A little technology in the woods offers memories later

I saw a photo on Facebook with the quote, "There is no wifi in the forest, but I promise you will find a better connection." And since I appreciated the sentiment, I liked it.

Photo credit: www.facebook.com/sungazing1

One of my kids saw it on my Facebook timeline (the hazard of liking stuff and being "friends" with your teenagers is that they know what you're doing on that site, too) and reminded me that I do in fact use my smart phone in the woods.

I use a mapping app on my phone that tracks some of our outdoor adventures. The EveryTrail app records our path through the woods and if I take photos, it plots them on the map as well. It also offers information on how far we've traveled (a question that is inevitably asked during every hike I've ever taken with my kids). It also has an elevation gain tracker that is usually more humbling than not (the elevation does not always correlate with the sweat factor). But in the end the map gives the kids some nice bragging rights when we hit the summit of our big mountain hikes (like our Mt. Lafayette hike last fall).

Tracking speed is fun for the kids during the winter on our cross country skis. I recall a time we traveled down the same hill multiple times at Five Field Farms with my old GPS unit to see how fast we flew down those mountain trails. I believe 17 miles per hour is the record on our skinny cross country skis (our review of that trail is here), which is darn fast with my non-competitive skiers, particularly without a downhill edge on the skis.

The other day we tracked our cross country adventure with a friend at Riverside Golf Course in Portland (which doubles as some great groomed ski trails in the winter). We had an hour before dark so our plan was only to cover a couple of miles. The kids were pleased to hear that in 45 minutes we managed to cover 3.5 miles (which did correlate with the sweat factor). That was information I would not have known were it not for my smart phone.

Riverside XC Skiing

I also use my phone to geocache as well. The high-tech treasure hunt game requires an application that uses a GPS coordinate (that my phone turns into a compass to follow) to find hidden boxes in the woods.
So I guess I have a couple of uses for my phone that have nothing to do with talking but everything to do with fun outdoor adventures with my family.

Using these phone apps doesn't mean I don't respect the peace and quiet on the trail. Nor does it mean I talk on the phone while out there. I love the quiet of the woods. My kids do, too. But a little discreet use of technology offers many talking points with my kids later on that I (and the kids) really like.
We have a fun "scrapbook" of adventures with the kids on Everytrail.com and my older blog entries thanks to my smart phones (old and new). It's been a great way to record memories.
And with teenagers, it's nice to have visable proof that you can have fun with your family.

Kid Tracks column: Setting our cap for Mt. Washington

It's been a few years since we've climbed Jockey Cap in Fryeburg. It was a favorite when the girls were little that had all the fixings for kid-friendly fun -- from a small cave to explore to an interesting model map of the surrounding mountains at the top. And although this hike seemed like scaling a big mountain when the kids were 6 and 7 years old, now that they are 15 and 16, they get the reality of it. Jockey Cap is basically a 600-foot boulder that takes an adult of average fitness about 10 minutes to climb. But the view can't be beat for the effort.

With Jockey Cap's circular stone monument with a 360-degree sculpture of the surrounding mountains and corresponding identifying labels, I thought this trip would be a great way to start planning our spring and summer hiking adventures. We brought along our AMC White Mountains Guide so we could figure out elevation gain for each of the mountains around us and see what appealed to each of us.

If there's anything I've learned from hiking with kids -- from preschoolers to teens -- it has been to offer an opportunity for everyone in the family to have a say in choosing trails. It doesn't matter if the kids like the name of the mountain (I remember the appeal of The Eyebrow in Grafton Notch a while back), or simply the look of a mountain. It is the ownership that comes from helping to make a decision that makes the trek more enjoyable for all. When everyone wants to be on the trail, it is a whole lot more fun (especially for mom and dad).

The girls and I have a plan this year to summit Mt. Washington in September. As we train for this big adventure -- which will likely involve climbing one or two big mountains each month -- we will all be making decisions on where to hike and what we will bring with us.

It should also be noted that the second most important decision to involve your kids in before a hike is ... choosing a snack. This can make or break the day. Trust me, it is worth the planning and extra stop at the market to ensure all snack preferences are indulged when hiking a mountain of any elevation gain to keep up the motivation when the trail gets tough. This has worked for all the kids I've taken hiking. (And I admit a bit of candy has helped me find that little extra oomph to scale a mountain or two myself!)

