Kid Tracks Column: A-maze-ing Fun

The truth is, corn mazes are all about getting lost.

My family really enjoys our yearly visits to the Pumpkin Valley Corn Maze in Dayton and this year’s spider web theme made for another fun – and challenging – corn maze adventure for us.

At the entrance to the maze at Pumpkin Valley, a “corn cop” explains a bit about the maze and gives visitors a passport. By answering the trivia questions (there are a bunch of different themed passports to choose from) at each numbered marker within the maze, visitors can get a clue about which way to turn at that marker to find the next one. And here’s a tip: The answers to the passport questions are very tiny and upside down on the bottom of the page if you need extra help (don't mock the idea, you may feel the need to look when you're truly lost in the maze). But knowing the answer isn’t all that helpful at times because even with the correct first turn, you are often faced with many more navigation decisions to get to the next marker.

And let me clarify something now. Everyone is a critic about which path to follow when you're in the maze.

“I know which way to go, mommy, and it’s not that way,” my 10-year-old told me after five minutes in the maze.

So I decided to put her I-know-what-I’m-doing and you’re-not-too-smart-mom notions to the test by asking her to be in charge of leading the family through the maze.

It was not long before the maze’s spider webs had us passing through the same area over and over again.

“No, you’re taking the wrong way. We’re walking in circles again,” my 12-year-old told her younger sister when we were looking for our fifth marker.

OK, so you’ve got to set some ground rules with siblings at the start and give each a turn to be the leader so everyone has a chance to be humbled by the experience. Then you can watch those same siblings share a smile a bit later while in the throes of victory over finding an elusive marker, or when they discover the stairs to one of the bridges that overlook the cornfield.

But also expect that after an hour in the maze and more than a mile and half of walking, the kids might share another moment of conciliation and make a joint declaration that their parents take over and “find the end because we’re getting hungry.”

We brought along our GPS unit on this adventure, not to help us find our way through the maze (that’s cheating!), but to save a track of our path through the maze to see if we could “draw” the maze’s design.

Needless to say we did not come close to re-creating the design with our track. But after downloading it at home, we did have a few laughs about how many times we walked over the same path trying to find a way out of that particular area.

We were also surprised to discover that we had covered 1.8 miles in the maze from start to finish.

Not only is walking around in a corn maze a lot of fun, it's a great opportunity to get some exercise on a beautiful fall day.

We’ve been to two corn mazes in Maine this season and each has its own unique features in addition to their mazes.

Pumpkin Valley Farm offers wagon rides to pick pumpkins, a mini maze for young children and a playground complete with slides, tire swings, a corn kernel box (like a sand box but filled with kernels of corn instead) and some farm animals to feed. They also have a corn cannon – an ingenious device powered by a compressor with a steel barrel that can shoot ears of corn at targets in a field – that was admired and well-used by the male population (both young and old) visiting the farm. The Almeida dad was not immune to the cannon's allure and he was quite smitten after hitting a wooden target with it.

Zach’s Corn Maze in York has flashlight tag every weekend night (Friday, Saturday and Sunday), which my kids are itching to try this month because we couldn't stay until dark the day we visited in September. This maze also offers a pleasant 20-minute tractor ride to the maze entrance (included in the admission price) and pumpkin picking for an additional fee as well. My kids enjoyed this maze but without numbered markers to find, we did not cover as much ground within the maze as we usually do at Pumpkin Valley.

Visiting a corn maze is a fall tradition for my family and over the years we’ve learned a few things about making the most out of this seasonal activity.

* Bring a bottle of water. It might not seem like you’re going on a long hike but depending on the navigation skills of your children and/or you, the possibility of getting lost in the maze for more than an hour is a good one. If you’ve got little ones in tow, it’s best to anticipate their need for a drink when you are truly lost in the maze
and cannot make a quick exit to get one from the car.

* Encourage everyone to use the bathroom before entering the maze. It’s obvious, I know, but even if no one has to “go,” have them try anyhow. You’ll be glad you did when you’re an hour into the maze and have no idea how to get out and no bathroom in sight.

* Wear layers. Even when the temperature is brisk, you can still work up a sweat walking through the maze.

* Wear old shoes or boots. We visited Zach’s Corn Maze the day after a rainstorm and it was muddy, with a couple of big puddles. At the time we wished we had worn rubber boots. But even when the ground is not wet, the clay dirt and sand in corn mazes are like glue (a friend described it as mortar-like and I don’t think she’s too far off), so it’s best to wear footwear you don’t mind getting dirty.

