Camping, Hiking, Fishing

A couple of weekends ago our lab had a camp-out retreat in Allegany state park. We had planned on the whole family going, but it has been getting pretty cold at night, and Caitlyn and Madelyn had been a little sick, so we decided that I would just go with Abygail and Jackson. We arrived Friday evening and stayed until Sunday afternoon. We missed Amber and the little ones, but I think she enjoyed having some relative quiet in the house.

Another grad student in the lab, Solon, arrived shortly after we did with his two slightly older kids (5 and 9 I think). Their dad is quite the naturalist and has trained them right, so they immediately went down the creek running alongside our campground and started turning over rocks in the hunt for any critters they could find. Abygail and Jackson were enthrawled. They insisted on going down to the creek with them, and even took their shoes and socks off so they could get into the frigid water and turn over rocks as well. We weren't fortunate enough to catch anything ourselves, but they enjoyed seeing the few little fish (barely bigger than tadpoles), water bugs, and crayfish that they caught. As you might imagine, I had a hard time keeping the two of them away from the creek the rest of the time we were there, especially Jackson.

My boss/advisor had rented a couple of cabins, but Abygail and Jackson insisted on sleeping in the tent so I finally set it up around 10pm by lantern light. (they are night-owls anyway, but especially when we are doing something special); it was a new moon so it was really dark. The stars were amazing!

We started Saturday morning with a breakfast of pancakes and bacon cooked in our iron skillet over the fire (I love camp cooking!), then went for a hike with the rest of or little group. I filled my backpack with snacks, water, diapers, wipes, and a change of clothes for the kids. Abygail and Jackson each had their own backpacks which they used to carry their own snacks and water. It didn't take long for the rest of our group to realize that I was serious when I said they shouldn't wait for us. As you might imagine, hiking with a 2 and 3 year old is not a fast-paced adventure, so the three of us ended up on our own.

I have to say that I was and still am absolutely amazed at how well Abygail and Jackson did. They asked to be held a lot when we first started out, but soon realized that I wasn't joking when I said we weren't on a carry, but on a walk, and quit asking. I actually didn't carry them at all over the entire FOUR HOUR hike. Well, not at least until the last 15 minutes when poor Jackson just couldn't handle it any more; he was actually trying to lay down on rocks and go to sleep. But I am getting ahead of myself. The hike was uphill the whole way (until we turned around) and the path was covered with rocks and roots. They insisted on taking time to turn over a few rocks and we actually found a couple of salamanders.



As we neared the top of the hill, we found that it was covered with enormous rocks, house-sized and even many times bigger. When we got to the very top, the trail brought us onto of a huge rock outcropping where we discovered a small hole in the ground. I should have gathered that we might find some caves since the trail was called "Bear Cave Trail," but for some reason I was surprised to find that this little hole actually led back pretty far into the rocks, perhaps a couple hundred feet following a very narrow and windy course.

I decided to go in as far as I could without getting too far from Abygail and Jackson, but to my surprise they followed me inside. We had neglected to bring any flashlights, so I used my cell-phone to lead them about a third of the way in. My cell phone didn't do much to penetrate the complete darkness, though, so they didn't go too far past where the outside light disappeared. When we turned around and left the cave, I was sure that that was the end of our caving experience, but they surprised me once again by asking to go back in. We made it perhaps a little further the second time, but not by much. Fortunately, some other hikers came along and offered to let us borrow their flashlights. Once we had some decent light in hand, Abygail and Jackson had no problem going to the back end of the cave.





We learned from the people we met on the trail that there were actually two other caves not too far off which we also ended up exploring. The entrance to one of them was a 10ft drop straight down, but we were able to enlist the help of a couple that was also there their kids to help get Abygail and Jackson inside. Once inside, we found that at the opposite end there was a crack in the rocks just wide enough to see outside. The same couple that helped us get in also took some pictures from the outside and e-mailed them to us. Thank you.



Later that evening we tagged along with Solon and his kids to watch them go fishing. I hand't anticipated that we would be fishing, so didn't bring any rods or tackle for ourselves. Solon was fly fishing and his son had a pretty nice rod that he was using. His daughter on the other hand had only a kid-sized, light blue and pink rod that she used for a little while, then let Abygail and Jackson use when she got bored/distracted. When it was Jackson's turn I helped him cast the line out perhaps 6-10 feet then let him real it in. As I watched him real in the line, I saw a fish move out of the vegetation on the bottom and move towards the line...wouldn't it be awesome I thought. And no sooner had I though it but the fish actually took the line and Jackson had him on shore (with a little help)! I could hardly belive it. His first cast ever and he caught a fish! It was quite the sight next to the fly-fisherman and his son who had not yet caught anything with their fancy equipment. After that Abygail was determined to catch a fish as well, but in her exuberance, only managed to snag her daddy's chest with the hook. I was afraid that she would be upset that she didn't catch a fish, but she wasn't at all sad; quite to the contrary she was very excited that Jackson had caught a fish.


That night another professor came with her two kids (3 and 5). They went to bed pretty early that night, but on Sunday morning Abygail and Jackson hit it off with them pretty well and had fun playing while we ate another breakfast cooked over the camp fire then packed up to come home home.