I took Denton hiking over a week ago, and have been caught up in further end-of-summer amusements, and haven't finished editing photos from the last few outings. Anyhow, I'd meant to actually hike somewhere like actually hiking, and left George at home and took Denton up to New Hampshire for two nights and a real hike.

We stayed at Ammonoosuc Campground in Twin Mountain, and on Wednesday (8/21) got up at 5am, and set out on Jefferson Caps Ridge trail at 6:30. Denton's enthusiasm had waned substantially part way up the below-treeline part of the trail, and he was grumpy when I got him up on the big rock that has the first real overlook, but right then there was just enough sunshine coming around the mountain for it to actually be pretty, and he was at least somewhat impressed. I still owe him a real explanation for the round holes in the rock.

At no point did he complain seriously of fatigue, though he complained of boredom. That mostly cleared up when we got to the rock scrambling at the caps (he bragged about his rock climbing prowess, and discussed the merits of paint blazes vs. cairns), then reoccurred more seriously within 1/4 mile of the actual summit. I had not gotten him to eat much, but when he begged to turn back, I put chocolate in his hand, removed (and emptied) a water bottle from his backpack, and he got up and followed me.

We didn't see another hiker until we were well up along the caps, after 10am, but when we made it to the summit at nearly noon, it was quite busy. Oddly, while Denton was not quite the youngest out there, he was the only kid (including some older teens) actually carrying his own knapsack.

Denton declined to change into a tshirt and shorts, and was bothered by the wind, right up at the peak. On the bright side, he didn't sunburn, either, while I was careless enough to manage one on myself.

Once we got past the boulder-hopping of the summit cone, we made impressively good time down the mountain, and ended up passing (or leapfrogging repeatedly) several parties of adults who were feeling it in the knees, and I had to ask Denton to slow down so I could keep up with him. We made it back to the car at 4:30. Denton needed a bag of potato chips and an ice cream, and was very quiet the next day, but did not admit to any sort of soreness.

That was a very substantial hike for both of us (2730' of elevation gain, 5.5 miles); I've done it (and more) years ago, but nothing like it since Denton was born. I was betting (I think correctly) that we needed an actual high destination and actual scrambles to hold Denton's interest. I hope we'll do something like it next year, though I do need to think about how to arrange the camping part to feel more fun with one kid and not two (or to take both kids camping and only one hiking). I suspect it'll be more than three years before George does equivalent hikes - I don't think he thrives on the physical challenge the same way.

Right now we're all in Toronto (will be back on Tuesday) and I'm feeling rather disconnected. I've got a backlog of photos to post, but perhaps I'll get around to a little photo editing at the six-month mark, or something.