the squibix family blog

Gilson Pond campground is a pretty cool place even if you don't leave your site: the hilly terrain means that each site is unique, above or below the road and often with wooden platforms hanging off the slope to make enough room to pitch a tent. And they're well-spaced out too, so there's lots of woody slopes to play in between sites. Which we did! (the boys also enjoyed using the spare platforms as stages and battle arenas).

And just beyond the boundaries of the tenting sites there's a pond, a stream through a gorge, and cliffs to climb that are small enough to be doable for younger ones but still big enough to be interesting. And wide open white pine woods: we started off following a trail, but then bushwhacked a ways in search of a shortcut back to our site, and it was even fun just walking through the pines (and along the giant trunks of a couple that had fallen!). It's just the sort of landscape that would be perfect for an outdoor adventure camp with a group of kids; as much fun as we had with just the four of us, we immediately started planning a return trip next year, with friends!

That's Monadnock, by the way. It could totally be a day trip from our house—it's just about an hour and a half away—but I wanted to be able to climb it in a leisurely fashion, and I wanted time to relax at a campground too. So two nights of tenting, with the climbing day in between. My original thought was to leave after Backyard Farm Club on Monday afternoon, but when I broached the idea Sunday it was too sudden for Zion. He needs more warning than that, reasonably enough. So we went Wednesday afternoon instead, after Park Day. Which means we got a late start, since Park Day is so hard to leave, and then with the steady drizzle I didn't feel great about trying to start a fire for supper so we stopped on the way for McDonalds (and a salad for Harvey at Hannafords) and got later still. Getting the tents up in the rain and rapidly falling dark was a little stressful, but we made it happen and then enjoyed a delightful evening of reading books and (in my case at least) being glad of not having to cook.

Thursday morning dawned bright and clear, and we took our first real look around the campground. It met our approval. We breakfasted on cereal and milk and bagels, then read some more before getting packed up for the main event of the day. All four backpacks were stuffed with lunches, warm clothes, and most especially water bottles, after our very thirsty experience the last time we climbed a mountain (I really should write about that trip!). At least, most of our packs were stuffed with water bottles; when we got to the trailhead Harvey found that he had left his at the campsite. For a minute he though he'd left his shoes too, so we were all set to go back, but then he found them. And I loaded him up with the almost-full gallon jug of water I had planned to leave in the car for our return, and we headed up.

The way up Monadnock is steep and long. And kind of unrelenting, really. Most of the hike is a steady slog up a wide, cobble-y path that feels a lot like a stream-bed. At least there were a few big slabby bits to provide some interest.... plus, as we got higher and higher, glimpses of some amazing views. There was also lots of water, which was delightful on what had turned into a surprisingly hot day.

Towards the top the trees started to thin out, and we really felt how high we were. And the last bit was totally exposed rock, just like a real mountain. There were even a few spots where we needed to use our hands to get up! It felt like a real accomplishment to make it to the top, and it would have been more amazing yet if there hadn't been 30 or 40 people up there already.

Oh well, at least it wasn't a couple hundred like it would have had it been a weekend. We found a spot a little ways from anybody else (and out of the swarms of bugs that for some reason were plaguing much of the summit) and had our lunches. After lunch I read the boys some of the chapter book we're doing together, and we took pictures of fall foliage and red squirrels.

Of course, having gone up we had to go down again. That wasn't easy either. We took a slightly different path, one that was supposed to be a little longer but less steep. It was steep enough, and long enough too. At one point I was sure we had already descended well below our starting point—maybe to the center of the earth. No, it just takes a long time to get down 1,800 vertical feet. Eventually we made it back to the parking lot and the visitor center, where we were delighted with the water fountain and the bottle filler. And with the benches, to be honest; I was entirely ready to sit down.

