FIELD NOTES #6
GOSHEN,
NEW HAMPSHIRE
An informative visit
Dates
Jul 27 – Aug 2, 2026
Miles to camp
5
(1,222mi travelled so far)
Weather
60-75
Sunny w/ Storms
Symptom Score
21
(baseline: 23)
WOuld we return
Maybe
How I Felt
During our stay my average score was 21, with a all time second highest score of 37. I have noticed my symptoms run about 2 days behind exposure so it could have been carry over from our last campsite.
What We Did
We didn’t do as much while camping in Goshen due a lot to the three days of storms and because we had already been here for almost three weeks. We spent a lot of time enjoying the beautiful campground beach and Rand’s Pond. We got the boys each a tube, which they had a blast using in the pond and to get out to the floating dive platform.
We did sneak a few hikes in between the rain and homeschool time. We hiked the Sawyer Trail (which a name like Sawyer how could we not!!) which was an easy 1 mile hike through a mature forest. One morning we also to the short drive to the Ruth LeClair Memorial Trail, which is a 3 mile hike around a beautiful man-made lake. It was a nice, flat, wooded hike that the boys tested out their new walking poles and hiking shoes on (we found that their regular sneakers left them slipping and sliding on the rocks far more than Meg and I’s hiking shoes so the boys picked out their own).
While out running errands we stumbled upon a huge u-pick raspberry patch at Beaver Pond Farms. Even though they had lost almost all of their raspberries due to a late frost we were able to find enough to fill a few quarts.
Our Favorite Moment
An unexpected find of u-pick raspberries (Meg’s favorite)
Observations
The Journey Continues
We are visiting 45 campgrounds in 300 days to find a place where our family thrives and my symptoms improve. Follow along as we share what we learn along the way
Graham Simplified
Scorecard
5 / 10
5 / 10
6 / 10
5 / 10
5 / 10
9 / 10
Maybe
Overall
6
/ 10
- The biggest insight was that I went from the second worse symptom day on record to being able to run 4 miles two days later. The difference? It stormed with heavy wind and rain for three days resulting in the best air quality I have ever recorded. While this doesn’t confirm that the environmental load I experience is the primary driver of my symptoms, it is the second time I have observed this pattern.
- We also camped right on the shores of a lake which provided fairly consistent wind. It is possible that also helped to keep the environmental burden low. It will be interesting to compare this to staying near the ocean.
- We are still working through some challenges around homeschool, but it genuinely seems like they are starting to enjoy it and the perks it brings. The boys are also getting into moving around so much. They like to chat about where we are going and what we will see (and in some cases who we will see)
- Being at a campground that allows us to receive packages was a game changer. It was great to be able to order some things we couldn’t find around town.
Next we are headed to:
Southwest Harbor, Maine
A hopefully awesome campground just outside Acadia National Park.
