sleeping bear
New member
Last weekend was my last weekend to hike in the Whites. It was the last not because I have already left, but because I had been saving this weekend, my true las weekend here, for a special camping trip with my cousin. His name is Donovan and he's 32, he's also got Downs Syndrome. We've spent quite a bit of time hanging out in the year that I've lived here, and I really wanted to take him camping. We started planning this trip early in May, and he's been excited about it ever since.
As I had to work until 6 pm on Friday we got kind of a late start heading up North. Despite the fading daylight we had a blast in the car with both of us singing along to Michael Jackson (it was either MJ or the Monkees!
) at the top of our lungs. Just past Franocnia Notch we saw a fox, and then a rabbit. The read treat (and scare) came on 2 a few miles before Gorham. I managed to get the car to a complete stop and not slam into a moose and her two calves. Donovan had never seen a moose before, so here were three of them just a few feet away. A litte further and we saw another fox.
We arrived at Dolly Copp about 11 PM and set the tents up with the help of the car headlights. Donovan confided that he was scared to sleep in the tent by himself, so I agreed to share his tent. (he's deathly afraid of spiders)
The next morning the sun was shining and the sky was clear. We hurried with breakfast, packed lunches and got back in the car. A few miles down the road we paid a our $27 to drive up Mt. Washington. At least for the kind of money you get "the" bumper sticker, a CD to listen to on the way up and a frame ready certificate stating that you drove to the top. We took the drive slow and Donovan admired the views. I kept a death grip on the wheel and wondered if anyone has ever driven off the side of the mountain. At the top we parked and added some layers for our breif walk around. Donovan gingerly climbed over the rocks to make his way to the summit sign, battling the winds the whole way. We walked around a bit, took in the views and headed to the gift shop for a t-shirt.
It was really great to see Donovan enjoying being up there. He was so excited, it's hard for me to try and put his emotions into words. I will say, for myself, it was a little strange being up there with a bunch of hikers milling around. The road was pretty cool, but I couldn't help feeling like I, myself, hadn't earned being up there this time. It was an interesting contrast of emotions between my cousin and I.
Back down on 16 we headed to North Conway and then Crawford Notch. We parked at the trailhead for Ripley falls, ate our lunch and then hit the trail. Not 100 feet past the railroad tracks Donovan was already asking how much further it was. I compared the 1 mile distance to another distance he had walked on occasion and that made him feel better. A little further and he didn't like the looks of the roots, rocks and mud, but picked his way through carefully. We stopped several times to rest and pull out the water bottle. Interestingly enough there were a lot of other people taking breaks too, and doing a lot more complaining about the distance and the mud. Not much more than a half an hour passed and we were at Ripley Falls. Again, it's hard for me to convey his excitement, but he thanked me for encouraging him on the trail.
Back at the car we loaded up again, destination- campground. By the time we got back to the campround it had begun to rain. I got a tarp set up just in time for the thunderstorm. That was followed by a brief stint of sunshine, during whcih we discovered a hole in Donovan's borrowed therm-a-rest. Then came the hail. After the hail was more sunshine, and we discovered our fire pit had about 6 inches of water in it. Then it started to rain again. I was now seriously considering packing up and heading home. I turned to Donovan to mention something about it to him when he said "I hope nobody is packing up". I kept my mouth shut. He was having a great time, hail or no hail. So I patched the therm-a-rest and piled some cement blocks I found in the woods in the fire pit. Then the sun came back out and we each had a beer.
This morning it was raining again so we packed up quickly and headed to Dunkin Donuts in N. Conway. The sun started peeking out a bit and allowed us a few more glimpses of foggy mountains as we drove the Kanc back to 93.
It was a great weekend. It was interesting and fun to see Donovan's reactions to the mountains, waterfalls and the weather. "That's mountian weather for you" he kept saying over and over and "Good ole New Hampshire!" What a funny guy. A trip like this really helps me feel good about things I might not usually. Such as; campgrounds, roads to the tops of mountains, scenic pullouts and scenic byways. I can't think of a better way to have spent my last weekend here.