After we had restored ourselves for a little while we wandered over to the gift shop, where the boys took advantage of my pride in their endurance by buying them souvenirs: an otter for Elijah, a coyote for Zion, and a pocket knife and sticker for Harvey. Plus two gatorades. Then we headed back to the campsite. As hot as we were climbing the boys had been very much looking forward to swimming in the pond when we got back down, but it turned out that after over five hours of exertion (and seven hours away from our tents) we were ready for a rest. Good thing we brought lots of books! And good thing that I had planned a simple dinner, because I didn't have much energy for cooking (and all that I did have was taken up by starting a fire with the wet wood we collected). But never fear, there was enough fire for marshmallows to finish the day.

In the end we only went about two and half miles, but it was over varied enough terrain, and we made enough stops, that it felt like a real adventure. Plus we went up some serious hills. There was also a high school cross-country meet going on, and we were able—in one case were forced to—stop and watch a couple of the races.

Among all the delights of the outing, my favorite was our stop at a rocky outcropping that's actually in Stoneham's Whip Hill Park (which was our entry point to the Fells). With our eyes on the adventure ahead we barely glanced at it on our way in, but coming back tired and a little ahead of schedule for our next engagement it seemed like just the spot to stop and rest. Especially since it came with a ready-made chair.

Besides sitting, we also climbed and explored and found a scattering of feathers where a bird had been killed. Only I have no idea what kind of bird: black and yellow and spotted? Zion and Elijah made crowns with the feathers, to go with their rocky throne.

We never managed to climb the cliff itself, despite some serious attempts. But on the other hand, Harvey didn't knock Zion off to his death when he threw a shoe over the edge and hit Zion on the head, so we can count that as a win! And as much fun as all the biking and moving was, it was also delightful to stay in one spot for half an hour or so in a beautiful spot in the beautiful late-afternoon light. The outdoors are pretty awesome!

It was even colder than we expected, but that was fine, because we had lots of non-swimming activities to do. Like schoolwork! I made the boys bring their journals and stuff to draw with, just in case. It turns out Wingaersheek is popular with homeschoolers. Last time we met some kids who must have been (they were collecting invasive species crabs and feeding them to seagulls), and Friday we arrived at the same time as another family of school-aged kids who I actually asked if they were doing a beach school day too. And they were!

But it couldn't be school right away. Our first order of business was to walk out onto the sandbar, the one that almost drowned Harvey last time. This time we arrived just about at low tide, so were able to wade out to the bar without even getting our shorts wet, and then walk way out into the ocean on (relatively) dry land. (That's where the picture up top was taken.) It was super fun, even if we were a little worried about getting cut off. As it happened, we survived.

By the time we headed back the clouds were beginning to disperse. It still wasn't swimming hot, though, so after some lunch we took advantage of the expanse of low tide beach to walk around the corner, inland along the Annisquam River. We enjoyed the different consistencies of sand, the light on the channel, and the space to run around.

With memories of too much sun the week before I also brought our little beach tent. As cool as it was the sun didn't feel like a threat even once it emerged, but it was also a great place to rest in out of the wind! And it let us organize our piles of spare clothes, food, and school materials. The boys did some journal writing, drawing, and reading.

To that point they would have been fine limiting themselves to a little wading, but I wasn't having that. As the tide began to creep up over the rocks I tried out the water myself, then invited—forced?—them to come and give it a try with me. It was too chilly for Elijah, but once the older boys got in they had to agree that it actually wasn't that bad. And as the tide flowed around the rocks there were lots of opportunities for fun!

Wingaersheek is a fairly sheltered spot, so it's not generally a place you'd go to for waves. But the wind was so high it was actually kind of choppy, and as we let the tide push us up the beach as it rose we found some spots where the waves were certainly big enough to be fun.

As delightful as it was, though, a couple hours in the water left me, at least, feeling increasingly cold. And Elijah was getting bored, running out of things to do by himself up on the beach. Plus everybody wanted to go into town! So even though it was 25 minutes in the wrong direction for home we packed up and headed to downtown Rockport where we walked around, took in the sights, and bought candy and food for dinner. Among other stores we visited the Bearskin Neck Country Store, which I'd somehow never been in before. We admired the wide range of gummy candy items available—and the player piano!—but all we bought was a jar of spicy pickled beans.

Even in town, though, we couldn't escape the fact that the true lure of Cape Ann is the ocean! And I feel so lucky to be able to visit it regularly.