But there is a reality that mountain hiking can be a humbling experience. Sometimes plans have to be adjusted. I learned this last summer just before our hike on Mt. Lafayette in Franconia Notch. It wasn't the kids that put a stressor on our plans. It was my own visit to the emergency room with an injury two days before that scheduled trip. I chatted up the doctor, who happened to be an avid hiker, and decided I could manage the hike with some additional planning and a much slower pace. So although I am cautiously optimistic, life could get in the way of our plans this year.

But for the moment, our goal of hiking up the 6,288 feet of Mt. Washington is something my teens are excited about. And we're training together, which ensures we'll be spending more time with each other this spring and summer. This quick hike up Jockey Cap -- to revisit a fun hiking destination and do some research -- was just the tip of the iceberg for us. It really was a great way to spend a winter afternoon soaking in the mountain views and planning our next adventure.

Your own family's hiking goals might not be so ambitious. But there is a lot to be said for finding a common goal and making time to accomplish it, together.

IF YOU GO ...

WHAT: Jockey Cap in Fryeburg
LENGTH: 0.25 miles
ELEVATION GAIN: 200 feet
PARKING: There is a small parking area in front of the motel.
BATHROOM: Porta-potty at trail head
GETTING THERE: From the intersection of Routes 113 and 302 in Fryeburg, the trail head is exactly one mile. The trail head is next to the Jockey Cap Motel and Country Store, 116 Bridgton Road in Fryeburg.

The quick hike up Jockey Cap was a great way for the Almeidas to spend a 

winter afternoon training for a greater challenge. 

From the summit of Jockey Cap, hikers are treated to a 360-degree view of the surrounding mountains in western Maine – and get valuable training for more ambitious outdoors endeavors.

Jockey Cap

Wendy Almeida can be contacted at 791-6334 or at:
wea@mainetoday.com
Twitter: wea1021 

Originally published in the Maine Sunday Telegram, February 10, 2013.

Hay butt

I believe this "I support 4H" sticker kind of states the obvious when you see the backseat of my car.

This hay mess has been a constant state of affairs for several years. Kids raising livestock is not for the neat freak types and I have accepted that there is no way that my car will ever be hay-free again.

The kids coined the term "hay butt" a few years ago and it stuck (literally and figuratively).

There is usually some pause by those new to our car but most take it in stride because hay butt is part of the package when you travel with the Almeida fam.

Kid Tracks Column: XC skiing at Carters in Oxford

The kids and I enjoy cross-country skiing and try to expand our horizons every year with a visit to a new trail. After last year's disappointing winter (and no big skiing adventures for us), we decided to visit Carter's in Oxford for an easy, groomed-trail experience right after the big January snowfall (we've learned our lesson to not ignore a day of good trail conditions). We also made a new friend on the trail.

Carter’s in Oxford proved to be a marvelous place after the January storm to break into the cross-country ski season, with beginner and intermediate trails. Plus there’s Maya, the dog that loves to tag along and show the way for visitors.

 

We have passed by Carter's in Oxford many times while traveling on Route 26 to hiking trails but had never been there to ski. It turned out to be a great way to ease into the season, with their beginner- and intermediate-level trails.

The trail fee was reduced the day we visited because not all of their 40 kilometers of trails had been groomed. We were told there were about two miles of grooming and if we wanted to forge our own path, we could explore more of the trail system. I was given a map to follow but we didn't really need it. The trails were well-marked with wooden signs (and some blazes), but it was just as easy to simply follow the grooming.
The warmer weather before the big snowfall made for not-so-frozen ground. There were a couple places with slushy spots. Those were easy to avoid by going on the shoulder of the trail, and overall the grooming was nice and comparable to other trails we've visited.

Cross-country skiing is a total body workout. And because of that, it always takes a trip (or three) for me to get back into shape. Carter's trails were fairly level and the grooming made for smooth gliding. The girls both declared the trail "nice" and "easy" and concurred with me that it was a great trail system to ease into the season.

