Tuesday Trip Report: Mt. Garfield (winter 4K #30). January 5, 2012

First, some very sad news.  Mt. Washington recently claimed the life of another hiker.  Our hearts and condolences go out to the family and friends of Patrick Scott Powers, who fell while descending Tuckerman Ravine.

These mountains can be extremely dangerous.  None of us hike without risk.  The best we can do is minimize the dangers as best we can.

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Our trip report:

Mt. Garfield via Gale River Road and Garfield Trail.  12.4 miles roundtrip.

Sage came with us on this straightforward hike.  We began at sunrise and walked the 1.2 miles of closed-for-the-winter Gale River Road before ascending 5 miles to the summit.

The water crossings were not completely frozen over, so the footing was tricky.  Miraculously, we managed to keep our feet dry.

The snow depth increased as we ascended...

At the intersection with the Garfield Ridge Trail, 0.2 miles from the summit...

Onward and upward, through the snow.

The summit!  It was extremely windy and cold up there, so we didn't linger.  We tagged the top, took our photo, and retreated into the trees to eat our traditional summit chocolate.

We made it down the trailhead, and then down the road to the car, in fairly short order.  This was a simple, albeit long, hike and we had great trail conditions.  Hopefully, our remaining winter hikes go as smoothly as this one did.

The Monday Muse: The F Word.

Hmmm.  It appears I am not a feminist.  I thought I was, but, when I recently came out as a "stay-at-home," homeschooling mom on a feminist internet forum, I was told that I am not.

I object.

But first, a few notes on that "F" word, feminism --

The word "feminist" conjures different images for different people.  For some, the word evokes thoughts of brave, trailblazing women loudly proclaiming, in the midst of patriarchal and misogynistic societies, that women should have the exact same rights as men.  Hooray for those women.  Their efforts resulted in women having more opportunities today, opportunities that did not exist for females in 1970, the year in which I was born.

For others, feminism brings to mind angry, negative women, women who claim that in order to be a real human being, one must NOT stay at home with the kids, that motherhood is NOT something worth spending your whole life doing, that to move society forward, every woman must strive to be a doctor, a professor, an engineer -- any kind of job that has been traditionally occupied by men.  Boo to these women, I say.  Equal rights is not about deciding what some other woman should or should not do.  There is nothing better about being a doctor, professor, engineer, etc. than being a stay-at-home mom.  Motherhood -- hands-on, involved, 24/7 motherhood -- is important and difficult work, just as important and difficult as any other job/career under the sun.  Anyone who says otherwise hasn't tried it.  I mean really tried it -- months on end, 24/7, responsible (little to no TV or videos) trying it.

I'm not into the "mommy wars."  I don't proclaim that I'm a better mother for "staying home" (such an inaccurate description!) with my kids.  I also don't believe that Jane Smith is a better person than me for putting her kids in daycare so she can go to med school.  I believe that each woman needs to examine her life, her family, and her kids and decide what's best for her children first and herself second.  If staying home with the kids means you end up sinking into depression and hating life, then by all means find good childcare, continue your out-of-home career, and do what you need to do to take care of yourself and your family.  If working outside the home means you barely see your kids and they grow up raised by inattentive daycare workers, then by all means, have a seat and rethink your priorities.  (These words don't apply to those women who absolutely must work outside the home else their children would starve -- such women, unfortunately, don't have the luxury of choice).

There is no right answer, there is no one way to be a mom.

There are, however, many ways to put women down and stomp all over their equal rights.  The devaluation of stay-at-home motherhood is one of them.  As is looking down on a woman's choice to homeschool her kids.

If you're one of those women who think you're better than your SAHM neighbor because you have a PhD and work as a neuroscientist while the neighbor has a high school diploma and stays at home with her six kids -- guess what?  You aren't a feminist.

If you stay at home with your kids and talk trash about the woman who uses a great nanny to watch her newborn -- guess what?  You aren't a feminist either.

Peace, people.  Women, stop banging on each other.  United we stand, divided we fall...yes?  Respect each other's choices, realize that everyone is doing valuable work.  Chill out already.  Turn your anger toward the stuff that's important...like why women still aren't paid the same amount as men for doing the exact same job.  Like why people still think "cry like a girl" is an acceptable phrase.  Like why the toy sections in most stores are divided into "girl" toys and "boy" toys.  Etc.

