Megan and Caleb allowed me to capitalize on a conference I had to attend in New Hampshire with some solo winter hiking and camping in the days just prior. I had to be in Manchester all-day on Tuesday so I figured why not head up to Franconia Notch to climb a few mountains on Saturday, Sunday and Monday?
I am posting this here, even though Caleb was not along for the trip, because I think he and I will take many of these types of trips in the future. Plus, I think three days of solitude in the mountains is important for a Dad. I thought about he and Megan a lot and was able to spend time doing something I love. I can’t wait to have him join me on a future winter trip, and he and I are already planning some spring and summer outings.
The weather was phenomenal, in my book, ranging from about 0˚ to 28˚ F depending on the time of day, with an added wind chill of anywhere from 10˚ down to -25˚ F on the exposed portions of the mountain. I only experienced the extreme end of those temperatures on my last day of hiking (on the approach and also on the summit of Mt. Tom) and otherwise had very nice hiking weather.
The evening temperatures were a bit on the cold side as I chose not to buy a new winter sleeping bag and instead brought my light-weight 25˚ bag (which, I have decided after this trip, is clearly a 35-40˚ bag). I made up the difference, as the temperature was between 0˚ and 10˚ each night (inside the tent), with a liner and by sleeping fully clothed, minus my shells. That meant that on my legs I had two pairs of socks, mid-weight long underwear, and my insulation pants (synthetic fill, and quite warm). On my torso, I had a wicking shirt, a mid-weight top, and my insulation jacket (same fill as the pants). I also wore my gloves, my hat, my fleece face mask, and the first night, my wind stopper balaclava as well. I wised up the second night and added a fleece to my torso, a third pair of socks (a liner + two mid weight pairs) and created a foot warmer with a Sigg full of boiling water (nestled in a sock) for the bottom portion of my bag. I left off the second balaclava, cinched myself in, and was more comfortable on the second night, despite a temperature of roughly 10˚ lower. It all worked out just fine, BUT, in the future, I’m bringing a 0˚ bag or warmer, and saving myself a lot of trouble and hassle.
On to the hiking. As I was on my own, and lacking in some key equipment (hmmmm, like winter boots, crampons, and snowshoes), I decided to stick to moderate summit attempts. My trail running shoes (yes, waterproof, but absent any kind of insulation or real support) performed perfectly, as did my trusty MicroSpikes. In short, I stuck to peaks that had minimal alpine zones and kept things simple. By Monday afternoon, I had managed to summit Mt. Liberty, the north peak of Mt. Kinsman, and Mt. Tom.
If you want to see some of the photos and read more about the trip, click on the image below.
OK, I finally had some time to sit down and put text next to each image from our recent trip to Costa Rica. Click on the photo below to view the images and read more about our trip.
As a brief overview, we spent a week on the Pacific side of the country just north of a beautiful fishing village (Puerto San Juanillo). We were there for a wedding (Megan was the photographer) and spent most of our down-time relaxing (read: hammock time, pool time, beach time, etc.) and exploring a bit (a few hikes and two small outings (Tamarindo and a turtle boat tour). We had a wonderful time, and may possibly be in love with Costa Rica as a result of our time there. Now we just have to plan a trip so we can experience the rainy season…
Yes, we had a phenomenal time! A longer post will come in the next week or so, but in the meantime enjoy the few ‘teaser’ photos below, or check out all of the photos in this gallery.
This is a completely unrelated post as it is about Lumiere Imaging (Megan and my photography company) but I include it here for a few reasons.
First, I love the archival aspect of blogs. Megan and I have redesigned our photography website about 10 times since we launched our business in 1999. Many of those designs are long since forgotten. Some can be found online in various historical archives while others we more diligently preserved on our own. With a blog, however, content is almost never lost (within the blog, on an internet archive, within various server backups, etc.), so I tend to post things that I want to remember.
Second, Megan and I care deeply (very deeply) about making travel a constant presence in our own lives, and more importantly, in Caleb’s life. He loves to travel and we love to travel with him. Accordingly, we are opening our business (lumiereimaging.com) up to take on more exclusively travel and documentary photography commissions, whereas previously we would only take on wedding or small portraiture work.
Third, in looking at our photographs (granted, the following is a bit awkward to point out about one’s own work), our travel and documentary images represent very honestly a lot of what makes Megan and I tick. And indeed, whenever we travel as a family, or on our own, we always come home changed in some mild or noticeably profound way. Caleb shows the same growth during our adventures, a result we strive to maintain by committing to take a healthy number of trips every year.
So, click on the below to browse through a few of our new home page images (they appear with a randomizer script on the Lumiere homepage) which are focused on documentary and travel imagery. We’ll be updating our portfolios in the next month or so and will also start to pursue this type of work more actively. (Shameless plug: If you happen to stumble across this post and want nothing more than to secure us immediately for a documentary or travel project, please contact us on the Lumiere Imaging contact page. – Thank you!)
