Categories
New Brunswick

Hiking Mount Carleton, New Brunswick

While perusing the New Brunswick tourist magazine at our last provincial park, I noticed a photo with an amazing summit view. After going back and forth we decided to drive there on Sunday afternoon and spend Monday morning hiking to the summit.

We just couldn’t pass it up.

Mount Carleton is kind of in the middle of nowhere. So much, that the campground only accepts cash for payment. We had a lazy Sunday afternoon and then woke up early and made it to the trail head by about 7:30 am to start hiking.

The summit trail is a loop – best hiked counter clockwise. The trail winds near a stream through some dense forest before ascending “Rocky Ridge” to the summit.

It was everything we hate about east coast trails – lots of roots, rocks, no switchbacks, and plenty of humidity to go around. Still worth it though!

“We took some time off last weekend to hike Mount Carleton – the highest point in the Maritimes. Totally an audible since we only found out about it a few days before but worth the effort!

The last few kilometers up rocky ridge and along the spine of the mountain were my favorite. The trails tops out at the old fire watchtower where we had a snack and then enjoyed the view of 10,000 trees.

Felt good to be on top of a mountain again.” – @currentlywandering

“ALL the trees. 🌲🌲 I’ve been thinking a lot about outdoor family adventure and what it really means to me and why we do it. Part is about the exercise, part about seeing new views and exploring. The biggest part though is the sense of mutual accomplishment. We did something hard. Together. It binds us as a family in ways that are hard to articulate.

I love getting home and feeling the good kind of tired.” – @currentlywandering

“Mount Carleton is the highest peak in the Maritimes, at 817 Meters above sea level. That’s 2680 feet, which is half the elevation of our home base in Driggs, ID but high enough to get quite a view. This isn’t the peak though, just a good spot for a view on the ridge approach.” – @telegramsam

Once we descended off the ridge (pretty steep again!) the trail flattened out into more of a wide ATV trail. There were plenty of small rocks but the going was easy and much faster than the way up.

We barely made it back to the Airstream in time to shower, grab lunch, and make it out just slightly after check out.

We tried to get into Kouchibouguac National Park after hiking Mount Carleton, but unfortunately the campground was full. After calling around we found space in a little commercial park in Bathurst, New Brunswick.

It wasn’t much to look at, but we managed to get the chores done so we could play later in the week!

Categories
New Brunswick

Parc provincial Les Jardins de la République, New Brunswick Canada

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Travel Dates: August 8-11, 2018

After our morning-turned-afternoon bike ride to Montreal, we packed up and checked out of our campground late. Motivated to get closer to Nova Scotia, we opted for a long evening drive that took us all the way into New Brunswick.

I had found a small Provincial Park and made a reservation over the phone. We had to move sites to stay longer, but the park was peaceful, the signal was great for work, and they had a pool! We spent most of our afternoons playing in the water which was incredibly relaxing.

I had found a trail system nearby and although the trails were rated ‘green’ on TrailForks, Sam and I decided to test them on a biking date before taking the kids over. I’m so glad we did! They were more difficult than the kids would have enjoyed but Sam and I had a blast.

Edmundston is right across the border from Maine and we looked longingly over the river. Its been a running joke for 4 years that we are on a road trip to Maine and just really bad at getting directions.

Yep. Not actually going there for another 3.5 weeks after this.

“Kind of loving New Brunswick so far. We are just over the border from Quebec so there’s still a lot of French, but we feel less dumb since everything is also in English.

Work, school, a mountain bike ride, some Ukelele playing, sweatshirt and an actual campfire tonight with s’mores and the brownies Rachel made. I’m not sure today could actually get any better.” -@currentlywandering

We never have campfires. Like, ever. But since the temps were low enough at night we decided to pull out the roasting forks and go for it! Rachel also made brownies for us and the results were delicious. I promptly ate way too many.

Meandering through the valley is the Madawaksa River. I kept looking longingly at it and finally decided to paddle a section on our new SUP from Sea Eagle boats in kayak mode. Sam & Rachel joined me at the dock to grab some drone footage and then drove down and picked me up at the other end. It was beautiful, peaceful, a good arm work out and exactly what I needed!

“Before we left Edmunston, NB @telegramsam shuttled me on a paddle down the Madawaska river. Since there was very little current, it really was quite the paddle but the evening light made it picture perfect.

Still loving the @seaeagleboats SUP. I added the kayak seat this time and with the needle nose and the fin we tracked pretty straight! Also, this thing can really MOVE. It’s a blast!”- @currentlywandering

Categories
Quebec

Crossing the border into Canada – Montreal, Quebec

Travel Dates: August 6-7, 2018

Montreal was on our route for two reasons: 1) we could visit the Montreal Quebec Temple, and 2) Rachel is learning French and this way WAY closer than the city with the Eiffel Tower.

Quebec is the only Canadian province who’s primary language is French. New Brunswick is bi-lingual and the rest are English with some French mixed in at the national park sites. It was obvious from the street signs, to the stores, and the conversations around us that we were no longer in Kansas.

