Speaking of mountains...
Aug. 25th, 2019 05:25 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mafiefMy family hiked Bald Knob this weekend for my husband’s birthday. I only giggled at the name just a little bit.
Bald knob is located in the Ossipee mountain range. What’s special about this place is it’s an extinct volcano. The volcano was active in the Jurassic Period and subsequently covered by various glaciers over time until the last ice age where it was covered in 500 ft of glacial ice. So, it’s been worn down a little. You can see the ridge of the volcano in the map below. The tiny red dot is near Bald Knob.
These are columnar formations only occur in areas with a volcano. It’s the same process that made the Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland and the Devil’s Tower in Wyoming.
This bit of knowledge is also useful to psych the boys up about a ~6 mile hike. Because, seriously, who doesn’t want to visit an extinct volcano? Mr Four was not convinced we were on a volcano and kept asking where it was. Mr Six was narrating the hike and was convinced that every feature was made from lava and that any round rock was a dinosaur egg. He was partially right about the feature part. Both boys thought the view was the best part of the hike and I agree that the view of Lake Winnipesaukee is gorgeous.
The red castle-like building that is there but can’t be seen well is called Castle in Clouds. It was built by some millionaire around 1910. We didn’t visit it, but it’s a popular destination.
The boys made friends with everyone we hiked past. We met one friendly lady who was a paddle board instructor and was conditioning her whistle trained dog. The boys found her fascinating and wanted to blow the whistles she was carrying. She gave the boys a whistle and, since she lived nearby, left a second one in her mailbox for us to get later. While this was amazingly sweet, I - the parent of children who now possess very loud whistles - am on the fence.
The boys did an amazing job and walked the whole thing with their little legs. They were the youngest people we passed by that day, and the adults who were older than me were impressed by them. This was the longest and steepest trail they have done so far. There was minimal complaining and we didn’t have to carry anyone. It also helps that I brought swedish fish and sour patch kids as extra motivation to get to the next resting place. But whatever, they did great and I’m very proud of them.
Bald knob is located in the Ossipee mountain range. What’s special about this place is it’s an extinct volcano. The volcano was active in the Jurassic Period and subsequently covered by various glaciers over time until the last ice age where it was covered in 500 ft of glacial ice. So, it’s been worn down a little. You can see the ridge of the volcano in the map below. The tiny red dot is near Bald Knob.
These are columnar formations only occur in areas with a volcano. It’s the same process that made the Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland and the Devil’s Tower in Wyoming.
This bit of knowledge is also useful to psych the boys up about a ~6 mile hike. Because, seriously, who doesn’t want to visit an extinct volcano? Mr Four was not convinced we were on a volcano and kept asking where it was. Mr Six was narrating the hike and was convinced that every feature was made from lava and that any round rock was a dinosaur egg. He was partially right about the feature part. Both boys thought the view was the best part of the hike and I agree that the view of Lake Winnipesaukee is gorgeous.
The red castle-like building that is there but can’t be seen well is called Castle in Clouds. It was built by some millionaire around 1910. We didn’t visit it, but it’s a popular destination.
The boys made friends with everyone we hiked past. We met one friendly lady who was a paddle board instructor and was conditioning her whistle trained dog. The boys found her fascinating and wanted to blow the whistles she was carrying. She gave the boys a whistle and, since she lived nearby, left a second one in her mailbox for us to get later. While this was amazingly sweet, I - the parent of children who now possess very loud whistles - am on the fence.
The boys did an amazing job and walked the whole thing with their little legs. They were the youngest people we passed by that day, and the adults who were older than me were impressed by them. This was the longest and steepest trail they have done so far. There was minimal complaining and we didn’t have to carry anyone. It also helps that I brought swedish fish and sour patch kids as extra motivation to get to the next resting place. But whatever, they did great and I’m very proud of them.
no subject
Date: 2019-08-25 09:44 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-08-25 11:01 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-08-26 07:55 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-08-29 09:13 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-08-26 05:41 pm (UTC)Um, good luck with the whistles + children :O
Glad you had such a great day and cheers for your boys doing so well. They must be proud of their achievement as well?
no subject
Date: 2019-08-29 09:18 am (UTC)Yes, I agree totally. I wished we could have found a fossil, but I have no idea how to hunt for them. So I tried to get them excited about strange rocks. ;)
We’ve sent the kids outside with their whistles. We may no longer be liked by our neighbors....
I’m not sure they were proud or not. We told them we were proud of them and what they did was a big deal, but I don’t think they really understood. I’m not sure when they developmentally get pride in their accomplishments.
no subject
Date: 2019-08-28 11:57 pm (UTC)What a wonderful experience though - I'm glad you all had such a good time. The views look amazing. And what a sweet gesture indeed from that (clearly childless) paddle board instructor ^___^ Good luck with coping with the whistles.
And I was going to look up the etymology of 'Bald Knob' but I'm too afraid to Google it ^___^
no subject
Date: 2019-09-07 11:57 pm (UTC)The whistles have been mysteriously lost and they’ve (thankfully) not asked about them. I wonder where they got to...
Haha! Me too and then I got too curious. So bald is lacking trees and knob is an prominent or isolated mountain bump. The name is extremely literal. This is way less entertaining than I wanted it to be. ;)