After a few failed attempts, I got her into a little bucket
In the end, it all turned out fine. Scaley got re-homed way way back in the woods behind the house...
So we dwell in a peacable kingdom once more.
Sunday, May 31, 2020
Moving Day for Scaley!
Scaley the garter snake was lurking a little too close to Phoebe's nest for a little too long, so we decided it was time for her to take a snakation.
After a few failed attempts, I got her into a little bucket
- but not before she gave me a nip on the finger.
...and we get to feel like maybe we protected Phoebe and family (for a brief moment).
After a few failed attempts, I got her into a little bucket
New Discovery in the Understairs Ecosysytem
This morning as I was coming back from examining mommy's vegetable garden, I saw a tail slipping through the grass under the staircase where Phoebe lives. It seems there is another creature spending time down there.
Sadie and Sawyer have named her Scaley.
Hopefully, Scaley is just passing through and not planning anything untoward.
In any event, Phoebe is on her guard.
Sadie and Sawyer have named her Scaley.
Hopefully, Scaley is just passing through and not planning anything untoward.
In any event, Phoebe is on her guard.
Saturday, May 30, 2020
Waterford Visit
Last weekend we went to Waterford and got a little exploring in. Sadie and Sawyer both drove around in the Polaris (steering with Papa's help).
Frankie wandered around being adorable in her mixed florals.
Sawyer decimated some dandelions.
This one I found on my phone later. These two sneaks keep selfying.
Keep Your Eyes Peeled for Frogs!
We took a little nature walk this afternoon just a few miles up the road from our house. The trail was a lovely winding thing through the woods along a little stream recommended by Grandma India.
Considering what an easy little trail it was, it certainly was an eventful walk.
Then mommy spotted a frog, which caused quite a sensation.
Sawyer got to touch his first frog! I am delighted. I was genuinely worried that my kids' spending their childhoods in NYC might mean they never caught frogs or got truly down in the dirt - but here they are!
Sadie found some fun fungus.
Sawyer insisted we all "keep our eyes peeled for frogs."
The kids made their way down an embankment to the stream and did a little off-piste exploring on their own.
Back near the parking lot there were oodles of pretty yellow butterflies for Sawyer and Frankie to chase about.
CHEERS!
Considering what an easy little trail it was, it certainly was an eventful walk.
Frankie did a little walking on her own on the trail.
Then mommy spotted a frog, which caused quite a sensation.
Sawyer got to touch his first frog! I am delighted. I was genuinely worried that my kids' spending their childhoods in NYC might mean they never caught frogs or got truly down in the dirt - but here they are!
Sadie found some fun fungus.
Sawyer insisted we all "keep our eyes peeled for frogs."
The kids made their way down an embankment to the stream and did a little off-piste exploring on their own.
Back near the parking lot there were oodles of pretty yellow butterflies for Sawyer and Frankie to chase about.
And when we got home the kids cooked off with icy pops.
And the grownups had bloody marys - they're not just for brunch anymore.
Wednesday, May 27, 2020
Tuesday, May 26, 2020
Memorial Day Weekend 2020 (Monday): The Eyebrow Trail - A Serious Hike!
Even though we didn't make any real plans for Memorial Day weekend, we managed to do plenty and wear ourselves out completely. This is one of the big advantages of sheltering in Maine, where there are unlimited outdoor activities to do AND we have a car so we can go do them!
The last activity of the last day of the weekend was a trip back up to Grafton Notch State Park to find a trail to hike - we didn't even pick a trail until around 3:30pm as we were already in the car driving up. In fact, by the time we figured out which trail we wanted to take, we were at the very edge of cell phone service so we only knew the name of the trail and location of the trail head and that it was classified online as "moderate" difficulty - THE EYEBROW TRAIL!
Here we all are looking pretty happy before we hit the first climb.
And here it is - the first real indication that this was not going to be a simple trail - steel poles with a steel cable to pull ourselves up a very steep climb over rocks and roots.
And when we got to the top of that climb we found we had to traverse a steep rock face that was slick with fresh runoff from melting snow high above and a very steep drop-off just below it. Sawyer took one look at that traverse and got sad. He did not want to do it - none of us did, but going down was not an option!
