2,120 feet
Erwin and I had hiked Owl's Head once before when I was pregnant, so we knew it would be a good mountain for Frankie's first real climb. He'd already been up a few mountains, of course, but in the carrier, and now he likes to hike on his own. However, since he's still two and we want him to enjoy hiking, the mountain needed to be a pretty modest undertaking. Owl's Head fit the bill perfectly. It is a real little mountain: there are ledges with views to encourage one upward, steep rock scrambles, exposure, and a magnificent view from the summit. Plus, it's only 0.6 mile to the summit with 460 feet in elevation gain.
We also knew that this would be more challenging than Frankie's previous self-powered hikes, and that going would be slow, so I wore the carrier, stuffed full of snacks. It's strange: we virtually never snack at home, but take the boy in the woods, and he must have snacks. Whatever it takes, right? And he did great! The little guy climbed all the way to the top himself. We had some frustrating moments with "flopping" which he found hilarious and we, less so. He has to learn about gravity sometime, but the side of a mountain isn't the best spot. Of course we were careful on his behalf, and we all lived to tell the tale, so I'm counting it a success. However, based on the flopping, I stuffed him in the carrier to ride down.
Back at the car, we headed straightaway to the Mountaineer to purchase the patch we'd shown Frankie the day before, then had lunch outside on the terrace at the Adirondack Cafe. A great day all around!
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| Starting up the trail all smiles. |
Lovely post and pictures! Looks like such a fun family hike, and your little dude is just adorable.
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