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Stowe without Snow

It started off as a family weekend in Stowe, Vermont with like-minded Canadian cousins who couldn’t resist a tour of the Ben and Jerry’s factory…

It ended with a summit of Mount Mansfield, Vermont’s tallest mountain. Granted, a gondola-ride helped with the ascent, but we certainly paid our dues on the rugged, rocky, crevasse-filled Cliff Trail!

Little Boy climbed magnificently. For most little people, highly-technical trails are fascinating and a lot easier than they are for lumbering, ungainly mommies!

In addition to proving he can hike on big mountains for 4+ hours, Little Boy also proved he can take pictures (that do not necessarily include the scenery, but he did center our faces):

Ten rapid-fire successive pictures later…

This is my favorite picture from the day. Kudos to Mr. P for helping his 4 year-old son safely and enjoyably climb such a gorgeous mountain up such a difficult trail (that’s Lake Champlain in the distant background).

I barely helped. I was really just a lunch mule.

We hiked about a mile along the windy ridge trail. Yes, that it a kiddie hydration pack on his back. I got it at an REI clearance sale for $20 because Little Boy showed such a fascination with our hydration packs. The pack was motivating as well as empowering — when he wanted to take a break from hiking, rather than sit on the trail in a huff and angrily refuse to move, he would simply stop and take a drink of water. And we would stop and wait for him. A much more pleasant system for all involved!

After reaching the parking lot for the Toll Road, we walked a bit on the road and then descended via a ski slope. Hiking with 4 year-olds… yes, it requires patience, trickery, and imagination! We got through the last mile by pretending to be pterodactyls, flapping our arms as we ran down the slopes squawking. But wow, we were so proud of him, and he of himself. He earned that 3-hour nap on the car ride back home!

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