* Bring a sense of humor. Whether you put the kids in charge of navigating the family through the maze or you do it yourself, you are likely to get confused and lose your way at some point. Every time my family has been in the thick of the corn maze we’ve overheard a heated discussion (involving kids and/or adults) about which path to follow next. The best way to avoid sibling fallouts (or spousal ones) in the maze is to make sure everyone has a time period when they are in charge of making the navigational decisions.

And I’ll let my kids wrap up this outdoor adventure with their thoughts about our latest trip to Pumpkin Valley.

10-YEAR-OLD: “I liked the corn maze but I got mad that we went in circles. I liked being the leader but the maze kept taking me in circles. I loved the tire swing and slides in the playground. My sister tried to bury me in the corn (kernel) box but the corn was so cold. And the corn cannon was loud but my daddy really liked it.”

12-YEAR-OLD: “This was a very long maze and there were a lot of circles. It was fun and there were some bridges so we could see the paths we just took from the top of the bridge. We did go around in a lot of circles and I knew we were doing that but my sister refused to believe that when she was the leader. And if you see our GPS track, we did go in circles a lot.”

Pumpkin Valley Corn Maze

We covered 1.8 miles during our corn maze adventure in about an hour and a half.

Zach's Corn Maze

We spent about an hour in the maze and covered 1.1 miles of walking.
See photos from Zach's Corn Maze

In the Maze at Pumpkin Valley


Originally published in Raising Maine Magazine, October 2008

Kid Tracks Column: Hitting trails with tweens

At 10 and 12 years old, my daughters have developed a level of fitness that has allowed us to explore more challenging mountain trails. We still enjoy the “easy” (i.e., short, minimal elevation gain trails) like the 1.25-mile loop around Mackworth Island, but the girls can only take so much of my reminiscing about how much they have grown. I clearly remember the days when it was an accomplishment for them to hike around that island.

“Mom. We’re not babies anymore.”

Oh yes, how well I know.

So my family has set our sights on hiking mountain trails, both to challenge the girls as well as help me accept the fact that my babies are growing up (and remind me that that is a good thing!).

Finding trails that are challenging but doable for my tweens (with an average fitness level for their age) has been a bit tricky. I’ve asked many hiking friends and acquaintances (with children and not) for advice about Maine trails. I’ve also inquired about how accurate the ratings are in a popular hiking guide book. In my experience
'easy’ is relative to an adult’s fitness level, not a tween. That’s not a criticism, just a reality check on how to go about choosing hikes that will offer up a challenge and still be a fun adventure for everyone in the family.

So below are a couple of mountain trails my family has hiked recently and our thoughts about them.

BLUEBERRY MOUNTAIN
The summit of Blueberry Mountain is in the Caribou-Speckled Mountain Wilderness north of Fryeburg. With a significant elevation gain, this can be challenging for a 10-year-old but doable if she has an average fitness level and you pack a favorite treat for the frequent breaks you might need to take during the ascent.

On this trip we hiked up the White Cairn Trail to Blueberry Ridge Trail, then looped back down Stone House Trail. The loop was about four and a half miles total. The White Cairn Trail was a challenge for the girls with a steep area that required climbing a couple of large rocks with tricky footholds. We took a short detour off the Stone House Trail on the way down the mountain to visit Rattlesnake Pool. It was an amazingly deep, clear pool and not a spot to be missed on these trails. Your tired feet will thank you for the cool dip.

TRAIL: White Cairn Trail to Blueberry Ridge Trail to Stone House Trail
NEAREST TOWN: Gilead
TRAILHEAD: It’s on Stone House Road off Route 113, about 1.3 miles north of Cold River camp. Park at the steel gate.
ELEVATION GAIN: 1,150 feet
SUMMIT: 1,750 feet
MILEAGE: approximately 4.5-mile loop
DIFFICULTY: Moderate for tweens, difficult for children under 8 years old
NOTE: Because we hiked this trail in mid-August, we were treated to an abundance of blueberries ready to be picked and eaten around the mountain.
ALTERNATIVES TO SUMMIT: The Stone House Trail was an easy, level path with a slight elevation gain just before the spur to Rattlesnake Pool. It would be a doable 2-mile loop from the trail head for young children (we saw several headed there the day we visited).
PHOTOS: See more photos from the trail

KIDS’ REVIEW:
10-year-old: “I liked this trail even though it was kind of steep and long. I didn’t like the big rocks I had to climb because there wasn’t any places for my feet. I packed some candy because it’s like my medicine to keep me going. I had Pop-Rocks this time. I also liked eating all the blueberries on the trail. Now I know why they call it Blueberry Mountain. I loved Rattlesnake Pool and that was my favorite part of the trail. I put my feet in the pool to cool off and it felt really good.”

