Noah’s First Hike to the Eternal Flame

I recently took Noah on his first hike to Eternal Flame Falls in Chestnut Ridge Park. It’s been a long time coming. It’s definitely my favorite local trail and I’ve been looking forward to hiking there with my son for a while now. Noah just turned five years old, so I’m surprised I didn’t take him sooner. I guess it’s probably my cautious side and the fact that I’m a pretty protective father.

The hike to the Eternal Flame is short as it is barely a mile roundtrip. It is briefly steep and you have to walk in a creek bed at times, but it’s not too difficult. I wrote a rather detailed description of a hike to the flame a couple years ago, so I won’t be as specific this time around. I want to focus on the experience of being on the trail with my son this time.

I have probably hiked to the Eternal Flame at least a couple of dozen times, so I know the area pretty well. I like solo hiking and I’m sure I hiked alone on most of my visits to the flame, but I also like to play the role of a guide and show people around. I’ve played tour guide with Ashley in a couple of National Parks and always enjoyed taking her to places I had previously visited and on trails I had hiked before. This time I was my son’s hiking guide.

Noah started asking questions about the hike before we even left the trailhead. He wanted to know how long the hike would take, what we would see, and how hard it would be. He was also interested in the fact that there were several other cars parked on the side of road by the trailhead. I told him it is a popular trail and we would see plenty of other hikers.

We walked along the trail together, examining how wet the dirt was beneath our feet and how surprisingly green the forest around us was. Noah mentioned how quiet it was around us, but quickly interrupted the silence with a barrage of questions and a constant commentary throughout our hike.

He held my hand most of the time. I’m not sure if it was because he was scared, to keep me close, for safety, or just basic comfort. Whenever we encountered a steep section of trail or had to negotiate an obstacle like a fallen tree I made sure to help him and guide him carefully. I caught him right after he started to slip and fall a couple of times. He’s normally our child with the better balance and control, while Charlotte falls all the time (at age 3 at least).

We followed the path up and down small hills and around curves before reaching a level wooded area. It was good that we reached the level ground, because despite Noah doing great so far I could tell he was huffing and puffing a little after that last ascent. Noah was surveying the many trees around us when I told him that I used to climb one of trees a little ways back from the trail. That got him interested. He wanted to know which tree and see me do it. I found the tree, which is a tall tree with short stubby branches that almost resemble a ladder until there are more leaves higher up. I used to climb 30 or 40 feet up, but this time I went less than ten feet before returning to the ground. I just went high enough to show us both that I could still do it. I told him it’s too dangerous to go any higher. I didn’t want to risk having him see me fall and not knowing what to do.

Next I pointed out the trail markers to Noah. Each one had a picture of a fire and a number, starting with 1 and ending somewhere around 20. He thought they were pretty cool and liked pointing out which numbers were on the markers.

Hiking with Noah was great, because we were doing something I loved and he seemed to enjoy it just as much as me. I also treated it as a teaching experience. I explained the trail markers to him, talked to him about the trees, trail, water, and pretty much anything else that came up on our hike. He had plenty of questions and I succeeded in answering most of them competently.

Soon we were walking on the trail as it paralleled the edge of the ravine. Noah was curious to see what was down below, but I explained that we had to be very careful because the cliff is steep and dangerous. I made him stay a few feet from the edge and held him as I pointed out the waterfall below, which would be our eventual destination. Then we marched on through the woods, carefully trying to avoid the many roots that crossed the trail. At one point Noah put his feet on two parallel roots and pretended he was skiing. It was pretty funny and he showed nice balance.

Next we began to follow the trail down to the creek. It is a pretty steep descent at times, so I held onto Noah’s hand the entire way. He had to take some big steps down a few stairs that were cut into the trail. I could tell he was nervous, but he held up well. He slipped once, but I caught him before he could fall to the ground since I had his hand. I bet he could have descended the trail himself if he had to, but I couldn’t help being a protective father since it was his first time there.

Once we reached the creek the hiking became easier again. The trail essentially is the creek at that point, but there is usually ample room for walking on one or both sides of the creek. Noah, however, decided he preferred to walk right in the water. That is until he saw a lot of minnows swimming around in the shallow pools of the creek. He decided to get back on dry ground then.

We encountered a couple of spots where fallen trees appeared to block the creek. Noah exclaimed on two separate times, “What!? How are we going to get past that?”

I told him not to worry and I showed him that we could either step over or duck under a couple of branches to continue. It was soon after that when Noah said one of the nicest things I’ve ever heard. He told me “I like hiking with you more than any of my toys.” That’s coming from a five-year-old who LOVES his toys. Hearing him say that made me extremely happy. I love hiking, so hearing him say he really enjoyed hiking with me was incredible.

A few minutes later we reached Eternal Flame Falls. The waterfall was little more than a trickle due to the recent lack of rain. Thankfully the flame was burning brightly. There was only one flame lit inside the little grotto beneath the waterfall, but it was several inches tall. Noah was very impressed and had a lot of questions about the small fire. A few other hikers were there when we arrived, so I took a photo for a couple and they took one of Noah and me (although it’s kind of a strange picture with a lot of space between us because Noah is standing on higher shale and we wanted the flame between us).

We stayed at the base of the waterfall for a few minutes and talked about the flame and waterfall before starting back down the trail. Noah and I were still hiking slowly through the creek when I got a text message from my wife. She asked if we’d be home soon, because she had to leave to go to a baptism. She needed us home almost an hour earlier than I expected. That meant we had to hurry on the trail. I texted her back and said we’d be home as soon as possible.

I told Noah we had to move much faster. He said his legs were already tired. So, despite originally telling him that he would have to walk for the entire hike I decided I better pick him up and carry him for a couple minutes to save time.

With Noah in my arm I started to power walk/jog beside the creek. I had a lot of energy since I was basically in my element hiking (Noah told me how much he liked hiking with me, and I had to hurry up and finish the hike). I put Noah down for the first part of the steep ascent, but ended up carrying him for about half of the climb. I’d guess I carried him for about half of the rest of the return to the trailhead. He liked that he didn’t have to walk, but he complained, too. He said I was going too fast, which made him bounce around in my arms.

It might not have been pretty, but we hiked quickly and reached my truck in good time. We actually ended up making it home earlier than needed.