We're our own worst enemies, ladies.  Knock it off already.

The Friday Wrap: Garfield and 2500 Likes

My Facebook Page reached 2500 likes today, which means a lucky person won a free galley copy of UP.  Congratulations, Brad Woodley!

The girls and I hiked 4500-ft Mt. Garfield yesterday in frigid temps and on gorgeous, snowy trails.  I'll write about that ascent on my next Tuesday Trip Report (January 10).  Alex and I now have 18 more mountains to summit before March 20 in order to finish the winter 4Ks this season.  We're pretty confident about our chances of achieving this goal.

We're having fun plugging away at our 101 Things in 202 Thursdays list.  Check in every Thursday for updates on our progress.

Have a great weekend, everyone!  See you on Monday with a new Monday Muse.

Thursday Things -- Number 55 (Appreciating Eleanor Audley)

We've watched a lot of movies lately; the end of December and the very beginning of January are times for relaxing the homeschooling work and recharging our batteries.  We are a no-TV family and we don't have video/computer games, so our downtime often consists of viewing films.  The girls and I love to watch a good movie; a great film is a work of art.

Alex and Sage have wanted to watch Disney's Cinderella and Disney's Sleeping Beauty back-to-back for months.  I was confused about this request until Alex finally explained it to me a couple of weeks ago.  Turns out the voice of Cinderella's stepmother and the voice of Sleeping Beauty's evil fairy belong to the same actress, the late, great Eleanor Audley.  The girls picked up on the similarity of the characters' voices after watching the two movies months apart.  They've since wanted to watch the two movies back-to-back -- they thought it would be fun to hear Cinderella's stepmother suddenly jump into Sleeping Beauty.

Eleanor Audley in costume concept for the role of Maleficent in Sleeping Beauty (1959).

Picture and caption taken from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eleanor_Audley

It was very entertaining -- and a bit odd -- to hear Audley's voice first in one movie, and then immediately in another.  It was as though the stepmother had gone to sleep one night and awoken the next morning in a different film.  We kept expecting Cinderella to appear in the background of King Stefan's castle, perhaps mopping the floors or dusting Queen Leah's throne.  We enjoyed ourselves.  We hadn't seen either movie in quite some time, as the girls are swiftly moving on to films with more adult themes and less fairy-tale qualities; it was nice to revisit these classics.

A word about the anti-feminist vibes both these movies emit -- I've had many talks with my girls about the unhealthy messages of classic Disney films (physical beauty=kindness, bad=ugly, woman=helpless).  Since we've spoken about such issues often, I now feel comfortable letting the girls watch and enjoy these movies for their better qualities -- namely, the voice-overs, music, and animation itself.  These are gorgeous films with fine acting by the voice-over artists.  The hand-drawn animation is nothing short of stunning.  There's a lot to appreciate here, as long as kids understand that the movies' females represent bad role models.

On the next Thursday Things: we donate some quarters to other people's meters and play Delayed Secret Santa to five New Hampshire houses.

Wednesday Shout-Out: Ebony Kennel in Plymouth, NH

Though I know this link will only be useful to those who live close to Plymouth, NH, I wanted to feature it in this week's Shout-Out nonetheless.  Ebony Kennel is where we leave our border terrier, Max, when we go winter hiking or on a no-dogs-allowed vacation. 

I'm picky about where I leave my pets.  I prefer not to leave them at all if I can help it; our animals have good lives, since, as homeschoolers, we can be with them for much of the day.  However, there are times when Max must stay behind while the girls and I pursue our various adventures; I'm grateful to have found a place that takes such good care of our little fella.

There are two sections to this kennel -- an indoor room with large crates, and outdoor/indoor kennel runs for large dogs and hyper small ones (like Max).   While at Ebony, Max spends his day jumping around his run, going into his attached, private, climate-controlled apartment and back out again (as he likes), and enjoying the scheduled attention he gets from the kennel's owner, Mike Robertson.  Whenever we arrive, Max is excited and happy to be there, and when we leave, he looks well-taken care of and filled with joy joy joy.

If you live near Plymouth and need a place to board your pet, whether it be for a day or a week, then check out Ebony Kennel.  Max highly recommends it.