Some pictures
video 1 and video 2
As I had to work until 6 pm on Friday we got kind of a late start heading up North. Despite the fading daylight we had a blast in the car with both of us singing along to Michael Jackson (it was either MJ or the Monkees!
) at the top of our lungs. Just past Franocnia Notch we saw a fox, and then a rabbit. The read treat (and scare) came on 2 a few miles before Gorham. I managed to get the car to a complete stop and not slam into a moose and her two calves. Donovan had never seen a moose before, so here were three of them just a few feet away. A litte further and we saw another fox. We arrived at Dolly Copp about 11 PM and set the tents up with the help of the car headlights. Donovan confided that he was scared to sleep in the tent by himself, so I agreed to share his tent. (he's deathly afraid of spiders)
The next morning the sun was shining and the sky was clear. We hurried with breakfast, packed lunches and got back in the car. A few miles down the road we paid a our $27
to drive up Mt. Washington. At least for the kind of money you get "the" bumper sticker, a CD to listen to on the way up and a frame ready certificate stating that you drove to the top. We took the drive slow and Donovan admired the views. I kept a death grip on the wheel and wondered if anyone has ever driven off the side of the mountain. At the top we parked and added some layers for our breif walk around. Donovan gingerly climbed over the rocks to make his way to the summit sign, battling the winds the whole way. We walked around a bit, took in the views and headed to the gift shop for a t-shirt. It was really great to see Donovan enjoying being up there. He was so excited, it's hard for me to try and put his emotions into words. I will say, for myself, it was a little strange being up there with a bunch of hikers milling around. The road was pretty cool, but I couldn't help feeling like I, myself, hadn't earned being up there this time. It was an interesting contrast of emotions between my cousin and I.
Back down on 16 we headed to North Conway and then Crawford Notch. We parked at the trailhead for Ripley falls, ate our lunch and then hit the trail. Not 100 feet past the railroad tracks Donovan was already asking how much further it was. I compared the 1 mile distance to another distance he had walked on occasion and that made him feel better. A little further and he didn't like the looks of the roots, rocks and mud, but picked his way through carefully. We stopped several times to rest and pull out the water bottle. Interestingly enough there were a lot of other people taking breaks too, and doing a lot more complaining about the distance
and the mud. Not much more than a half an hour passed and we were at Ripley Falls. Again, it's hard for me to convey his excitement, but he thanked me for encouraging him on the trail.Back at the car we loaded up again, destination- campground. By the time we got back to the campround it had begun to rain. I got a tarp set up just in time for the thunderstorm. That was followed by a brief stint of sunshine, during whcih we discovered a hole in Donovan's borrowed therm-a-rest. Then came the hail. After the hail was more sunshine, and we discovered our fire pit had about 6 inches of water in it. Then it started to rain again. I was now seriously considering packing up and heading home. I turned to Donovan to mention something about it to him when he said "I hope nobody is packing up". I kept my mouth shut. He was having a great time, hail or no hail. So I patched the therm-a-rest and piled some cement blocks I found in the woods in the fire pit. Then the sun came back out and we each had a beer.
This morning it was raining again so we packed up quickly and headed to Dunkin Donuts in N. Conway. The sun started peeking out a bit and allowed us a few more glimpses of foggy mountains as we drove the Kanc back to 93.
It was a great weekend. It was interesting and fun to see Donovan's reactions to the mountains, waterfalls and the weather. "That's mountian weather for you" he kept saying over and over and "Good ole New Hampshire!"
What a funny guy. A trip like this really helps me feel good about things I might not usually. Such as; campgrounds, roads to the tops of mountains, scenic pullouts and scenic byways. I can't think of a better way to have spent my last weekend here. Some pictures
video 1 and video 2