At some point along our looping trek we picked up a canine friend. My kids are like pied pipers when it comes to attracting animals. They seem to befriend every furry/hairy/wooly/(whatever) creature wherever we go. Our four-legged companion seemed well versed in traveling with skiers and kept pace, or doubled back to ensure we were still with her, for more than half of our trip. I believe this was the highlight of the trip for both of my animal-loving kids.

I tracked our adventure with my Android phone's EveryTrail.com application. I like this app because it tells me the actual distance we've traveled. It turned out the loop we took, which included a short, ungroomed trail detour, covered 3.1 miles. It honestly didn't feel like it was that long, but it was nice to know we'd skied a longer distance and burned more calories than we thought we would. And despite that fact, it was a relaxed, pleasant glide through the woods. We're looking forward to more skiing adventures this winter and working up to the hilly terrain of more challenging trails.

For families who don't own cross-country ski equipment, Carter's X-C Ski Center has the equipment (to rent or buy) you need to get out on the trails for the day. And with another snowfall or two, they should have a nice snow pack to open their full trail system.

The ski center staff was friendly and willing to answer any and all questions related to skiing, trail conditions and otherwise.

And in case you were wondering, our new (canine) friend's name was Maya.

HAPPY TRAILS
WHAT: Carter's X-C Ski Center
WHERE: Route 26, Oxford
HOURS: Open daily 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
TRAIL FEE: $14/adults; $10/students/seniors; free/under 6 years; Tuesdays ski 2-for-1
TOURING EQUIPMENT RENTAL: $10 to $14
TRAIL CONDITIONS: Updated on their website: www.cartersxcski.com/xcskicenter.html

OTHER TRAILS
YOU CAN FIND many of our trail maps from a variety of our adventures on EveryTrail.com at: ht.ly/gK41g

Originally published in the Maine Sunday Telegram January 13, 2013.

Kid Tracks column: Try catching on with geocaching

Mighty Beanz – and maybe you also have some hanging around the house – are an example of what to leave in geocaching. Originally It's not very often that having read Nancy Drew books as a kid comes in handy. But when cracking codes of "mystery" geocaches, you never know what random knowledge you'll need to puzzle-out the coordinates to find a hidden treasure.

Geocaching is a game that uses GPS coordinates to find a hidden box filled with inexpensive trinkets and a logbook. Players, called geocachers, download the coordinates to their GPS units -- or in most cases these days, a mobile phone app – and then navigate their way to the box.

There are many variations on the type of geocaches a player can find. A "traditional" box is the most common. These are typically the size of a plastic kitchen-type container (or metal box) hidden in or around trees and rocks, and typically covered with dead branches or bark (boxes are not buried). The coordinates to the geocache are posted on geocaching.com and the easiest way to play the game these days is to find the listing using a geocaching mobile app on your phone. Once found, you follow the compass screen until you arrive at the hiding location.

A variation of the traditional cache – and one that the girls and I have enjoyed – requires solving a puzzle to actually get the coordinates. It's a multi-step process that requires a little brainpower, and sometimes a computer search engine before you head out to the field.

I found the Nancy Drew-themed mystery cache on geocaching.com and put my 16-year-old daughter (also a Drew fan from her younger years) on the job to solve the algebra-like puzzle. She had to identify the coordinates' missing numbers with the book title's order of publication. For instance, the letter "A" stood for "The Secret of the Old Clock," which is the first book in the series. There were six books listed with corresponding letters and she had to give each one a number to translate to the final coordinates.

It might sound complicated, but it really was not all that hard thanks to a website she found with a book order list.

On this listing's page was a feature we took advantage of for the first time – geochecker.com. This allows players working out mystery cache clues to check their coordinates. This "checker" link confirmed my daughter's final coordinates were in fact accurate before heading out to the location to find the box.

We hiked on a new-to-us trail on the Falmouth/Cumberland line to find this particular cache. We have driven past the trailhead many times and never noticed it. But that's another aspect of this game that I enjoy – finding new hiking trails. Even though I'm pretty well plugged into popular trail systems, there are a lot of smaller community trails that are less well-known and it's fun to discover them.
We found several mystery caches the day we went hiking. One included knowing some random Red Sox trivia and another required knowing our Roman numerals (thank you Google for refreshing my memory on those).

Some of these mystery caches were too small to leave a trinket (rules of the game require that if you take something from the geocache, you leave something else in its place). But at others I was able to find a new home for some Mighty Beanz we found kicking around our house.

