Questions We Ask, which was about Bruce Kirkby crossing the Pacific Ocean on a stand-up paddle board. During the film he was posing questions through his narrations about why we do things in life. This film put the thought of "Why sleep in a tent for a year?" in my head, and to be honest I don't know why. Thank you, Mrs. Decker, for telling us about the film festival!

Yesterday for our hike, my dad and I went fly fishing. This was my first time trying it, and I was really excited.  The spot where we were going to fish had about a 30 minute hike in, but when we got about 20 minutes in we hit really thick thorn bushes, and we didn't want to go through. That meant that we forced to fish there.

We had a lot of rain last week, so the creek was really high, really fast, and really muddy, which made fishing too hard. Plus, there were a lot of trees around us, so I took about ten casts, lost five flies, and caught zero fish.

"In the Wilderness?"

When we were hiking out my dad asked if I had fun, and I said yes. He said he was afraid I would never want to go again, but if I had fun yesterday, I would love it when conditions are better!

Today my dad, little brother, and I went for a hike. My little brother told me to say that he had fun and that he likes hiking.

When my dad took this picture, Jed (my brother) asked if it looked like he was in the wilderness.


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Epic Hike - for School!

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Mr. Rabenold

On Easter weekend we had an extra credit hike for school.  We hiked up Mount Pisgah near Jim Thorpe, which is pretty much the biggest hill in the area.  

About 50 people showed up, which I thought was a lot for a Saturday on a holiday weekend. 

My social studies teacher, Mr. Rabenold, started out by telling everyone about the history of Jim Thorpe and the Switchback Railroad, which we would be hiking along.

We started on a fairly short, yet steep switchback trail that ended at the top of Mt. Pisgah with an awesome view.  We could even see a few miles out to a waterfall in the distance.

At the top of Mount Pisgah with C.S. and C.S.

After that, we went on a long, slightly downhill trail. While on that trail, we saw the first known coal mine in North America. It wasn't much to see, though, because it was small and overgrown.

The Mine Entrance

The coolest part was when we had to walk across a 100 foot section that was only about a foot wide, and if you fell, you would fall/slide for 25 feet.  Luckily, no one fell.  The rock face was about 75 feet high, and it was a steep slab above the trail and to the right.  Dad, C.S. and I decided we're going to come back with our rope and try to climb it.

Inside the Mine

At the bottom of that last section was another abandoned coal mine that we all went into. Mr. Rabenold,  wasn't sure if there were any vertical shafts, so we weren't supposed to go too far into it. But my dad and I are going to come back and go deeper with headlamps to see what we can find.

Thanks for reading!

Great Hikes!

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The answer to last week's trivia question is Dick Bass.  He was the first person to climb the seven summits.

Yesterday (Saturday) my dad and I hiked to the Mahoning Creek. The creek is in the opposite direction of the pond, and my dad used to fly fish there. Lately, I've been getting into fly fishing, so we decided to go and check it out. While we were there Maisy decided to go swimming. She swam about 1/3 of the way across the creek and then decided to turn around and come back.  I could tell she had a lot fun.

Panoramic Shot of the Creek

Today I had a soccer tournament, and afterward dad and I hiked a spot where he climbed about 15 years ago.  The hike in was...interesting.  We had to do a bit of trespassing, we bushwhacked through some really thick thorns (my legs still hurt), and then we found it.

Wishing I had my Rope!

The wall was about 40 feet high, and the few minutes of bouldering that I did made it seem like the climbs ranged from 5.6 to about 5.10.  The rock was very strange.  It was broken up into squares and sections on the wall, but it wasn't loose.  You could definitely climb safely on it.  I know this, because we found almost brand-new bolts on at least a half dozen routes.  This means that in a few years when I start lead climbing, I can go out there and sport climb.

Taken by Mom

My dad is a business writer, and he has an office in an outbuilding out in a corner of our yard.  A  few days ago, I came home from school, and I was climbing on the tree right next to it.  Then I decided to go up on his roof.  Mom took a picture of me, and I thought it turned out well!



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Hi and welcome back!

Last night I bivied in the back yard.  I expected it to be in the low 40s, so I was going to sleep in the 40-degree bag, but at the last minute I decided to sleep in a 20-degree bag.  I'm glad I picked that bag, because at one point during the night I woke up, and it was 27 degrees!

The Seven Summits

Dad and I just went for a hike around the field, and the tree frogs were ("peepers") were really loud.  It's strange, because I heard them for the first time last night when I went out to bivy.  We haven't heard them in months (they're quiet through the winter), and it was like someone flipped a switch.

How about a trivia question?  Do you know the name of the first person to climb the Seven Summits (the high points on each of the seven continents)?

Thanks for reading!