Tuesday Trip Report: Owl's Head (winter 4K #29). December 30, 2011

To finish the winter list this season, Alex and I must adhere to a somewhat inflexible schedule.  Weather permitting, she and I will hike twice a month on our own and twice a month with Sage.  Sage will come with us on the less complicated and shorter trails, and she'll stay with Hugh when Alex and I take on the likes of the Bonds, the Twins, etc.

Owl's Head is a long 18 mile trek made slightly shorter by a popular bushwhack.  Though Sage could handle this in one day (indeed, she already has), she's not currently interested in doing the entire winter list and therefore has zero desire to endure this particular slog again anytime soon.  Alex and I had Sage's blessing to do this one without her.

We arrived before sunrise; I'd insisted on getting a very early start.  I knew we'd come back in headlamps no matter what time we set out, but I wanted to avoid walking the Black Pond bushwhack after dark.  If we could make it back to flat and wide Lincoln Woods Trail before having to turn on the lights, I'd be very happy.  This had more to do with my being creeped out by the thought of bushwhacking in the dark than any actual safety issues.

Our boots were on trail at 6am.  Since my camera refused to take any images before sunrise, I don't have the traditional trailhead shot.

Alex and I enjoyed walking along the Lincoln Woods Trail during predawn.  We kept our headlamps off and watched the path turn lighter and lighter shades of gray until, finally, the ice gleamed white.  Alex stated she'd like to do more sunrise-type hikes in the future; I'm sure the kid will get her wish sooner rather than later.

The sun was mostly up by the time we reached Black Pond Trail.

We delayered and continued on our way...

...and took a break once we reached Black Pond.



The temperatures were in the low teens, so we didn't stay still for long. 

Here, Alex stands on the entrance to the bushwhack while I stand with the pond to my immediate right:

The bushwhack was incredibly easy to follow; frozen footsteps led the way.  I took compass bearings every now and then anyway, since it's never safe to assume frozen footsteps will be visible the entire day (falling snow can quickly obliterate tracks).

We popped out on Lincoln Brook Trail in short enough order...

...made our way through three partially frozen, "interesting" water crossings (test that ice before putting your full weight on it!)...

...and arrived at the base of the Owl's Head slide.

We took a break and I checked my watch.  Eight trail miles in four hours.  Not bad.

Snow began to fall -- the light, pretty kind that decorated the air around us.  We began the climb in festive spirits.

    View from the slide...

Takin' a break near some short trees....

The slide was icy, but not overly so.  Still, it was slow going as I wanted to step carefully.  On the way up, I decided I did not want to descend this route, as it's much easier to navigate icy rocks going up than it is going down.

I accidentally led us off track halfway up and we climbed through some short trees adjacent to the slide before coming back out near the top.  Then came the longer-and-steeper than-I-remembered hike through the taller trees to the bump previously thought of as the summit.

From here, we moseyed over to the bump currently known as the summit.

After returning to the first summit, we checked the time.  It had taken us 2 hours and 45 minutes to climb the mile-long slide/path and tag both summits.  Night would fall in about three hours...we should have enough time to get down from the summit, navigate the three water crossings, and hike through the Black Pond bushwhack before breaking out headlamps...if we focused.  It wasn't absolutely necessary to move quickly, but neither Alex nor myself relished the idea of walking through thick woods after sunset.  Yes, we're both still a little afraid of the dark.

I didn't want to descend via the slide, but I'm not familiar with the Brutus Bushwhack and didn't want to attempt it on my own.  Therefore, we followed a lone set of footsteps I had noticed earlier.  These footsteps deviated from the trail just above the slide and seemed to head southwest.  From reading others' trip reports, I knew this couldn't be the Brutus 'whack, but it wasn't the slide either, so that was good enough for me.  Alex and I followed the tracks down a steep but stable path and ended up rejoining the trail at the base of the slide.  We then checked the time (2:15) and began speed-walking the flat Lincoln Brook Trail.

The water crossings were easier the second time around, mainly because I knew where to step (still had to test the ice before fully stepping on it, though).  We made it back to the entrance of the 'whack just as the sun was starting to set.  The new snow had not obliterated the frozen footprints in the slightest (plus, I had my compass), so Alex and I plunged into the woods and raced through the 'whack until we found ourselves back on the Black Pond Trail.

