Thursday, August 9 arrived with a red sun with clear skies – a beautiful summer day, perfect for our outing to nearby Mendum’s Pond in Lee, NH., only minutes from Durham.
The word “pond” is a misnomer – Mendum’s is a good sized lake, one of the clearest, cleanest in the state. No wonder why it’s the summer outing location for UNH. We hiked the dirt road in, grabbed a picnic table, dropped off our gear and jumped into the water. The temp was Goldilocks perfect – not too cold or too warm, just right. We swam around the edge of the lake, climbed on some rocks and went by a couple docks.
We noticed a large boulder far away in the water. “It would be cool to check that out,” Camden said. “Yeah!,” Emma said. Our bare feet walked on soft pine needles (and some poison ivy – I later discovered) to the rental building. Our choices: canoes; individual kayaks, tandem kayaks and paddle boards.
First up: the paddle board. We saw them all the time at Moody Beach, they looked easy. Wrong! They require a perfectly balanced stand in the middle of the board. All three of us struggled.
Next up – the canoe. I hadn’t been in one since my Boy Scout days at Camp Carpenter in Manchester, NH when I was 12 years old. I remembered them being ‘tippy’ and was a nervous wreck. We all had life jackets on, but we were conscious of sudden movements. I paddled in the stern; Camden in the bow and Emma you kept your body completely still in the middle. We were all a little nervous; it wasn’t relaxing. Somehow we made it back to shore high and dry.
It was past noon and we had worked up a big appetite so we took a break and chowed down subs, chips and drinks. Everything tasted fantabuloso, eating outside in the great outdoors. In a flash you lunged into dessert – Camden making a row of double stuffed Oreos disappearr in a flash. An entire package of Milanos disappeared inside Emma’s slender belly. I watched in amazement. It wasn’t that long ago (to me at least) you were kids who barely cared about food. Now, with 13 year old birthdays coming fast, your metabolisms are at full speed.
We walked off our lunches, hiking across a bridge onto an island, covering every part and trail. Very cool. Emma you closed your eyes standing on a rock with Camden – funny, look at the photo – you look relaxed!
Our third mode of transportation worked best – individual kayaks. They were easy to paddle with little danger of flipping. As our confidence grew, we looked beyond the shore to distant locations along Mendum’s Pond. “Let’s paddle out to that giant boulder” Camden asked. Emma said, “Let’s do it!” Our energy was back and we were ready to burn calories.
It took awhile to get out there. When we arrived, we discovered several big, granite boulders in the water, far enough off shore to potentially jump off. I was nervous – you’re never sure what’s under the water and I didn’t want any injuries to my beloved grandkids. The water looked deep and dark but I needed to make sure. I held my breath and went straight down to see if I could touch my feet – it was way over my head. The sun was hot and the dew point was in the 70’s, a very humid day. You were itching to get into the water.
We paddled over to the big boulder we had seen from shore. “Hey, there’s a rope on it,” Emma said. A few boys were climbing up, holding onto the rope, and jumping into the water.
When we got close to it, we saw its width and height. You had to climb up a steep rock to get up there, and once you did, it was a 15-20 foot drop to the water below. I was feeling good about the safety, having watched the boys jump in repeatedly. But none of us had ever jumped from this height into the water.
Camden scampered up like a cat and was in the water before I could even get up there. Emma you took more time getting up there, being sure of your footing. It was tricky and dangerous. One slip and we could easily scrape our skin, crash back down, break bones and worse. I asked Emma to wait for me before jumping off.
I struggled climbing up there – it was steep and there was no easy way. Bare feet made it hard – and dangerous. I finally made it – it was higher than expected. I jumped in before Emma so I could be double-sure it was safe. The jumping off didn’t bother me, it was fun. From the water, I shouted a few pointers to Emma- you were standing by the edge figuring out your strategy. For a moment I wasn’t sure if you were going to make the leap. Then, off you went into the air! Success!! I was so proud of both of you for trying something new and scary, conquering your fear. There’s something fulfilling about trying something new that’s exhilarating.
We were hooked and did it several more times. Emma was a pro after the second climb and Camden continued to scamper up. I did it three times, struggling with the climb, but loving the drop. You didn’t want to leave – “just one more time Papa,” but it was time to start heading back.
Close to shore, the water got real shallow; people were walking around in what you’d guess would be deep water. We got out of our kayaks and walked all the way to the nearby island (NAME). We stumbled over rocks below the surface, there were many. I picked up one of them and we looked at it. “Hey, it looks like a number one!” It was heavy but we decided to take it back to shore and bring it home. I swam the crawl stroke holding it to shore – no easy feat.
By the time we packed up our stuff, It was 5pm and time to walk back to the Explorer. The number one rock was an added burden, but a fitting end to what we all agreed was a number one kind of day.
