Tuckerman's Ravine

We spent Friday, the last day of my son's school vacation, hiking up to Tuckerman's Ravine on Mt. Washington. This pic from the caretaker's cabin, about 1.5 hours into the hike, is the first time my son got a look at the ravine. I've hiked up to the ravine before, but never on such a spectacularly clear day.

The plan was to hike in, mostly watch other skiers and riders, and not for him to attempt to snowboard the headwall. But every 14 year old wants to prove his Mom wrong, so up the headwall he climbed, over "the lip" where he disappeared for several agonizing minutes. I waited for him to appear. Waited some more. Is this what it is going to be like when he gets his license and takes the car out the first time? Or will that be even worse? Finally he appeared at the top of the headwall and rode down the wall with ease. The dot in the middle of this pic is my son. He paused for a minute at the bottom, and climbed up again. It was a great day for us both. Hiking back down to Pinkham Notch, he was glowing with a sense of accomplishment. And you know, I felt good about letting go enough to let him do it.