Side note: The Canadian Costco’s only accept Mastercard. Luckily our business card qualifies but we didn’t expect to not be able to use our Costco Visa!

“When Rachel started learning French, see decided that a Montreal visit was in order. Without her push, we wouldn’t have spent a few nights in a city of 1.7 million, surrounded by people who spoke a different language.

We’ve spent enjoyable time in Canada before, but never in Quebec. Immediately upon arriving, we found ourselves in Costco for some shopping, and the culture shock was immediate. Even in familiar store, I felt completely crippled by my inability to even pronounce French words, let alone understand their meaning. We stumbled through a food order (Costco has poutine!) and then I felt totally helpless as I stared at the error being displayed on the payment terminal.

The people we met were wonderful and patient, but the experience gave me an enlightening view into what the life of an emigrant or refugee must be like. I was uncomfortable, and I felt stupid and that I didn’t belong. After the initial shock wore off (and we headed for less populated slices of Canada) I’ve relaxed and have been enjoying exploring unfamiliar places in spite of my obvious language deficiencies.

Also, the cycling infrastructure in Montreal is 👌. Our city visit was a learning experience for all.” – @telegramsam

Tuesday morning I took the kids to the science center in downtown Montreal. Our ASTC (Association of Science and Technology Centers) pass gets us into reciprical centers around the US and Canada (and a few other countries, actually) so entrance was free.

We soon realized, however, that all science centers are similar and this one wasn’t super engaging. Also, there were a gazillion kids as part of summer camps. We all about died. After a brief pow-wow we decided to pay $5/person to gain access to the special DreamWorks animation exhibit.

It was SO worth it! We had fun looking at all the models, watching “making of” videos and admiring the art work.

The following morning we planned to ride our bikes part way into town and somehow decided to just keep going all the way into Old Town. It was a good 10 miles but the kids were champs! Once there we walked around the historic section before taking the ferry back to our campground.

“Rode our bikes from the campground to Old Town Montreal this morning. Loved that it was bike lanes the whole way. Totally reduces stress when kids are involved!

We locked our bikes up and then walked around town for a bit before taking the ferry back to our campsite. Total win on adventure planning!

In other news, I’m not sure I want to ever do Europe. I feel like I hear about so many amazing cities and honestly they are just not our thing. Backpack through a few countries, sure, but we’d probably all drive each other nuts after one day of city exploring! 😂😁 Tell me I’m not alone?!” -@currentlywandering

And then we decided to leave a day early and find someplace not quite so populated.

Categories
Vermont

Ice Cream & Mountain Biking in Stowe, Vermont

Travel Dates: August 2-5, 2018

We invented a card game. No, it hasn’t hit national acclaim (yet!) but as its a travel based card game, we needed to do some research on east coast destinations. And that’s when I found the town of Stowe, VT. For some reason it stuck with me ever since and I knew that’s where we wanted to check Vermont off the list.

Stowe is a small town, especially compared to nearby Burlington, but as we are small town people it fit. We found a family run campground (all the state parks don’t have a electric service, and I’m pretty sure I’ve mentioned how I feel about the humidity out here a time or two) and we ended up on a grassy knoll across from a playground. Plus they had a pool and were 10 minutes from the local mountain biking trail system. Sold.

All the adults made it out on a therapy ride (working on the road and managing kids is a full time gig) Friday and the kids had fun in the pool that afternoon. Saturday morning we went back to the trails with the kids and everyone got a ride in. These are probably the best trails we’ve found so far in the east! Lots of smooth, fun single track that it made it super fun!

“The rain held off Saturday morning just long enough to get the kids out on the trail. All the adults had a therapy ride on Friday, so it was easy to just relax and and go at a slower pace. @alyssakerickson and I hung out with the youngest two and they totally rocked these trails.

I’ve seen a huge shift in Cara’s riding since she had her lesson up at @grandtargheeresort. She’s more confident on the downhill and I can call out “ready position” and she immediately shifts into a more stable feet flat, up off the saddle stance. It’s really fun to watch!” -@currentlywandering

Now that they’d worked hard to earn it, we spent the afternoon at the Ben & Jerry’s original factory just a short 15 minutes down the road in Waterbury, VT. Went on a quick tour ($4 per adult, kids are free), ate a sample, bought a kidney’s worth of ice cream and explored the flavor graveyard.


“When in Rome…er…Vermont.

I’m not sure my kids knew Ben & Jerry’s was an ice cream brand, but of course they were in for a visit once they found out. Tour is short but interesting and naturally we sold a kidney to buy everyone an ice cream cone afterwards. 😂😆” – @currentlywandering

Leaving Stowe, we split from our friends for about a week. We were headed up to Montreal while they went farther into Vermont and New Hampshire. We decided to take the scenic route north through a place called “Smuggler’s Notch”.  In hindsight, it was probably not our wisest decision. #lessonlearned

“Pulling out of the campground in Stowe, we considered our options: the mostly freeway route that we had already seen, or a sure to be scenic route going north that we hadn’t researched very well?