We were now thrilled; in our minds, the hike was over.  All the difficult bits had been accomplished -- what was now left was an easy 3.4 mile walk to the car.  We hiked the Black Pond Trail without headlamps as the sun fully set, then we took a long break in the dark at the intersection with Lincoln Woods Trail.

The final 2.6 miles did not go as quickly as we'd have liked.  We had mentally finished this hike back at Black Pond, but of course our feet still had to take us to the parking lot.  Alex muttered more than once about how this part of the hike seemed to be taking forever, but overall she was in very good spirits.  This 17-18 mile hike was well within her capabilities; it wasn't a strain or a push, it was just right for where she's physically at. 

We made it back to the car at 6pm; the hike had taken exactly 12 hours. 

On the way through Lincoln, we called Hugh to let him know we'd be home sooner than we'd anticipated.  He and Sage whipped together a huge, delicious meal and had it on the table when Alex and I walked through the door -- amazing amazing amazing.  'Twas the perfect ending to an excellent day.

Monday Muse: The Recent Past and Immediate Future

It's the beginning of a brand new year, a time when many reflect on the recent past and make resolutions for the immediate future.

I'm not immune to the tug of sentimentality, and I'm certainly in possession of stereotypical Capricorn determination, so I'll add my personal duo of lists to the newly minted 2012 blogosphere.

The recent past (2011) saw the blossoming of what used to be a personal hiking blog into a more publicized hiking/homeschooling/parenting blog.  Total number of unique visitors to this blog, Alex's old blog, and Sage's old blog combined breached the 50,000 mark last November.  Number of daily unique visitors averaged 100-200 a day.  The number of comments significantly increased, though most readers who want to tell me something continue to do so through my email account, patriciaellisherr@post.harvard.edu.  I get a lot of personal stories from young women and girls around the world who are happy to read about Alex and Sage's adventures -- this is the reason I feel more and more compelled to share more and more of what we do.  I'm honored if our lives can provide even an ounce of inspiration to others.  If we can do even a small amount of good by sharing our trip reports on the internet, well then, that's a fine thing.

My book, UP: A Mother and Daughter's Peakbagging Adventure, went to the printers late last month.  All copyediting, double- and triple-checking, photo placement, etc. is complete.  Galleys are now in the hands of reviewers and various media folks nationwide.  UP will be published by Broadway Books on April 3, 2012.

On the hiking front, Sage finished the New Hampshire Four Thousand Footers at the age of 6 years, 7 months, and 13 days, bumping Alex off the second-youngest-girl-to-ever-finish spot.  The girls and I hiked our first high-altitude mountain, Arizona's Humphrey's Peak, and brought our highpointing total to 39.  Alex and I embarked on what we hope will be our final season pursuing the winter NH4K list.  If Alex finishes before March 20, then she might be the youngest person to ever finish this winter list (however, though we think that's pretty cool, that's not our impetus for hiking).

Hugh continues to do fantastic work at MIT and with his company, iWalk.  Look for him in the news, listen for him on the radio, and check him out on the internet.  I'll continue to post media links whenever there's something new to see/hear/read.

The immediate future (2012) will hopefully bring more of the same.  Alex and I will hopefully finish the winter NH4Ks, the girls and I will hopefully tag at least three or four more highpoints, and Hugh will undoubtedly remain a prominent scientific and inspirational figure as he continues to do more and more media interviews.  Hugh and I also plan to start the girls (and me!) ice-climbing and glacier-traversing.  I don't have much to write about that at the moment, as that's Hugh's area of expertise and not mine.  I'll trust him to guide us through that next step of mountaineering as he continues to trust me with taking the girls long-distance mountain hiking in all four seasons. 

This will also be the year UP: A Mother and Daughter's Peakbagging Adventure is published (April 3, 2012).  The folks at Broadway Books/Crown are wonderful to work with and I look forward to the months ahead.  We are so lucky to have such a huge New York publishing house behind us; I can't say enough good things about working with my editor, Sydny Miner, or my publicity/marketing team, Caroline Sill and Jonathan Lazarra.  I also couldn't have a better agent.  Laurie Bernstein is fantastic -- without her, none of this would be happening.

That's it for now.  Tomorrow's post will be the trip report for Alex's 12/30 winter Owl's Head hike (winter 4K #29).

Happy New Year, everyone.