I’m about to head out of town for three weeks. You may have noticed posting getting lighter the last couple weeks as I attempted to tie up loose ends before the trip. Posting will be getting even lighter for the next three weeks as I head west to visit family. Then, a week from now, Nora and I will be heading out into the true wilderness, miles out of range of any cell phone tower, and certainly out of reach of the internet.
Here’s a description of part of our route:
One of Washington’s granddaddy trails, Boundary Trail runs across the entirety of America’s largest wilderness, the Pasayten. The route follows the Canadian border, hence the name. It is an extremely high route, much of it occurring at 6,000 feet or more. The area is completely wild and one of the few places in the lower 48 where grizzly bears and gray wolves still roam. The route needn’t be hiked end to end; there are many great trips accessing just a part of the trail. At least eight major trails provide access for small loops.
The Boundary Trail begins at Castle Pass on Pacific Crest Trail. Start at Hart’s Pass and hike north 18 miles to Castle Pass and “Ol’ 533,” the trail’s number. From here it heads east 73 miles to Iron Gate Trailhead, in the middle of nowhere. Along the way it climbs dozens of high passes and ridges, crosses the Pasayten River, and basks in endless views of mountains. The summer is a prime time to visit, when wildflowers are in bloom, as is the fall, when larches do their thing. Established camps are littered along the route, and off-trail camping is OK as long as it’s low-impact. Also, if you hike this route without the maps, you likely won’t come back. Good luck.
Yes. We will have maps. Anyway, here’s my request: We’ll be on the trail for 12 days, and after that long, you tend to run out of conversation. Can you suggest games that can be played while hiking on a mountain trail and are appropriate for a 15-year-old girl and her dad? I’ll list some of the games I’ve found online below.
1. Here’s one I like and which is quite subtle and can keep you entertained for a while. It’s called “tipoter” in French, where “tipoter” stands for a verb – any verb (here in the infinitive mode). I suppose one could make up another word for an English version, e.g. ‘”to gubble” or sth like that. One person has to think of a verb and then the other has to ask yes and no questions about the verb “to gubble” until they can guess what the actual verb is.
E.g. my “gubble” verb is “to milk” (a cow or other animal). My partner then asks me all sorts of questions:
“Do you gubble? – I answer “no” (I don’t have animals to milk!)
“Do I gubble? – No
“Is gubbling part of a trade? – Yes, can be
“Do you need tools to gubble? – No (well, not utensils at least)
“Is gubbling done outside? – Either way
“Does one need something to gubble? – Yes
“Does one gubble something? – Yes
“Does one gubble an object? – No, not an object
“Does one gubble an animal? – Yes
” Is it ‘to tame’? – No
“Does one gubble a cat? – No
Etc. Get the idea? The person guessing has to try to narrow down as much as possible then guess the exact word.
You can set time limits, decide you will only use action verbs, set a limit on the number of guesses, etc. All up to you!
2. This a “describe a person” game. Pick a person from your friends, relatives, or famous Hollywood stars, and describe that person to the other people in the car. The first person to guess correctly whom you are trying to describe gets to go next. Of course you could make the game even harder by not using any words when you describe the person, but rather just actions. That way your car will be transformed into a carload of joyful people!
3. One person says a word, the next person has to say a word that has nothing to do with the word that was just said; you can’t repeat words. If you have to say more than three words to relate them, they are non-related.
4. One person mimics a sound and everyone else has to guess where the sound is made. For example, if a player made the noise of a swing squeaking back and forward, the answer would be “at the park”.
Or a player might make the sound of a washing machine spinning the clothes dry – and the answer would be “in the laundry”.
This game can degenerate into toilet humour, which is probably why kids think that it`s such FUN.
5. This is a far more difficult game to play perfectly than it seems – more dangerous too as offence can be taken, although it is not meant. One player thinks of a famous person or person known to all participants (this is obviously more fun). The other players then try to guess the identity by asking him to describe the person in terms of analogies. For example, “what kind of building is he/she?”, the answer could be anything from a town hall to a thirties semi-detached to a castle in Spain. Analogies categories can be: modes of transport, animals, food drink, smells, weather, machines, etc..
Do not fall the trap of confusing what the person ‘likes’ with what the person is like, ie a person likes champagne, but they might be more like fizzy lemonade (at least, you think they are) and this is where the offence-not-meant-but-easily-taken can occur.
Of course we know “20 questions” and its variants as well. Any other suggestions?