12-year-old: “At the beginning it was easy and then in the middle of the hike up the mountain it got harder. Once you reach the top of Blueberry Mountain it is a really pretty view. Going down the Stone House Trail was easier. The pool was really cool and it looked like a tropical beach with three shades of different greens with a waterfall. And there were no leeches in there.”

TABLE ROCK AT GRAFTON NOTCH STATE PARK
We hiked the Appalachian Trail to Table Rock last year and I was glad I waited until my youngest was 9 years old before trying this hike. The climb is steep but not too difficult if you plan for frequent breaks with favorite treats. The kids loved Table Rock and felt a
real sense of accomplishment for having hiked to it.

This year we hiked to Table Rock (per the girls’ request) and then continued on the Appalachian Trail (AT) in hopes of reaching the West Peak of Bald Pate Mountain. It was an overly ambitious goal and one we did not think we’d reach on this trip but decided we’d give it a whirl anyhow. We made it to the Bald Pate Lean-to which was a little over half a mile short of the West Peak. The girls enjoyed the hike to Table Rock but after that point it was difficult and strenuous for them. I think we’re still a couple of years away from getting to the west peak (which is at 3,662 feet). The Lean-to, at 2,700 feet, marked about 4 miles of mountain hiking for us that day (and included another couple ahead of us to get back to the car). To our way of thinking it was a good effort and a solid first attempt for the girls to summit such a large mountain.

TRAIL: Appalachian Trail to Table Rock Trail
NEAREST TOWN: Newry
TRAIL HEAD: About 12 miles from the intersection of Route 26 and Route 2 in Newry. It’s marked on the left side of the road.
ELEVATION GAIN: About 900 feet
SUMMIT: (Table Rock is not a summit, it’s a vista point on Bald Pate Mountain at 1,400 feet)
MILEAGE: approximately 3 miles roundtrip to Table Rock
DIFFICULTY: Moderate for tweens, Difficult for children under 8 years old
NOTE: There are metal bars that serve as stairs to climb the rock to get on to Table Rock. Some children may find them scary to climb down but there is an unmarked alternate path around them if you look for it. The view is beautiful on Table Rock but keep kids away from the sheer drop-off. Also, depending on the time of year you visit, you may run into AT thru-hikers (they hike from Maine to Georgia or vice-versa) and many are willing to chat with kids about their hiking adventure. We’ve been lucky enough to run into a few and my kids have enjoyed chatting with the “professional hikers.”
PHOTOS: See more photos from the trail

KID’S REVIEW:
10-year-old: “It was a steep climb to Table rock but it was OK. The metal bar steps are OK but they made me a little nervous going down but the second time it was easier. Table Rock is a great view and you can see the Eyebrow Trail on the mountain across the street. That Eyebrow Trail was scary when I hiked that last year and I'm glad I hiked Table Rock instead.”

12-year-old: “Getting up to Table Rock was steep but it wasn’t too bad. The view is very good at the top. You can see a lot of different mountains. My sister got a little freak-out going down the metal stairs but they are not that bad.”

Originally published in Raising Maine Magazine, September 2008

Letting go of the little things

Sometimes I make a suggestion to one of the girls and it leads to an argument, which often times has nothing to do with the original suggestion. A few times recently we've had words over the smallest things (hello puberty) so I have found myself choosing to keep my mouth shut and let some stuff go.

But in the spirit of full disclosure, sometimes it isn't worth the argument because the girls go out of their way to prove me wrong. I think that falls under the heading of "life purpose" at our house lately.

For instance there is L. and her stuffed animal (mostly WebKinz) fetish. She has to have a synthetic stuffed friend everywhere we go, even when it will be a hindrance - like hiking the Appalachian Trail to the Bald Pate Lean-to (with Table Rock detour) we visited last weekend. I would not recommend hiking up a very large mountain (6 miles round trip with a 1,700-foot elevation gain) carrying a stuffed animal in your hand but L. has proven it is possible. She also took the time after this particular hike to let me know how much her stuffed animal "loved it."

And G., who always has to wear soft and comfortable clothes, is in a fleece skirt phase (one that's going on its third year). Again, I would not recommend hiking very large mountains in a fleece skirt in the summer (or wearing any kind of fleece in 80+ degree weather). But G. has proven that it is possible to be both comfortable and competent hiking a mountain in a skirt. (Note to moms of kids with sensory integration issues: Clothing choices can make interesting fashion statements in the tween years.)

