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Pinkham Notch Visitor Center, New Hampshire

April 2--4, 2003, proved to be a special day for me. I got to spend three days and two nights up in New Hampshire's glorious Pinkham Notch with my oldest daughter, Stephanie, and the rest of the sixth grade class from Nottingham Elementary School.

Originally built in 1920, the Pinkham Notch Visitor Center is the most important trailhead on the east side of Mount Washington (the highest peak east of the Mississippi River and north of the Carolinas, where the highest wind speed in the world was recorded at 231 mph!). It offers food and lodging throughout the year at the Joe Dodge Lodge, which can accommodate more than 100 guests. The center is a favorite gathering place for hikers, and the site of numerous seminars, meetings, and educational outings.

We learned about weather, wildlife, winter survival, and much more with the enthusiastic staff from the Appalachian Mountain Club's "A Mountain Classroom." We also had a lot of fun! I was a chaperone for a group of 8 girls, and it was insightful watching this group of differing personalities and cliques slowly bond (at least temporarily) over the few days we had together. One by one they all eventually opened up to me, and I really enjoyed spending time with this group. The weather was often cold, and the kids were often tired from staying up too late in the lodge, but I think nearly every one of them wished they could have stayed a little longer.

Among my personal highlights was a challenging hike in snowshoes up to Crystal Falls. It had been years since I last wore snowshoes, so I was far from graceful in the beginning. But the view from our final destination was breathtaking (not that I had a lot of breath left once we reached it!). On the way up, we took a break to play a hide-and-seek camouflage game that the girls loved. They took turns covering their eyes while the rest of the group hid in the woods just off the trail. Then the "predator" had to scan the wilderness to see how many "creatures" she could spot. They all gained new perspectives on how difficult it might be to hunt in these conditions, and what techniques woodland creatures might use to hide from predators.

I also greatly enjoyed watching the kids role-play as packs of wolves tracking their prey. One child from each group went outside with an instructor and acted like an injured deer by spraying bright red spots along a crisscrossing network of trails. Each deer's "blood" had a real scent, and the wolf packs waiting inside were given a good sample sniff. Then the wolves were sent outside to track their prey. They had to get their noses right down in the snow to identify the right trail, then track the correct markings until they found their prey.

It was also fun to help build a genuine "quinzee" survival shelter out of snow, though the two dads wound up doing most of the shoveling! (Click here to learn how to build a quinzee.) But my favorite part of the entire trip was spending some much-needed, one-on-one time with Stephanie. She's such a smart, fun, young lady whose smile (like her mother's) lights up a room. By the time the program was ending, I found myself envious of Kevin, our patient and enthusiastic AMC teacher who's about to finish his degree and become a classroom teacher.