Reaching for the Summit
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Reaching for the Summit
Many of us have felt the drive to travel to the end of a trail or climb a hill
or a mountain. But what if you have a disability that makes it difficult to
explore the wilder parts of the great outdoors? Teams of hikers -- some with
disabilities and some without -- recently set out for the summit of Mt. Lafayette,
and many were in modified wheelchairs.
As with any hike in the mountains, the group of climbers were prepared with appropriate supplies and a well-thought-out plan. The hike was organized by an organization called Northeast Passage, who've helped hundreds of people enjoy all kinds of sports thorough adaptive equipment and helping hands. "We've turned hiking into a team sport, as opposed to an individual sport," says a Northeast Passage staff member. "We all decide where we're going, and we make it there as a team."
Northeast Passage works to create an environment where individuals with disabilities
can recreate with the same freedom of choice and independence as their able-bodied
peers. It is a service branch of the University of New Hampshire's Recreation
Management and Policy Department within the School of Health and Human Services.
For more information, go to www.nepassage.org.
Wild
Ways: Canoe Camping
Canoe camping offers a great alternative to the usual hiking-and-tent-pitching
trek. You can get into the wilderness without carrying a heavy pack. You can
go fishing and see lots of wildlife, especially waterfowl. And, you don't need
a reservation or a permit. If the place is full, you just paddle a little further!
On "Wild Ways," Lisa finds out about canoe camping with John Taylor
of the Upper Valley Land Trust. The Connecticut River forms a "water trail"
that offers miles of scenic shoreline, a healthy fish population, and canoe
camping sites. The Trust maintains primitive canoe camping sites between Ryegate,
Vermont, and Charlestown, N.H.
Many of these campsites are made possible by private landowners and are maintained
by volunteers for the enjoyment of the public. For maps of locations and information
on how to use these sites, go to www.uvlt.org.
Women in the Outdoors
When it comes to outdoor activities, these women will try anything -- and that's
the whole idea! Some outdoor pursuits, such as hunting, are often seen as "men-only."
But the "Becoming an Outdoors-Woman" (BOW) program introduces women
of all ages to a dizzying array of outdoor activities -- fishing, archery, wilderness
survival, map and compass, canoeing, kayaking, camp cooking, and, yes, hunting.
BOW helps women get started in a new outdoor activity -- or in many cases helps them hone their skills -- in a positive, supportive, non-competitive atmosphere. The result is women with a new toolkit of useful life skills, and who are safe, efficient and self-reliant in the field.
For information, visit www.nhbow.com.
Wild
Places: Pillsbury State Park
Heavily wooded and sprinkled with several ponds and wetlands, Pillsbury State
Park is one of the more primitive and lesser-known gems of the New Hampshire
State Park system. In the early 1900s, many people were worried about the effects
of logging on the forests. In 1905, Albert E. Pillsbury, one of nine founding
members of the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests <www.spnhf.org>,
purchased 2,400 acres to demonstrate proper forestry techniques. Later he deeded
the property to the state "to be held in perpetuity as a public forest
reserve."
The park's diversity of habitats makes it home to a great variety of wildlife, including moose and loons. Crossed by a network of hiking and mountain bike trails, the park is an important link in the Monadnock-Sunapee Greenway, a 51-mile hiking trail that connects Mount Monadnock with Mt. Sunapee to the north. Canoeing, camping (40 campsites, most of them on the water), warm-water fishing (largemouth bass, perch, and hornpout), picnicking, hiking, and mountain biking are favorite park activities. History buffs enjoy exploring the park's long-abandoned and overgrown mill sites and cellar holes, remnants of early farm settlement and lumbering of the late 1700s and early 1800s when the area was called Cherry Valley.
Wild Places also features the headwaters of the Ashuelot River, which flows 64 miles from its origin at Butterfield Pond in Pillsbury State Park in Washington, N.H. through nine other southwest New Hampshire towns to join the Connecticut River in Hinsdale, N.H.
N.H. State Parks Web site/Pillsbury State Park: www.nhparks.state.nh.us/ParksPages/Pillsbury/Pillsbury.html
Map of N.H. State Parks: www.nhparks.state.nh.us/ParksPages/parksmap.html
Atlas of the Ashuelot River (NOTE: PDF download): www.swrpc.org/library/natural_resources/Atlas.pdf