And to share a "tip" from L., who proved her dad wrong recently when he strongly suggested she wear lightweight pants on a hiking trail to keep from getting bug bites (and ticks), that wearing capris tucked in to knee socks is the only way to go.

"I wore my capris so if I got hot I could roll them up and roll my knee socks down. But if the bugs got crazy I could cover my legs up quick."

On that trail L. was quite a fashion statement but I can't fault the practical application. She managed to avoid poison ivy at Blueberry Mountain and I did not.

OK, so Fino suggested I wear pants on that trail too but I blew him off. I guess I have some life purpose left in me too when it comes to my spouse.

Almeida fashion

And no outdoor adventure is complete without one of L.'s friends.

A hot and sweaty L. at the Bald Pate Lean-to on the AT with 'Hiking Kitty.'

New goals for kids (and mom)

Being 10- and 12-years old and having several years of hiking under their belts, the girls have been ready for more challenging adventures. Last year we hiked to Table Rock (about 1/3 of the way up Bald Pate) and The Eyebrow (about 1/4 of the way up Old Speck) in Grafton Notch State Park. Table Rock was on the Appalachian Trail and that was a goal last summer, to hike a piece of that trail in Maine. After seeing the view from Table Rock, the girls decided it would be cool to hike the trail across the notch the following week. We braved the Eyebrow Trail and the girls decided that trails with bars, metal wires and open rock faces weren't really their cup of tea.

But they did it and I was darn proud of them.

So now that the thunderstorms have taken a vacation (hopefully for a long while!), we're on to our fall agenda -- hiking to mountain summmits.

Our goal is to hike to summits higher than 1,500 feet around Maine over the next couple of years. Part of our plan is to take a photo on the summit of each one (like the "real hikers" do). We've been thinking about the idea for a while and our hikes to the top of the South Bubble and Gorham Mountain in Acadia earlier this spring cinched the idea that this was the year to go for it.

A friend recommended Blueberry Mountain in the Caribou-Speckled Mountain Wilderness north of Fryeburg and we decided that should be next on our list so we could visit in August during blueberry season.

It was a challenging 4 1/2-mile hike with a 1,300' elevation gain that was made more interesting because we could pick (and eat) blueberries along the way. We ate a ton (we've never been good at collecting and saving for later). We were also rewarded with a stop at Rattlesnake Pool near the end of the hike. We could have looped the mountain trails with this as a first stop (there's minimal elevation gain so an easy hike for younger kids to this spot on the Stone House Trail) but decided it was better left to the end as something to look forward to. The natural pool was an amazing site and a perfect place to cool our tired hiking feet.

So our plan for summit shots is now officially underway and the girls have already met their first challenge of a 1,751' summit.

There is a secondary reason for this new family goal however, to help me handle my daughters' move from their tween to teen years. Some days it makes me sad to think how much my babies have grown. And truth be told, I simply haven't felt ready for the jump to the new phase of teenager-hood. But now I feel like I have something to look forward to beyond the mood swings and overall insanity that come with raising teens.

And the girls, well, hopefully they'll keep up with their current MO of talking about everything under the sun while we're out on the trail.

The natural world really does have so many interesting layers.

We're keeping track of our summit shots, which start in 2003 with smaller mountains, on MaineOutdoorJournal.com

[L. carried the GPS unit on her backpack during the hike so we uploaded a track of the trail in case you're interested in giving it a whirl with your tweens/teens.]

Blueberry Ridge Trail at EveryTrailMap created by EveryTrail:GPS Geotagging

Meeting up with an old friend

I ran in to an old friend this past weekend while hiking Blueberry Mountain in Gilead (just north of Fryeburg) with Fino and the kids.

Being the thoughtful individual that he is, he introduced me to some new friends and I am very much enjoying the company of these acquaintances today.

Yup, me and poison ivy have been catching up on old times since yesterday, when the rash that I thought was merely a bunch of bug bites broke out all over my legs.

I'm usually more aware of my friend's kiss of affection and wipe away the traces immediately upon seeing him but I missed his greeting this time.

Oh well, at least he didn't introduce himself to anyone else in the family (this time).

Disc golf is fun outdoor game for kids

The girls caught a discus event while watching the Olympics and that led to questions about what it was and how it was done. I threw the discus in high school so I knew the basics (but was never any good at it though) and after some explanation the girls got to talking about how long it's been since we played disc golf (my kids - like most - make interesting leaps in conversations).

