AMC Outdoors, June 2002

We head back to the hut for a pond study at one of the lakes. On the way, we pluck a few bog bilberries, small black berries amidst leatherlike leaves, and pop them in our mouths — they taste very tangy and acidic. We stop to watch the pretty dark-eyed juncoes flit about.

At the lake, the children are not surprised to find caddis fly larvae when they turn over rocks. The joy of recognition shines in their eyes. But what puzzles them is the fact that the tiny stone cases around them shine like jewels in the sunlight. As they put the rocks back in place, Rachel explains. "The predominant rock up here is mica schist," she tells us. "The larvae use whatever stones are available." Both kids love mica and have it in their rock collections at home. They smile over at me when they hear this.

"Do any animals live up here?" Bryce asks. "We had a beaver one year," Rachel responds. "He followed the creek outlet up from the valley and had to do some rock climbing to get here. He gnawed at the biggest old krummholz he could find in an attempt to build a home, but got discouraged and hungry and returned to the valley after three days." We chuckle to think of what that wayward beaver must have thought when he topped the ridge and saw his near-treeless "home."

"Where exactly is treeline?" Sierra asks. "Where does it stop and start?"

They are fascinated to learn that treeline is different on every mountain and even on each side of every mountain. I watch them scope out the surrounding mountainsides and try to determine where that line would be.

On our walk back to the hut, Rachel tells us that she has a parks and resources degree but is trading a full-time, high-paying job to spend her summers working as a naturalist. She loves the White Mountains and loves to share them with people.

Since 1999, a naturalist has been stationed in every AMC hut, educating visitors about the local area. I am so inspired by their work. I want my children to be able to look over an environment like this and have it be familiar, have it make sense. When they have a little knowledge, they get more curious and yearn to learn more. Then they don't get bored and don't need as much entertainment.

The outdoor world is where my husband and I find the most happiness, and we want our children to have this experience too. I want them to be stewards of the earth — and this has been such a great way to start. 

—Cindy Ross is author of Scraping Heaven: A Family's Journey Along the Continential Divide, from Ragged Mountain Press.

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