So that's what we did this morning. The original plan was to go up to Rockport, but when I heard that the Gloucester beaches were free and open after Labor Day we just had to visit Wingaersheek, where we had so much fun a year ago. And it was just as much fun this time! We arrived a little before high tide, so we spent a delightful half hour trying to reach the most far-away rocks before they were covered up. Then once the tide was full we did some jumping off rocks, as seen above. At lunch time our friends arrived and we ate together on the biggest of the rocks, where we made our camp, before heading back to the water to play.

The best thing about Wingaersheek is how it constantly changes as the tide rises and falls. You can never get bored! With fond memories of sliding down that rock last year we looked to repeat the experience, but for the longest time we couldn't find the right spot. Never mind, there were lots of other fun places to play! Like this ridge of rock where, for about half and hour, the waves sluiced over just right so that if you were sitting on it when one came you would get washed down the other side like a waterslide (or a toilet...).

As the tide fell further the kids started to get interested in making their way out to the sandbar that is the most exciting feature of Wingaersheek at low tide. It was still too soon, though, and when the younger kids started to get over their depth they turned back. Not Harvey and his friend, though: they can swim well enough that they pressed on. Which was maybe a mistake, because the tide was ebbing so fast that they actually got stuck out among the distant rocks for quite a while, unable to swim faster than the tide to make their way back. And here we thought they were just enjoying some teenager time to themselves! Eventually we realized their plight and I swam out and helped them find their way to shore. It was a bit traumatic for them, actually, but also will make a good personal narrative essay someday. So that's something.

All that playing was pretty tiring, so after only about six hours or so we were ready to head home. Just as well; even though it's September now I got a little too much sun! I guess there's still more summer to enjoy!

Oh, did we enjoy it! It was hundreds of degrees hot when we left, and still very warm by the seaside, so being in the water felt like a good plan. Our trip down was built around a visit to the National Seashore, so the boys and I worked hard to pack up the car while Leah delivered the dogs to their vacation accommodation, all so we’d be able to get on the road in time to get to Eastham by lunchtime. We just made it and enjoyed a relaxed meal in the shade before getting the bikes–all four bikes!—off the amazing new bike rack and hitting the bike path to the beach. The older boys zipped off right away while me and Elijah went at our own pace; he noticed that, for the first time, he was able to do the whole hilly ride without walking even once! And for his part, Harvey commented that the ride gets shorter and shorter every year. Funny that!

The air at the beach was still warm and the sand was blazing hot, but the water was comfortable: mid-fifties Farenheit, way warmer than usual! The waves were disappointingly small when we arrived but built nicely, so there was plenty of wave action for all (but no blood or other serious injuries). Elijah was excited to figure out body-surfing for the first time in the shallower part of the waves, and sad that he didn’t learn until the last third of our beach time. Leah had a work meeting to take and walked rather than biked, so she didn’t have as much time in the water as we did, but what she had was plenty for her. Us boys could have stayed until it got dark, but we had a dinner date so with some reluctance we dragged ourselves away.

Of course, dinner with the grandparents was delightful and we were happy to settle in to their lovely (air-conditioned) house. After dinner and some quiet time we went for a walk to enjoy one of the most interesting attractions of the Outer Cape, so unusual for the East Coast: getting to watch the sunset over the ocean!

The next day dawned cloudy and hazy, and we hung around the house for a good while before we got bored enough to organize an expedition into Welfleet. First there was some shopping: we browsed the toy store idly for a good half hour before I decided I’d help finance the purchase of souvenirs, then seriously for another 15 minutes until the boys picked out what they wanted (a puppet, a stuffed dog, and some sticky putty). Then Leah and her mom went to check out some of the more sophisticated shops while the boys and I got the bikes off the car and headed out to explore the town and harbor.

We did a little off-road riding, played on a playground, and had a light lunch at the seafood place (you can’t visit the ocean and not get some fried seafood! Even if one of us is a vegetarian and another said he preferred chicken). There was some frustration and grumpiness, but we resolved it in time to enjoy a happy hour of beach time. Mostly digging.

