We spent last week vacationing along the coast of Southern California, so upon returning, I was itching for a Green Mountain fix, but being on daddy duty impacts that a bit. Last year we had done some partial hikes on Green, often just taking one at a time, but today we were going all in.
To make the hike reasonable, we drove to the top of SuperFlag and started on the West Ridge Trail, which for most fit hikers or trail runners is a lark, but for these 4.5 year olds, it was a perfect challenge with a great summit reward.
Amelie
Isabelle making her very own animal tracks in the snow
We had to make a lot of stops to check out pasque flowers and any other flowers that are slowly emerging. We make lots of stops to learn about the environment around them, flowers, trees, animal tracks/sounds/sightings, geography and peak names, geology, flood damage (none on this hike, but they were talking about it often). It takes a lot of time, but they LOVE absorbing the world around them and are like little sponges. I love teaching them.
Isabelle taking a snack break
I thought the final steep and technical section would be the crux, but they had the most fun here and powered up it with no problem, matching the pace of some adults on the trail.
Heading to the summit video:
Amelie was really cranking ahead and later confessed that she was really motivated by the thought of eating gummy bears on the summit:
The reward, summit views and gummy bears.
I am a proud dad.
They climbed the summit boulder on their own with a little spotting.
On the way back, they wanted to do some trail running on the smoother sections.
This hike (with some running at times) took a few hours with all the stops for snacking, learning and views, but they did remarkably well, getting a little tired toward the end, but otherwise were no worse for the wear aside from some sore leg muscles the next day and a ravenous appetite afterwards. We'll certainly be making this a weekly outing over the remainder of Spring and into Summer, with the goal of starting lower and lower down the mountain and getting to higher elevations as the snow melts.
Showing their trail running skills:
