…and in one piece.

Here’s a fun video from this morning, shot just below the summit of Lafayette:

This was shot just south of the summit of Bondcliff (White Mountains, NH) and pans from there to Mt. Bond, West Bond, over to Franconia Ridge. Mts. Lafayette and Lincoln (where I would be two days later) are buried in the clouds).

One final one of me waving (after fidgeting with the camera a few times) to Caleb from the summit of Mt. Garfield.

Caleb and Megan have a Mommy weekend tomorrow through Monday night. They have graciously supported my desire to go on a backpacking trip in the White Mountains for a few days (or, perhaps they sneakily backed out of having to come. Hmmmm…….). Here’s a snapshot of the hike (click on the image for an enlargement), also known as the Pemi Loop, which (with the side trips I am adding) runs about 37 miles:

Dave (a friend of mine from work) generously offered three tickets to us for last night’s Red Sox game. We had a blast, despite the rain, as the Sox routed the Indians 13 to 3. Thank you Dave! We had a great time watching the game with you and meeting your family!

Caleb checking out the game during one of the earlier innings. It started raining in the first or second inning, I think, and Caleb wore his rain jacket and pants for the rest of the game!

Caleb’s view of the game, before I propped him up on my backpack…

The view was amazing, especially as the sun started to set.

Caleb and Megan having a great time.

Dave’s brother, Dave, his sister-in-law, Megan, and Caleb.

If you managed to check out this video you know already that Caleb and I went camping in the White Mountains this weekend. We were there for two days and one night and had a great time. Our plan was to camp for three days and two nights but we headed back a day early leaving on a high note. On the down side, I remember one of the main reasons I like winter hiking so much — no ticks, mosquitoes, or spiders getting in your face, secretly attaching themselves to your body while you hike, or crawling all over your tent looking for a way in.

Caleb did a bunch of hiking and had a fantastic time. He did not enjoy the bugs (mainly those that crawled on the tent) but really liked the hiking and playing at our campsite. We came prepared with two footballs, a soccer ball, a bunch of toys and books, and had several short hikes in our back pocket if we ran out of things to do. One highlight was a massive rainbow (sorry, no photos) that appeared during the short rain shower just after I woke up on our second day. Another was when Caleb came out of nowhere with information we discussed about hiking with an ice axe. But I think my favorite part of the trip was watching my son scramble up to the peak of Bald Mountain like a champ. Enjoy the photos below (click on the image for more…).

Caleb and I went hiking and camping in the White Mountains this weekend. Here’s a clip from our trip. (Note: It’s a bit long. My favorite part, if you want to skip ahead, is around the 4-minute mark.)

Here are some photos from our hike this Sunday in the Middlesex Fells Reservation (click on the photo to see more).

Caleb, Megan and I started our hike from the Medford High parking lot, heading straight for Rams Head Road, which we then took to the top of Rams Head Hill. We stayed there for a few minutes, took a family shot, had some water and snacks, and then headed down to the north side of the hill to pick up Rams Head Road again. We parted ways there, Megan and Caleb heading back to the car, while I went on to hike the Skyline Trail that circles the western half of the reservation.

The day was perfect for hiking, and spending some time exploring the Fells really makes me feel blessed to live within walking distance of so many of its trail heads.

We took a little family hike today (photos to come later) and I thought this clip of Caleb scrambling up the last bit of trail before the top of Ram’s Head Hill was pretty cute.

Caleb, Nadine and I had a great Daddy Day yesterday. The weather was beautiful (sunny, pretty clouds, and in the mid 60’s) so we decided to go for a hike. We packed up a nice hiking lunch, filled our water bottles, and drove to Great Brook Farm State Park. Caleb nabbed his own trail map when we arrived, and chose a wonderful loop hike that meandered through the woods and also by several ponds and meadows. We had a nice lunch (snacks along the trail, and then a sit-down lunch by the big pond) and said hello to the farm animals. Unfortunately we could not find Nadine’s goat friend, but she didn’t seem to mind too much. Unfortunately, though we packed a great lunch, I forgot to bring a camera. So…

Instead of hiking photos, I offer this photo of “Dash” (from the Incredibles). Caleb was looking forward to Megan’s train arriving in West Medford and rather than giving him a much-needed trim, we decided to spike his hair. He insisted on being called Dash thereafter (yes, all night — he pretty much would not answer to “Caleb”) and could (almost, if you looked really quickly and have very sharp vision) be seen sprinting around the house for the rest of the afternoon and evening.

After dinner we decided to walk to Arlington since the weather was so nice and a bit of walking would be fun. By that point Caleb’s hair dried in a big spikey puff. It was fantastic.

Mt. Washington, though tiny at under 7,000 ft. in comparison to the rest, is considered (at least in this list) to be the 9th most dangerous mountain for climbing.

› World’s 10 Most Dangerous Mountains

[Update, 4/5/09]: Here are three very interesting articles related to Mt. Washington:

• A 2004 National Geographic Adventure Magazine article about Mt. Washington
• A February 2009 National Geographic article about Mt. Washington
• Amazing photographs from the National Geographic article (previous item)

Caleb, Nadine and I went on a hike in the Middlesex Fells Reservation this afternoon. It was a gorgeous day in the high 30’s and a perfect afternoon to go on a Daddy Day hike (check out the photos here!).