Adventure with Alex

Yesterday Alex and I completed two trails that I have hiked on probably a hundred times over the last 12 years, but never in their entirety. The Bryce Path climbs from scenic pathways around Echo Lake State Park 1,120 feet in 1 mile before, reaching the top of Cathedral Ledge. The Whitehorse Ledge Trail allows you to loop over the top of Whitehorse, out towards the Moats, and back around the base below the South Buttress for a 3.8 mile loop hike with over 1,600 feet of elevation gain in total.

The reason I have spent so much time on this trail without actually completing it is the lower portion of the Bryce Path is the regular descent route after finishing a technical climb on the Whitehorse Ledge Slabs. I am not alone in overlooking this great hike in our backyard, as two regular climbers I bumped into in town today both responded to my plans with “Bryce Path, where’s that?”. “Oh, the descent trail off Whitehorse? That goes all the way around doesn’t it?” One of them has climbed on these cliffs for 20+ years!

We left the lot at 10:41am and climbed quickly to the col between the two well known ledges. Throughout the climb I noticed how unfamiliar this trail looked going up it, despite the dozens of times I had come down it after completing a rock climb. At a juncture I turned right to head up to Cathedral Ledge, and minutes later Alex slipped off to sleep. He was probably still beat from his long birthday weekend with more friends & family stopping by to see him than we could keep track of!

We had only left the car 35 minutes ago when we topped out on Cathedral. Book time was (cough) 50 minutes by the way (cough).

Familiar Whitehorse Ledge from Cathedral Ledge

Out cold…

We reversed our direction and dropped back down into the woods. After a short descent we left the Bryce Path and picked up the Whitehorse Ledge Trail. A few minutes later Alex awoke and decided it was time to get out of the carrier. I tried to convince him the flat, sunny,  summit rocks of Whitehorse, only 10 minutes away, would be a much nicer (and cleaner) place for a diaper change and snack but he wasn’t hearing it. We pulled off the trail and took 5 to 10 minutes to stretch, snack a little, and get a dry diaper on. Alex made sure he had as many pine-needles as he could get his hands on in every crevice by the time I was getting him back into the pack. Just around the corner we got our first view of the summit slabs of Whitehorse, where a few days earlier I had a great day climbing with a new client.

You can read about our technical rock climb here: http://davidlottmann.wordpress.com/2012/09/24/private-rock-climbing-9-21-2012/

We soon reached the flat open summit ledges and Alex perked up at the change in scenery (or maybe the dry diaper).

Whitehorse Ledge Summit Ledges

We made out way down the backside of the mountain with some fine views towards the Moats and after passing the Red Ridge Link Trail Alex started to get fussy again. He seemed to notice when I took a sip from my CamelBak tube so I decided to experiment and passed it back to him. He instantly starting gulping down some of the 100 ounces of water I was carrying. At first I was impressed he knew how to work the mouthpiece to get the water running, but then I realized this was probably way easier than learning how to “latch” the first couple weeks of his life.

One issue I had was I couldn’t monitor how much water he was taking, and I was concerned he would either drink to much, or pull off the mouth-piece which could be a choking hazard. I was embarrassed to realize I didn’t know if a 1 year old (as of yesterday) was supposed to drink water. We gave him plenty of formula, breast milk, and occasionally watered down low-sugar kids apple juice, but never just plain water. And while some reading this right now may shake their heads at this technological invasion during this great nature hike I noticed I had 4G coverage on my iPhone and asked Siri if my 1 year old should drink water.

Slowing my pace, I quickly read that some water was fine and decided I wouldn’t continue reading what 8 other websites had to say on the subject. The kid was thirsty, and the CamelBak tube was relaxing him. I checked to make sure the BiteValve was on as tight as it could be, and we continued our descent.

Thirsty

I’m not a very OCD type parent, but I do like to monitor how much he eats and drinks while we are on the trail. With the cooler Fall temperatures we loose more moisture through respiration than in the humid summer months, so fluid intake should go up. Dehydration has the same symptoms in adults as it has in children. The first thing to observe is the color of urine. Here, diapers are a blessing, as it is very easy to see if you’re diaper wearing kiddo is dehydrated when changing them. Dark or smelly urine is a clear sign of dehydration. A nice heavy wet diaper that is barely yellow is a great sign that he has been getting enough fluids, but during this transitional time (infant to toddler) be sure they’re getting some potassium/sodium in their daily diet. I attributed Alex’s previous fussiness to minor dehydration, because after 10 minutes of sipping on the CamelBak he was happy as a lamb for the last 15 minutes of the hike back to the car.

We reached the car exactly 2 hours and 10 minutes from starting the hike. Book time was (cough) 3 hours, 5 minutes (cough).