If you're new to the game, try finding a traditional geocache or two. Then give a mystery cache with a difficulty rating of 2 or 3 a try (5 is the hardest). Trust me that you and the kids will feel kind of smart by the end of the day.

GEOCACHING VARIATIONS
 As geocaching has gained in popularity since its inception in 2001, the game has become more creative with a variety of ways to play. Here are a few examples of game variations.

A MICRO CACHE is the size of an old 35-mm film canister or smaller and can be tucked just about anywhere. This makes them challenging to locate.

A MULTI-CACHE involves more than one set of coordinates to find. Once the initial location is found, the geocacher gets a clue to the next location, and so on, until the final clue reveals the actual hidden "treasure" box. These caches can include both micro and traditional containers, and have varying degrees of difficulty.

A LETTERBOX HYBRID is a cache with a hand-carved stamp, and combines the geocache and letterboxing games. Letterboxing is like geocaching since both hide a box in the woods, but instead of trinkets to trade, there is a hand-carved stamp inside. By combining the artistic flavor of letterboxing stamps with easy-to-follow geocache coordinates (which often have more family-friendly directions than the pace-counting and vague directions typically posted in the letterboxing game), these geocache hybrid boxes can have a lot of appeal to fans of both games.

AN EVENT CACHE is a specific time and place where geocachers meet to play the game together. A big event is coming up for geocachers -- Dec. 12. It will be a celebration of numbers because this is the last time this century the calendar will align. There is an active geocaching community in Maine at geocachingmaine.org so check there for local event cache details.

My family likes to use old metal ammo boxes for our geocaches. They require a little extra coaxing to open in the winter but are more durable than the plastic variety that many geocachers use for their hides.

Mighty Beanz – and maybe you also have some hanging around the house – are an example of what to leave in geocaching. 
 
Originally published in the Maine Sunday Telegram December 9, 2012

Kid Tracks Column: Disc golf is outdoor fun no matter the season

ThThis is This The game of disc golf is a nice way to spend a few hours outdoors with teenagers. It offers some competitive fun by throwing a plastic disc into a metal basket on a golf-like course in the woods. My family considers the game to be a hike with permission to throw stuff around. It's also a nice way to chat and reconnect after a busy week while also getting exercise.

We played our latest round at Enmen Field in Brunswick. The Beauty, an 18-hole course for novice players, only takes a couple hours, so it's something we can squeeze into a busy day (there's also a more advanced course called The Beast, but we leave that to the more serious players).

We've played this course many times over the years, and despite a map on the back of the scorecard, I still lose track of baskets and tee pads. The tee pad for each hole is concrete and identified by number, which is usually on a nearby tree and/or trash barrel. Sometimes you can see the basket from the tee pad, sometimes you can't. That makes throwing the disc in the correct direction a bit of a guessing game. But that's not really a big deal. No one on the course seems to mind if we stay a little longer at a hole to make up for a misdirected disc, or if we play the course a bit out of order. The game attracts friendly, easy-going players, and I've never seen anything but friendly waves and chatter between players.

During this game I had a few stitches in my disc throwing hand (a story of stupidity involving a pair of hoof trimmers and my daughter's sheep) and I had to let it fly with the other arm. Let's just say I was off my usual game and never came close to meeting par scores on any hole.

There are a few different ways to throw a disc in this game, and each player develops their own preference. The girls and I generally throw the disc like a Frisbee with our hand curled toward our wrist, using a hard flick away from the body.

In the disc golf world this is known as the backhand throw, and it's the most popular type in the game. The girls and I have tried the forehand throw (bending the wrist back before snapping the disc forward to propel it away) but it's not a favorite. We switch things up a bit when we're close to the metal basket by using the hammer or "tomahawk" throw.

That's like an overhand baseball toss. The hammer throw also happened to be my preferred option after some frustration with my disc hitting tree after tree thanks to my less accurate throwing arm. And as teenagers are known to do, there may have been a few snarky comments just out of my hearing regarding my prowess (or lack thereof) on the course.

The kids and I own our own discs, which are midrange drivers. There are all kinds of discs, and it's not unusual to see a player carrying a bag filled with a variety of them. There are preferences about the style, weight and size, and some players really get into those fine details.