Just a few photos from my hike in the Middlesex Fells Reservation yesterday. I did the Reservoir Loop Trail, which aside from the various dog excrement land mines, was very pleasant.
He coined the term (at least between he and I) of “microspiking,” or hiking while wearing MicroSpikes. Here are a few photos from our second Micro-spiking adventure…
…sleeping by the front door on a lazy winter workday…
I’m at home tending to one rather sick Caleb this morning so now is as good a time as any to post the resource to the right. If you click on the image (or here), a US Forest Service guide to hiking in the White Mountains will download (or display in your browser, if you have that capability). While the guide is geared specifically toward hiking and backpacking in New Hampshire’s White Mountains, the infomation is easily applicable to outdoor pursuits in almost any region.
In particular, I recommend that everyone read the following sections:
- Hiker Responsibility Code (pg. 2)
- Recommended clothing and equipment (pg. 2)
- Stepping Safely (pg. 3)
- Leave No Trace (pg. 8)
On item #2 above, I have one essential to add to the list of ten essentials, and two optional items to add, depending on the type of hike: 1) sunscreen, 2) an extra pair of socks, and 3) extra water.
1) I am a little surprised that sunscreen is not considered an essential, especially for the White Mountains. Exposure can creep up on you while you are hiking, and moreso if you are lucky enough to be hiking for extended periods above the treeline.
2) I recommend considering a second pair of socks if you anticipate that your first pair may get wet and uncomfortable while hiking. An extra pair adds little weight and bulk, but can be priceless if you accidentally get your feet wet miles away from the trailhead. I almost always carry an extra pair regardless of the season, but on winter hikes, my pack is never without a spare liner and winter sock replacement.
3) The single most important item in your pack, aside from a map and compass, perhaps, is plenty of water. That said, water is heavy, and I frequently battle with taking too much water and having to lug around the extra weight. On the upside, if you are hydrating properly, your pack will become lighter throughout the day as you transfer the water from bottle to your digestive system…
I love to read. I have always loved to read.
I will read almost anything, provided it is at least modestly well-written, and will invariably finish what I start unless the content is incredibly boring, or I somehow otherwise lose interest. (I tend to read a few books at a time, unless they are so captivating that I read them through in one sitting. So, quite often, I will return after a few weeks to finish a book I put down to start and/or finish another one.) I used to describe myself as ’someone whom will read anything, from the side of a serial box to a tome from Tolstoy’ (though I haven’t yet opened War and Peace, I have read Anna Karenina, and yes, the former is on my to-do list).
Naturally, either through osmosis, or more likely from regular exposure to books by Megan and I since the moment his prenatal ear buds were forming, Caleb also loves to read. He reads by himself, he reads to his animal friends (eh-hem…when he is supposed to be sleeping at night, we sometimes open his door and find him reading a book in his bed to his stuffed animals), and he sits patiently (as patiently as a 3-year old boy can sit, I guess) while we read stories long and short to him. And occasionally, if we are so lucky, he even reads to us.
One of my most cherished memories is of the time that Caleb read to me (from memory) The Giving Tree when he was about two and a half. I gave him the book for his first Christmas and changed all of the gender references of the tree from a female to a male. It is probably my favorite children’s book, and I cherish sharing it with Caleb (which we do at least once a month). To say that he had me in tears by the end of the book would be an understatement.
So what are we reading now?
Among the usual fare of normal kid’s books, we recently read my childhood copy of Robinson Crusoe (which, after dozens of under-the-blanket-with-a-flashlight reading sessions by me as a young boy, is rather worn down and dog-eared) and have started the 7-book series, The Chronicals of Narnia.
While Robinson Crusoe is probably my favorite book of all time (sheesh, that sounds rather cheesy), The Chronicals of Narnia hold special meaning to Megan and I. We both read the series as children, Megan with her parents and on her own, and me several times on my own throughout my childhood and teenage years. Caleb and I are about three quarters of the way through The Magician’s Nephew (book one, which unknown to many, precedes the most popular book in the series, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe). Caleb is engrossed in the story and determinedly does not like Queen Jadis or Uncle Andrew one bit. The Lion (Aslan), on the other hand, he is entranced with. (His favorite of his stuffed animals is his lion, P.L.C. Lion, whom often sits with us while we read.)
The set we purchased (pictured above) is my top recommendation for parents who want to read the series to kids under the age of 8 or so. It contains the full text, but is beautifully adorned every few pages with color illustrations. Indeed, while there are often three pages in a stretch without an illustration, I find that Caleb’s attention can easily be maintained throughout a full chapter in one sitting (often two) because the periodic illustrations routinely give him a visual on which to hook the story.
So the next time you see Caleb, be sure you ask him about Digory and Polly and what he thinks of Queen Jadis!
OK, so I’m still trying to catch up. Here’s a link to some photos from Christmas. You’ll see my nephew Alex (my sister’s son) in few of the shots. The rest are mainly of Caleb having a great time. The one below is of Caleb and Nadine opening presents.
