LOCALadk Magazine

26 Summer 2015 LOCALadk Magazine LOCALadk JESSICA: I would be remiss if I did not take a moment to express grati- tude for the various trail maintainers who help take care of things out in the woods. In general, we found the NPT to be well marked and in good condition, including its numerous bridges and boardwalks. However, be- ing a wilderness trail, conditions can change, and it's unreasonable to ex- pect that issues will be dealt with immediately. Hikers must be prepared to figure their own way out of tricky situations. It wasn't until our ninth day of hiking that we encountered a potentially problematic section of trail. CASEY: We soon got to a deep stream. Unfortunately, the boardwalk over it was almost totally gone. Dad said that we would have to balance on a floating log, but the water looked over my head, so Mom decided to search for another way across. We found a faint trail through the woods downstream. It led to a narrower spot where we could jump across. But we had to carry Watson. JESSICA: If Casey had his way, every hike would be a non-stop party of singing, word games, and endless conversation. Unfortunately for him, the other members of the family prefer quieter hiking. Usually it's the parents who make a point of spending some time talking and singing with him. But on our 18.5 mile day, his brother ultimately helped the most, talking Casey through the final miles and into our last campsite of the trip. CASEY: We hiked, and hiked, and hiked some more. We hiked almost twenty miles that day! Elliot helped with how tired I was by talking to me about Magic the Gathering, a fantasy trading card game we both play. We finally got to Cold River #2 lean-to. But there were people in it! I was overjoyed when they told us there was another empty lean-to just across the trail. I was mightily pleased to go to bed that night. JESSICA: Mentally, the last six miles of the NPT to Averyville Road in Lake Placid were the hardest for all of us. The trail was not especially de- manding, but we were nearly done and people were eagerly anticipating what would come next (ice cream!). CASEY: Once we started up again after lunch at Wanika Falls, that was about the worst part. There were no major landmarks, so we had to al- most guess where we were on the map. We crossed bridges, had snacks, and climbed rocks. But mostly we just kept hiking. I was SO tired. Eventually we knew we were getting close from all the trail maintenance. The bridges were really nice, and the trail became well trodden. Before we knew it, we saw a sign. We had reached the end! We ran the last little bit to the car. We were done! We got in our car and drove to a new ice cream shop, the Pine Cone. I was allowed to get a waffle cone AND some mint chocolate sprinkles. After eating, we drove to our friends' house. It had taken us many days, but we had hiked the entire Northville-Placid Trail! JESSICA: Recently, I asked both kids if they'd had fun on our trip. They reported that they'd had fun, but not every moment of the trip was en- joyable. In particular, rain and bugs were not fun. Carrying packs was not necessarily fun, especially when they started to feel heavy. But both boys said that overall, the trip was a good experience. They felt proud and ac- complished at the end, looking back and realizing how many miles they'd covered. Perhaps most important, they both asked, "What are we going to do this summer?" Jessica Seem

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