So off to the disc golf course we went this past weekend to play a round at Enmen Field in Brunswick.

Since it's been a long time since we've played "The Beauty" course in Brunswick, we had a hard time tracking down the holes in order. I really wished I had printed a map of the course at home because they didn't have maps at the clubhouse when I asked for one. That's not unusual at the disc golf courses we've visited previously though. The sport is casual enough that most players don't mind a few strays wondering on to a hole out of order (but I'm also mindful of my kids as it is mostly childless adults on the course) because the clubhouse didn't have any maps for newbies that day.

Stray is a good word to describe us - from following the holes to throwing the discs. But that does not stop us from having fun.

We have our own discs -- which are heavier than frisbees -- but I have no idea if they're putters or drivers (yeah, there are all kinds of discs and it's not unusual to see someone carrying a bag to play the different ones on the course) -- and take a bit of getting used to if all you've ever thrown is frisbees. But like frisbees, a quick flick of the wrist can make the disc soar.

But you don't have to have your own discs to play; every course we've been to offers rentals.

We've played disc golf in every season and winter is actually a fun time to play, although I wouldn't recommend doing it on cross country skis. Everyone in the family now has snowshoes so it's on our list of things to do when the snow starts flying.

Our winter adventure More about that adventure

Usually we play on a course in Gorham because it's closer to where we live but it was fun to revisit the Brunswick course after so many years. The girls were only 6- and 8-years old the first time I took them to Enman Field and I can't believe how much they have grown.

Our first trip More about how to play the game

At that time L. spent most of her time on the course collecting sticks for a fairy house (and looked like a little old lady carrying around her bag) and trying to get her disc "in jail" (her nickname for the cages). G. spent a lot of time hitting trees with her disc and all of us had to retrieve our discs from streams and bushes.

G. - and the rest of us - still hit trees and dig out discs from off-course landings and L. still calls the cages "jail" so not much has changed in that regard. But during our latest visit we made it through almost the entire course (we did 17 holes and couldn't seem to locate the 18th), something we haven't done previously. And we still don't bother to keep a formal score card (they always seem to have those at the clubhouse) as we still can't make anything less than 5 par even on the short distance holes.

The score I like to keep notes how long we spent laughing and having fun. That's the only thing that really matters anyhow I think.

This time it was a hole-in-one kinda morning for all of us.

Our latest day on the course

There are a lot of disc golf courses in Maine so check one out near you. A map of courses in Maine

The Pouch: tools of the motherhood trade

I have a small bag I carry in my backpack (I've never been a pocketbook kinda gal) for "emergencies."

It's full of random stuff, including some first aid kit type things, that have often helped me "fix "something for the kids while we were out and about during our every day life (not to be confused with our hiking first aid kit, which is a whole lot more comprehensive in the first aid department and a totally different story).

These are the tools of my trade as a mother.

The keeper of the peace.

The insurance policy.

The lifeline to sanity via a 7" by 4" zipper bag (with carrying strap).

"The Pouch" is also an evolving thing. Items are swapped in and out for the crisis triggers that change as my daughters grow.

And the truth is, I've used nearly every single item in The Pouch in the last year.

The needle from the sewing kit to pick out a splinter in the McDonald's parking lot that had to be taken care of at that exact moment.

The scissors to open a new toy in the car with so much plastic packaging it took nearly an entire trash bag to dispose of when we got home.

The band aids and antibiotic cream for the tiny, minuscule cuts the girls get that require attention immediately. (And I've learned to pack a few different styles and sizes because not just any band aid will do.)

The gum that helps calm my girls down when they get anxious. And for when the bigger accidents (like the trip to the ER for an x-ray last year) that require chewing to keep mouths busy while mom deals with the situation.

The tweezers for the ticks we seem to pick up walking around in random places - like from the library to the car in the parking lot.

The measuring tape to find a certain size picture frame while we are at a second-hand store and the selection and prices are amazingly good that day.

The little white eyeglass screwdriver that not only fixes G.'s glasses but help a co-worker fix at clock at the office.

The emery board and nail clippers for the hang nail that someone in the car has to dwell on at the start of an hour-long car ride.

The paper clips and safety pins because honest to pete I've found 1,001 different ways to fix something with those.

The hair elastics for the last minute pony tails that are needed when the wind kicks up and someone wore their hair down that day.

The pair of underwear and pad (not pictured) that have recently been added to The Pouch and saved the day (and much embarrassment) for the girls' friend who came on an adventure with us recently.

And the old expired BJs card because it earned its place after that day at the river.