Back at the house a visit from older relatives kept us indoors for the afternoon, but after dinner we took another walk on the local beach. The resident connoisseurs were disappointed in the lack of sunset display, but we didn’t mind: waves on the bay more than made up for it!

The next morning the picture couldn’t have been more different: sunny and flat calm. I got in a quick dip early early, and then we were all down at the beach by 8:30 for a couple hours of swimming and hanging out.

And that was it! After lunch we needed to head home in order to pick up the doggies and water the plants, which just barely didn’t die in the extreme heat. It was a great trip but did feel super short… so it’s a good thing we have another one to look forward to soon!

And then after we ate the kids went down to the beach anyway. They figured there was a lot of fun to be had even without swimming, and they weren't wrong. Especially when they decided that even wading quite deeply would be fine. They spent a happy hour or so hunting for pond creatures to stock the aquarium they built by digging a hole in the sand and lining it with plastic sheeting. Delightful!

After that our friends were done—with a one-year-old you sometimes have to limit your outings—so they headed home. But we hadn't used the bikes yet! So we made contact with some different friends and arranged an off-road cycling outing at Great Brook Farm. We went an extremely round-about route in order to get in some errands on the way, but that was fine because it gave the boys' clothes some time to dry (we helped by hanging them out the windows). So they had something to wear when we hit the trails.

It was hot, and the second adventure of the day is always harder than the first. So once again Great Brook proved a good choice for a ride, because it let me buy everyone ice cream at the end. Now that's how you end a full day of outdoor excitement!

After that I took the boys across Carlisle to Great Brook for some biking. See, we got a new bike rack (after the old one fell apart and dropped the bikes on the road as we were driving, which deserves a post of its own!) and I wanted to test it out. Plus I wasn't sure how long our walk was going to be, so I planned for further exercising. As it happened the boys were tired enough to prefer %%%not doing more, but I was committed. With the promise of ice cream at the end of the ride they went along with me. We only did a couple miles, but they were hard (and fun!) hilly, woodsy miles, so the post-ride frozen treats were well-deserved.

Then when we got home Leah was heading out to the pool and asked the boys if they wanted to go along. Never mind that they'd been completely wiped out on the drive home, the idea of swimming gave the younger two a new jolt of energy and as soon as they could change they were out the door again. Harvey and I needed a bit of rest, but after we got that we went out and did an hour and a half of solid work in the garden. To cap the day off, friends came over for dinner on the deck and the kids played outside into the dusk. All that took us to nine hours outside for the day; needless to say that brought us over the 2.75 hour per day average for the year. It's not a given we'll stay there, of course, but a couple more days like today will seal the deal.

We parked at the Walden Woods project and walked in along the Sudbury River. We didn't take the longest path, but it was far from the shortest either. The hiking was fun, and it was actually the imminence of lunch time that kept our route from extending even farther. It was lovely and cool in the woods, and the bugs weren't bad at all (we were nervous when right at the start we crossed paths with someone wearing a full mesh veil). We got to the pond right at lunch time, and even though everyone was hungry the water looked so beautiful most of us had to take a dip before eating. And I can tell you that nobody waited half an hour (an hour?!) afterwards!

On the way home we took the most direct path to the car—only about a 20-minute walk. It would have been fine even longer though, since spirits were still high. Good outing.

What weather?! We were some disappointed, I can tell you. Happily Lexington Center is a diverting place even in the absence of a street fair, and a visit to the library—where we haven't been for years, it seems like—and the visitor center kept things feeling entertaining. Of couse, we also needed to find food! We ended up going to Via Lago for a takeout meal that was quite a bit more expensive than what we would have bought at the fair, but probably a whole lot better too. And then we climbed some trees and played cornhole on the court thingy they had set up there.

Oh, and there was also a fairy house and garden tour advertised on signs all over the place, which we mostly ignored until we stumbled upon a little fairy village tucked under some trees on the edge of the lawn by Buckman Tavern. It would have been even better if there were more moveable parts for the boys to play with, but even as it was it felt like a pretty good discovery.