Early this November Caleb and I headed back to the White Mountains for a few days to keep Megan company as she attended a two-day wilderness first-aid class. (Click on the photo to see photos from our trip.) The class, held at the Joe Dodge Lodge, was part of her job at AMC and taught her a ton of excellent skills necessary to allow her to take AMC donors out on a hike. Fracture something or come down with hypothermia while you are hiking? I hope you have Megan with you…

The class entailed two full-day sessions so Caleb and I had plenty of time to romp around and do some hiking while Megan was learning, role playing, and taking tests. It was a tad cold (mid 30’s and 20’s without wind chill the first and second day) so we stuck to hikes that were short and offered easy retreats (i.e. close to the lodge and less than a mile out). The first day we hiked up a portion of the Tuckerman Ravine Trail and the on the second day we hiked up to Square Ledge. We filled the time in between with some reading, a lot of playing tag and chase, and some flying (essentially chase with our arms stretched out while pretending to be planes).

We are on our way back up to the White Mountains this weekend for Thanksgiving. There is snow on the ground and the temperature is quite chilly (it’s in the low 40’s right now, but the temperature has ranged from 9°F to 28°F during the past week (eh, before windchill, which dropped the low end to the negative teens…). So, we are headed up there armed with some new gear for Caleb: new Sorel boots (comfort rated to -25°F), super-warm snow bib pants, and new thermal bottoms and tops. He’s still bringing along his blue parka, trusty mittens, beanie, and a few fleece layers to pile on and peel off, and we may outfit him with a second hat depending on the temperature and wind.

We’ll see how he does and can always retreat to the lodge if he is uncomfortable. We picked out a few short hikes that we have already done and know are accessible, and may simply choose fun activities like trying out snowshoeing or building snow forts if the conditions are too rough.