I have not bothered to learn the nuances. I go out and throw my all-purpose driver and I'm good with that. If you're new to the sport or don't have your own disc, Enmen Field rents and sells discs at its clubhouse. If you're interested in the more technical aspects about how each one works, the clubhouse staff is friendly and knowledgeable.

According to my smartphone's mileage tracker, we walked more than 2 miles on the 18-hole course. We play this game in all seasons and find that snow offers a lot of "smiles" (a smile-like mark is made in the snow when it lands).

Disc golf is a nice way to get outdoors for friendly competition. And when your 16-year-old wins, the gloating is bearable as long as a rematch is scheduled.

 Originally published in the Maine Sunday Telegram Nov. 11, 2012. 

 
This is a messy map of our day playing disc golf but it gives a sense of mileage (2.1 miles, which I didn't start until after the first couple of holes) you walk while playing the game. It's great exercise and I never had any idea until I tracked our game that we covered so much mileage!

Enman Field Disc Golf

Kid Tracks Column: Outside beckons even as nights grow longer

This is the time of the year when my family has no time for our usual outdoor adventures. It's all about the kids' school schedule and their 4-H livestock activities. But a month of primarily indoor activities gives us a new motivation to find time in our busy schedule to get back outside.
Here's a peek at what we've been talking about doing in the next few months.

• Disc golf. The game involves throwing a hard plastic disc into a metal basket on a golf-like course. It is a year-round sport, offering a different type of fun in the snow. It's a great way to spend some family time together playing a low-key game.

Enmen Field in Brunswick is a family favorite that has two 18-hole courses. My daughters were 5 and 6 years old the first time they hit the course and loved it. www.mainediscgolf.com

• Zipline. This has been on the kids' to-do list since our visit to Sunday River two years ago. The zipline course at Sunday River includes a series of seven lines strewn between large trees (and poles) in the woods. It's a unique thrill to be suspended from a galvanized cable and fly through the woods. My kids love it (me, too!).

Our first, and only, zipline course experience was in the snow but I've been told it's a great way to see the mountain colors in the fall.

There is another zipline course with three lines in Windham at SeaCoast Fun Park. Sunday River's zipline course is open year-round, while SeaCoast Fun Park is open on weekends through Nov. 18 and then reopens during the snow tubing season (weather permitting).
www.sundayriver.com/EventsActivities; www.seacoast funparks.com

• Geocaching. We go in spurts with playing this game and it's been a while since we've been on the lookout for geocaches.

For those unfamiliar, geocaching is a game that uses GPS coordinates to find a hidden box filled with inexpensive trinkets and a logbook. There are many more players, or geocachers, these days, thanks to a very user-friendly mobile phone app.

The girls said it's time to do another "mystery" type cache that requires some problem solving to find the final coordinates.

We also have some traditional geocaches we've hidden ourselves that are in desperate need of maintenance, so we'll be doing some of that before the snow flies, too. www.geocaching.com

• Full moon hike. A winter full moon is bright and we have enjoyed seeing a local trail in the moonlight. We hope to have a new full-moon adventure in the next couple of months on our own, or with one of the outdoor groups that organize them. maineaudubon.org; www.outdoors.org

• Stargazing. With the nights getting longer, fall can be a great time to stargaze (winter is even better). Now my teens have their own smartphones and the stargazing apps they have ensure an accurate identification of celestial objects.

This is something we can do anytime at home on a clear night but we still look forward to our annual trip to the Southworth Planetarium at the University of Southern Maine's Portland campus, too. usm.maine.edu/planet

• Cross-country skiing. The kids and I were really disappointed with the lack of snow activities last year. We hardly had time to do anything before the snow melted. You can bet that we'll be dropping everything to get out on the cross-country trails behind our house during the first snowfall.
We also hope to visit the community-supported groomed trails of Twin Brooks in Cumberland and Riverside in Portland. Talk of a little snow dance tribute has been discussed to ensure we get a weekend of local cross-country skiing this year. mainecoastnordic.blogspot.com/p/twin-brook.html; www.portlandmaine.gov/winterfunspots/default.asp

Originally published in the Maine Sunday Telegram Oct. 7, 2012