New Hampshire Climbing | Climb With Kids

Video, First Outdoor Toprope. Rumney NH, Age 4

November 15, 2011 By Laura Boniello Miller Comments

Toproping at the Meadows in Rumney NH

The climbing at the Meadows area in Rumney NH worked out extremely well for us. The primary reason for our success was this beautiful “high ball” slab facing the main Meadows climbing routes.

As you can see from the video, we were able to put the kids in harnesses & belay them from above, one at a time (with the occasional rescue of/for C who wanted to climb without a rope.) It was a great time, with some fantastic memories of our first all family sport/rope climbing trip!

Filed Under: Kids Climbing Tagged With: 4 year old toproping, Kids Climbing, new hampshire climbing, rumney, slab climbing with kids

Pawtuckaway New Hampshire Climbing

July 30, 2011 By Laura Boniello Miller Comments

Our climbing vacation in New Hampshire started in Pawtuckaway State Park, an area known for some of the best bouldering in the Northeast. Let me start with the fact that we loved the P-way campground. The sites were nice, the area was scenic, and the restrooms/showers were well-kept. We particularly appreciated the lake that was within walking distance of our campsite. We were able to climb in the mornings and hang out at the lake in the afternoons for the two days that we were at the park.
The New England Bouldering guidebook recommends that you avoid the Black Fly season as well as be aware of the summer mosquitoes. As advertised, the mosquitoes were the primary negative of the P-way portion of our trip.

On the first day of bouldering at P-way, we went to Round Pond and the Round Pond Bouldering area. (Family photo taken at an overlook of Round Pond immediately below the main Round Pond Bouldering area). Note to those driving sedans and sports cars, the vehicular approach to the bouldering areas is quite the off road adventure. We had our Diesel F250 and we quite enjoyed the large puddles and big bumps. At one point, we had the kids “hold” their heads on their necks so that they didn’t get whiplash. Ah, the fun! You can walk a few miles in and/or mountain bike in, should you prefer to keep your car on the paved roads.

There were a number of great routes to climb in the Round Pond area and the kids did quite well with both the short approach and hanging out at the flat areas around the boulders. There were even a number of kid-sized boulders that made for some fun climbing. The bad part of Round Pond (for this part of the year) was that there had been a lot of rain in the weeks before our trip, and the mosquitoes were vicious! We used Natrapel (20% Picaradin) which worked quite well, but bug spray can only do so much. Side note: when we ran out of Natrapel and switched to OFF Family (5% Picaradin), we found the OFF much less effective.

After bouldering at Round Pond for a while, we hiked back to the truck and went back to the campsite. R & C loved the lake and spent a good bit of time swimming and playing in the sand before heading back to the site to cook. All in all, our first full day at P-way was a success and taught us some quick lessons for our next trip.

Lesson 1: Don’t try to get the kids to bed until they are actually tired.
Lesson 2: Food/snacks add hours to the time you can stay out. Pack many snacks. They will ALL be eaten before you head home.
Lesson 3: Reward climbing time with something “just” for them. It makes the climbing time fun and gives them something to look forward to after hours of hiking/climbing.

Filed Under: Featured, Kids Climbing Tagged With: meadows, new hampshire climbing, pawtuckaway, rumney

Vacation New Hampshire, Day 1!

June 29, 2011 By Laura Boniello Miller Comments

It’s not often that I can say this, but the drive to Pawtuckaway went off without a hitch! We left our house at 5:15 am and arrived at the park well before 2 pm. Both kids were loaded into the truck without fuss and they both fell back to sleep for quite a while before waking up for the day. They were still in their pajamas, and clothes were handy for the first “awake” rest stop.

We managed to get to the last food/fuel stop in NJ before they woke up – quite a feat! We had a cooler of drinks and snacks which cut down on the need to purchase food so we only stopped for food once (at lunch time) at the Sturbridge stop on the Mass Pike, where Ryan and I shared a huge Chicken Caesar Wrap from Fresh City (both money saving and healthy!). The kids went with their old standbye – McDonald’s. . . not our favorite place, but okay in (extreme) moderation.

We arrived at Pawtuckaway and because of our early arrival, we were able to leisurely pitch the tent and orient ourselves to the campsite (playing with the sticks, water, & dirt).

We loved the site (a waterfront spot at Horse Island) near both water and restrooms/showers but found that there wasn’t much flat area for the tent (a downfall of selecting your site online).

While Ryan recovered from his half of the drive (I drove until we hit CT, he drove the rest), I took the kids to hang out at the park at Pawtuckaway Lake before dinner. Dinner was Backpacker’s Pantry Pad Thai – good tasting, but requiring more time to “cook” than I allowed. It was clear that I had forgotten how to make camp food! The kids didn’t like the Pad Thai, so we supplimented with Mac & Cheese. I think it was more a result of my cooking than the taste of the food – atleast that’s what Ryan said.

As we prepared for bed, we arranged the tent so that the kids slept on the crashpads (with sleeping bags and blankets) while Ryan and I slept on our camping pads in between the kids. R kept sliding down the crash pad because of the slope of the ground. Ultimately everyone slept but it wasn’t very pretty.

Note to self: Next time, check with the rangers/park staff upon check in to see if the site is appropriate and/or if there is anything better available. The second night, we decided to move our tent. We weren’t waterfront with the new site, but flat was certainly preferable to slopped! Even the slightest slope can mean the difference between good sleep and no sleep.

1. Leaving early is best for us. Figure out what time works best for you and your family. 2. Keep everything accessible for the ride (food, toys, clothes). It cuts down on stops. 3. Guaranteed, you’ll forget something. Do your best to make sure it isn’t anything important. We forgot the kids camp chairs and our 5 gallon water tank. Nothing to cry about, but annoying nonetheless.

All in all a good start to our vacation!

Filed Under: Kids Climbing, Trip Report Tagged With: new hampshire climbing, pawtuckaway