Thrilled to have "held" (fed) a gray jay atop Mt. Jackson
This is a tale of a mother and seven year old son summiting back to back 4,000 foot peaks in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, and a Gray Jay that saved the day!
Sunday evening I spent quite some time online doing a bit of research. I was trying to find a few 4,000 footers that I felt would be appropriate for my 7 year old. As our first hike of this trip would suggest (read about it here), both kids are capable of hiking 12 miles in a day, but honestly, I don't like pushing mileage too frequently. No one has fun on those hikes, so I try to do my best mixing up easy and tougher trails, shorter and longer mileage, etc. I really wanted to climb a 4,000 footer or two this trip though. I got on Google and looked up easier 4,000 footers. A few people have blogged on this, and given that it really comes down to someone's opinion, I tried to see if there were a few that showed up on a couple of people's lists. There were. Mostly, I think the top factor was length, obviously followed by level of actual difficulty (although that is subjective, too). I settled on Mt. Hale. All Trails considers it moderate, in hindsight I would say that it was moderate/easy. It is 2.2 miles to the summit, so perfect for my little guy.
And before I continue on, you might be wondering, "wait, where is your husband and older boy?" N elected to continue Zooming into his class even though I had emailed all of his teachers. Bless his heart. He told me "it's the right thing to do." Aww! What work ethic! My husband stayed with him and planned on taking him biking, fishing, and golfing (golfing with R, if we were back in time) after his school day ended.
The day of our first 4,000 footer was a beautiful, cold fall day. There were gorgeous leaves and barely any other hikers. The hike itself was moderate/easy as promised, and even though there was no view (it is wooded on this summit), we enjoyed a picnic before heading back down. It was a great day, and R was very "pleased" with himself for completing another 4,000 footer.
Ok, let's get this party started, 2.2 to the top!
The trail starts off mellow enough.
Some rocks, some roots, but nothing too terrible.
Little Mountain Man
It got a little more interesting in spots.
Then a lot more interesting.
Are we nearly there?
And then we were there!
Summit Selfie 📸
Look at him lounging on the Summit Cairn 😆
Greeted at the base of Mt. Jackson by a morning moon 🌖.
Alright 2.6 to go.
A rare mommy photo.
It didn't take very long to reach a lookout.
R wanted to check it out, so we did.
The view did not disappoint.
💘
The trail on Mt. Jackson quickly become VERY rocky.
It makes the going interesting and engaging, but pretty slow.
Can I take a break?
We did see some interesting nature along this trail though.
Cool mushrooms. R is still fascinated by them.
Here is a red squirrel doing what squirrels do. But I have to tell you, we have gray squirrels where I'm from and red squirrels make the most bizarre noises. We heard it all during our trip this summer and I could not figure out what was making that noise. I didn't know if it was a bird, or what. But this guy was right in front of me, and startled me making all this racket. If you don't believe me listen here. The recording is EXACTLY what they sound like.
We also saw an adorable, what I assume is a, mouse.
It was a brownish color and looked more like a hamster/gerbil.
Having just done some research, I think it is actually a rock vole.
Now, this is a very rocky climb. As you draw nearer to the top, you cross a lot of rock slab. I did get very nervous when I asked a group of four 20-somethings, if we were close to the top, and one of the guys was like "kind of, but you really need to be prepared for climbing straight up rock right at the top ledge." What? I've got a 7 year old with me. I internally panicked a little. You really do have to scramble at several points at the top. The guy psyched me out though. Then when we get closer, I see something like this (and this photo doesn't do justice to how steep it is in real life:
This isn't my photo, I borrowed it from the internet of Mt. Jackson. My camera had been packed away, backpack tightened around my body, and my hiking poles stashed under a bush. R was ok to do about 2 of this sort of scrambling, and then lost all of his nerve (can't blame him) at the very last one. I went up to see if it was safe and to see what type of summit it was, and the summit cairn was probably only 20 feet away. It was totally safe, but he was crying, sobbing, inconsolable. It was scary. I took photos of the view in case he wouldn't come, and then I gently tried to persuade him. He was having NONE of it. Two women approached him from behind, and I said softly, "Baby, you are in the middle of the path, you are going to have to move out of the way." The only way to move was up. So, he did. Whew. That was fortunate. We moved up and over and sat in front of the cairn and took a photo. The view was undeniably gorgeous. He was still pouty, but we decided to take out our food and ate. All of a sudden an adorable bird landed on top of the tree about 2 feet away from us. I recognized reading about this kind of bird, they are Gray Jays. I read that they are extremely curious and friendly and that they will eat out of your hands. So, I took one of my gloves out of my pocket and gave it to R and put some of my granola in his gloved hand. The bird landed right on it, picked up the food, then flew off to eat it. R was absolutely thrilled, elated! He did it over and over and over, and probably would have fed the bird all of our food if he could have. He was so excited, he wanted to send the photo to all of his grandparents and to his uncle, and he wanted to call daddy and N to tell them all about it. I told him he could call everyone on the drive home. This bird saved this hike!
The trip down off the summit wasn't nearly as bad as the way up, and although we didn't pass a ton of people, the ones we did cooed over R, said he inspired them, wanted to know what other 4,000 footers he had climbed, etc, etc. He stated that he was very "pleased" with himself- lol. The descent was slower than the ascent having to navigate all of those rocks, but he brought that bird up so many times. We were happy and tired when we got back to the car and he contently slept as I drove us home.
Here he is barely managing a dim smile for me.
And then our little friend appeared.
It really is adorable.
It landed right in his hand!
This is his "pleased" look .
And that evening we had celebratory s'mores to commemorate our back to back 4,000 footers😋🔥🍫
Uh oh, caution. Boy with matches! 🔥
Got it going
Admiring his handiwork.
Even Daddy joined it!
We'll leave you now,
...stuffing our face with s'mores!
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