On Thursday we went to the Old Quarry for a homeschooling class on rock-climbing. It was a lot of fun, even though it meant I had to do two hikes. Marina works on Thursday, but I wanted her to have a chance to try climbing before I took her, so after she climbed, we hiked--and ran--the mile back to the car. I got her to work with 3 minutes to spare. Then I went back to the nature preserve, but I didn't really want to wait for the group at the nature center, so I hiked back up to the quarry. The park ranger said it was a mile, but since it is up a steep incline it feels more like a mile and a half. I also didn't return the same way I came. So I will say I hiked and ran between 4 to 6 miles on Thursday. I should wear a pedometer and check the distance.
The climbing was fun. While one group climbed, another looked for snakes. At least 3 black racers were spotted. I saw one of them. Those snakes can move! It sped across the leaf litter faster than I could gather the kids to see it. The park ranger also found a red slider turtle. Two turkey vultures circled ominously overhead while the kids climbed. During my hike back to the quarry, I had a red-tailed hawk fly in front of me as squirrels chittered nearby. It was an excellent day!
Here are the kids climbing:
Looks steep, doesn't it? It's not as bad as it looks. There are lots of wide ledges. Marina and Chase reached the top very quickly. Sierra spent a lot of time free-climbing all over the rocks after her turn in the safety harness. That scared me a little, but she was safe.
Sierra didn't make it to the top when she was climbing with the harness. The shorter the child, the harder it was to find foot and handholds. Sierra later told me that when she was standing on the ledge pointing out footholds for another child, she learned how to do it. She could better see what she had to do when she stepped back and looked at it. She may have some teaching blood in her.
6 comments:
That looks like great fun!
That looks so cool. Except for the snake part. You are a great sport to go out of your way and make sure your older daughter got to participate. :) On a unrelated note, I see that you have LOLCats on your "Links for Learning." LOVE IT!
Julie: LOLcats proves my rule that you can learn from anything! We've often found news faster that way, the kids critique the accuracy of graphs, and every once in a while you get a science oriented LOLcat to discuss! (Lately, I do find I need to preview it for my youngest,thanks to crude humor during school breaks.)
Nice pics. Those rocks lok steepe than those at the children garden at the NYBG.
Love, Dad
I am very proud of the rock climbing Paynes and especially you Tina for clocking so many miles. Sounds like a good idea to get a pedometer; you may be surprised at how many miles you go each day. Love, Mom
Rock climbing is a great sport. I climbed for about eight years until I got married. I found you lose have your free time when you get married, and then half of the remaining free time with each child.
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