There were hand rails embedded into the rock face and a steel ladder on the far side to climb up off the face onto dirt trails again. But it was still pretty demanding - especially for little people (and big people carrying little people on their backs) - but mommy made it look easy (because she's a star!).
It was a good long hike after that to the top of the trail where the views were fantastic.
Here it is - a top contender for our holiday card this year!
My beautiful wife! So outdoorsy!
Sadie got a little chilly and put on mommy's shirt.
Oh, did I mention that the Eyebrow Trail converges near its peak with the Appalachian trail. So, the descent back to the parking lot was actually on the AT. Now we can all say we hiked the Appalachian Trail!! (a little bit of it, at least)
Other hikers we encountered near the top were coming back down from "Old Speck" which is higher up the AT and they said it was plenty icy - almost requiring crampons. All the snow we encountered was pretty much on its last legs though - still, it was exciting seeing snow in late May as it evidenced the source of the many streams we had to cross.
It is hard to see, but Sawyer is rock hopping across a stream here.
And here I am with Frankie after crossing another.
I think Sawyer tromped right through this one.
And Sadie crossed this one by bridge.
No idea how she went across this one.
We didn't cross this one until much further below where it was flatter and there were rocks to hop.
Here's a video of one particularly fun crossing. Sawyer probably could have done it alone, but it was already past 6pm and he was pretty loopy.
These kids are troopers. They have graduated from Trail Monkeys to Trail Cheetahs!
The last activity of the last day of the weekend was a trip back up to Grafton Notch State Park to find a trail to hike - we didn't even pick a trail until around 3:30pm as we were already in the car driving up. In fact, by the time we figured out which trail we wanted to take, we were at the very edge of cell phone service so we only knew the name of the trail and location of the trail head and that it was classified online as "moderate" difficulty - THE EYEBROW TRAIL!
Here we all are looking pretty happy before we hit the first climb.
And here it is - the first real indication that this was not going to be a simple trail - steel poles with a steel cable to pull ourselves up a very steep climb over rocks and roots.
And when we got to the top of that climb we found we had to traverse a steep rock face that was slick with fresh runoff from melting snow high above and a very steep drop-off just below it. Sawyer took one look at that traverse and got sad. He did not want to do it - none of us did, but going down was not an option!
There were hand rails embedded into the rock face and a steel ladder on the far side to climb up off the face onto dirt trails again. But it was still pretty demanding - especially for little people (and big people carrying little people on their backs) - but mommy made it look easy (because she's a star!).
It was a good long hike after that to the top of the trail where the views were fantastic.
Frankie was a trooper - only occasionally shrieking in my ears at the top of her lungs.
Here it is - a top contender for our holiday card this year!
My beautiful wife! So outdoorsy!
Sadie got a little chilly and put on mommy's shirt.
Oh, did I mention that the Eyebrow Trail converges near its peak with the Appalachian trail. So, the descent back to the parking lot was actually on the AT. Now we can all say we hiked the Appalachian Trail!! (a little bit of it, at least)
Other hikers we encountered near the top were coming back down from "Old Speck" which is higher up the AT and they said it was plenty icy - almost requiring crampons. All the snow we encountered was pretty much on its last legs though - still, it was exciting seeing snow in late May as it evidenced the source of the many streams we had to cross.
It is hard to see, but Sawyer is rock hopping across a stream here.
And here I am with Frankie after crossing another.
I think Sawyer tromped right through this one.
And Sadie crossed this one by bridge.
No idea how she went across this one.
We didn't cross this one until much further below where it was flatter and there were rocks to hop.
Here's a video of one particularly fun crossing. Sawyer probably could have done it alone, but it was already past 6pm and he was pretty loopy.
These kids are troopers. They have graduated from Trail Monkeys to Trail Cheetahs!
According to the internet, the entire trail was only 2.1 miles and has a 1,069 foot elevation gain, but it took us 3 hours to do it and we weren't dawdling. It might be only 2.1 miles as seen from above, but with all the ascending and descending and crossing streams and navigating through big rocks, it felt like the step count was MUCH higher.
It was definitely a more ambitious hike than we had planned, but it all turned out well and we were all very proud of ourselves for completing it safely.
It was definitely a more ambitious hike than we had planned, but it all turned out well and we were all very proud of ourselves for completing it safely.
Memorial Day Weekend 2020 ACCOMPLISHED!!
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