We chose Adventure, perhaps unwisely. Adventure led us to tow a 27 foot Airstream up crazy tight switchbacks on a no-centerline road, through the crazy tight road squiggle between two huge rocks that likely comprises Smuggler’s Notch itself, and down the 14 percent grades on the other side.

We shouldn’t have done this, and you shouldn’t either. No pictures were captured as we barely escaped this particular Adventure. We stopped further down the hill for some Maple soft serve known as a creemee here in Vermont.
And a change of underwear.” – @telegramsam

Categories
New York On the Water

Running the Hudson River Gorge with Adirondac Rafting Co.

We loved our stay in Lake Placid, NY and as we were talking about where to go next I noticed that @adirondacraftco followed us on Instagram. Wait, what? There’s whitewater rafting!? Sign us up! After a brief conversation over Instagram we found out they still had availability, worked a deal for a discounted trip for the 10 of us (still hanging out with Kid Project), packed up and were on our way!

When We Went: August 2, 2018

Ages of Kids: 12, 10, & 8 (8+ is the minimum age during the summer, 16+ in April, 10+ in May)

We love whitewater rafting and have somehow managed to squeeze in a trip every year. Two years ago we ran the Snake River in Jackson, WY and last summer we spontaneously jumped on a trip in Jasper, Alberta. The kids especially were incredibly excited to tackle a third river this year!

Although we’ve run rivers before our friends, the Erickson’s had not. Super fun to get them on their first river and we picked a great one!

The Upper Hudson River Gorge is located near Indian Lake, New York. Its a super small town and most of the adventure seeking guests drive in from Lake Placid – in fact many of the guides for Adirondac Rafting Co. also live in Lake Placid and drive down for work. Not too shabby.

After talking with the guides we found out the smaller Indian River (where we put in) and the larger Hudson river are controlled with a dam release.  Four times a week the dam releases enough water for the multiple companies in town to run whitewater trips. Its called “The Bubble” as the increase of water moves down the river, raising the levels as it goes. Because of the timed release all the companies put in roughly around 10am and ride the bubble down the river.

So, yes. We surfed the dam river bubble.

This section of river has 12 named rapids and ranges from a Class IV in the spring to more of a II-III in the sumer months. Total distances is about 15 miles which is the longest section we’ve ever done!

Check in time was 9am and went super smoothly. We signed a waiver and then got suited up with a life jacket, helmet and paddle. After a brief safety talk we loaded on to the Tiger bus for the short 10 minute ride to the put in.

There’s a bit of a jockeying at the put in with eight different companies running multiple boats. Our guide were awesome – they got us in line and in the water with no problems. It looked that most of the guides between companies were friendly enough but I was especially impressed with the experience level and professionalism of the guides with Adirondack Rafting. We later found out that our guide, Brad, has been down this river about 700 times!

Our first section on the Indian River was immediately fun! My favorite thing about this river is that I felt it was ripply and exciting most of the way. While sections weren’t necessarily classified as “rapids” they were still whitewater fun and kept us entertained.

©Adirondack Rafting Company

Around 12:30pm we started looking for a lunch pull out. The trip includes lunch and it was delicious! Turkey sandwiches, chips, oranges, lemonade and cookies. After a few hours on the river everyone was hungry so we gobbled up our food while perched on some rocks  with a pretty sweet view. Adirondack Rafting company has also partnered with a local food bank to help feed families in need. For every meal they give out on the river, a donation is provided to the Regional Food Bank of N.EN.Y to feed local families in need. How cool is that?

Back on the river! Some of our favorite rapids were after lunch. The kids took turns moving around the rafting and alternating who got to ride in the front or the middle. At one point Brad handed the guide paddle to Sam and stuck him in the back to steer! It was super fun to have Sam at the helm and he did a great job navigating a few of the smaller rapids.

We had plenty of time to play and swim in the water as well. We jumped off Elephant Rock and were also able to surf some of the rapids! Something I’ve never seen or done before. We basically tucked into the overspray of a rock and the kids thought it was hilarious that our boat entirely filled up with water. It was a blast!

Jumping off Elephant Rock
Surfing the rapid

We pulled off the river around 3:30pm and helped load the rafts back onto the bus which was quite exciting as we basically had to throw them up there. As the kids settled back into their seats for the 20 minute drive back to Indian Lake I could see their eyes start to droop. They had an amazing time but 5 hours on the river for young kids is pretty intense!

We are so happy we made the trip down to Indian Lake to river raft. If you are ever in the Adirondack/Lake Placid area its totally worth looking these guys up! I guided some rafting a bit in college and I know there are certain ways to hit rapids for the best ride. Sometimes you go in sideways, sometimes backwards (eek!), sometimes you paddle up river and I love that these guides really know their stuff. I could tell they loved their job and truly enjoy providing an amazing experience for their guests.

Disclosure: Adirondac Rafting Company provided us a 50% discount in exchange for social media posts and a blog post. We are super grateful we got to work with them and highly recommend them as a company. All opinions are our own!