Pratts Falls

Frankie and I have been doing a lot of urban adventuring in the last few weeks, ranging beyond the rectangular grids of our immediate neighborhood into the surrounding environs.  Just in the last week, we’ve taken walks of 1.5, 2.7, and 3.1 miles here in the city, exploring South Campus, the water towers, two long sets of “secret” stairs, and various woodlots that were never developed due to steep terrain.  And of course the playgrounds, of great importance to a 4-year old, albeit somewhat less exciting for me.  Although we’ve been out in all sorts of weather conditions, the weekend forecast looked especially promising.  I decided we’d go to the woods for a real hike on the best day.  And what a day it was!  I truly love spring. 

Clark in March

I made a concerted effort to get us outside in March, with some success.  Prior to this hike we'd spent about 20 hours outdoors, and walked about 15 miles, mostly in the neighborhood.  The weather remained unusually cold, and our tallies included quite a bit of time shoveling, sledding, and herding ice.  We sorely lacked in the woods department though.  I was eminently conscious of the depth of the snow, and didn't want to get Frankie in over his head again, like on our snowshoeing adventure in December.  We finally got a day with both sunshine and above-freezing temperatures, so we headed back to Clark.  

Barry Park

In terms of spending time outdoors, this has been a rough winter for us.  January was officially The Month of Sick: I had influenza, which took me out of commission for several weeks, and Frankie, the poor kid, had everything else.  Unfortunately, I'm only half joking.  He had an ear infection, and a salivary gland infection, and strep throat, and a horrible allergic reaction to a penicillin-based antibiotic that made him miserably inflamed and itchy for almost two weeks.  February was better health-wise, tempered only by the on again off again cold that seems to be a permanent feature of preschool.  But the weather was brutal.  I generally hold to the principle that there is no bad weather, just inappropriate clothing, but February really put that theory to the test.  It was the coldest month in recorded history here, with an average temperature of 9 degrees, never mind the wind chills.  It's hard not to worry about frostbite in such conditions, so instead of romping in the snow, we spent an obscene amount of time playing with Legos.  And I started going completely stir crazy. 

Snowshoeing at Clark

Clark Reservation is the closest park to my house, and as a result, long ago became my default spot for quick and easy local outdoor adventures.  Despite this, I'd never taken Frankie hiking there in the winter, simply because of the rugged, rocky terrain.  I just didn't want to risk it on unsteady little feet.  But Frankie is 4 years old now, and it seemed like he would be up to the task.  Still, when Erin and I planned the hike in advance, we carefully selected a route that avoided the cliffs and deep rock crevices we frequent in good weather.  Two feet of snow fell in the days prior, so we decided to snowshoe instead. 

Mt. Jo

Mt. Jo 

2,876 feet

Frankie's favorite part of our frequent hikes at Clark Reservation is all the scrambling over rocks, so when it came time to select his next Adirondack hike, Mt. Jo seemed like a good choice: it's short and sweet with lots of rocks to climb.  Before leaving for the holiday weekend in Keene, Frankie and I sat down and looked at photos of his previous Adirondack adventures.  Erwin and I had already been talking up the hike for a few days, but I wanted the visual reminder that the mountains are different from our local hikes.  Looking at the old pictures from Owl's Head also reminded him of 'Murfy, so the smurf came along on this hike, too.  

Phelps Redux

Phelps

4,161 feet  |  ranked 32/46 in height  |  4th peak climbed (repeat)

With both our previous High Peaks hikes of the year out of the AuSable Club trailhead, Erin and I were ready to switch things up a bit.  On the hike out the Lake Road after Sawteeth, we'd discussed our next options and were tempted to take on something more challenging.  Luckily, there are many such options.  Possibly a return to the Sewards?  Or maybe knocking of the rest of the Dix Range?  However, as the middle of the week rolled around and I was drooling all over the weather forecast for the upcoming weekend, Erin expressed some hesitation due to a physical complication that had cropped up since our last hike.  After she consulted her doctor, who wasn't terribly concerned about her going hiking, we talked again.  We both really wanted to get back in the mountains, but weren't entirely sure her doctor fully understood what kind of hike we were contemplating.  The Seward Range is not your average stroll in the park. 

Scenic Sawteeth

 

Sawteeth

4,100 feet  |  ranked 35/46 in height  |  25th peak climbed

Knowing we would be driving to the trailhead that morning, and hence not arriving super early, Erin and I were even more worried than normal about finding available parking.  Hiking on holiday weekends is oft-espoused as something to be avoided, and while I can certainly understand that perspective, our opportunities are few enough that we have to seize them when they come, holiday or no.  We decided we'd have the best chance of finding parking at the AuSable Club trailhead, and Sawteeth has been on the short list for a long time.  I'd wanted to hike the Scenic Trail specifically since hiking a loop of the East and West River Trails in 2008, when I first saw the mountain's profile with the jagged teeth to clamber over.  Erin and I had even set a date to hike it in 2011, but in a case of very bad timing, were derailed by the destruction of Hurricane Irene.