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Interview: Scott Turner (Orienteering, Hiking, Skiing, Camping, Biking, ​Backpacking )

10/28/2020

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This week we have an interview with an outdoor parent whose children are grown up, so he has the perspective of taking them outdoors through all the stages of childhood. He is also a very experienced at orienteering, which I think is a great way to get kids outside that I haven't tried yet with my kids. He also happens to be my uncle, and when I was a kid I got to go orienteering with them. Enjoy!

Name: Scott Turner
Location: Suburban Boston, MA, USA
Family Activities: hiking, orienteering, cross-country skiing (and a little downhill), car camping, swimming   
less regularly canoeing, bicycling on dedicated paths, hiking the AMC hut system, backpacking
​Kids: 38, 36, and 32
Work Schedule: ​I worked full time regular daytime hours. My wife was a homemaker full time until the kids entered 1st through 6th grade. She led their home schooling from that point through high school. When the youngest reached 11 years, she began part time work.​
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Transitioning to parenthood:
  1. What outdoor activities did you do before you had kids? Together we enjoyed hiking, cross-country skiing, canoeing, bicycling, and swimming. We tried backpacking but my wife did not enjoy it. I had also done a good deal of small boat sailing earlier in my life.
  2. If you or your spouse were pregnant, did that person continue any of the activities and how did they modify the activity while pregnant? My wife transitioned from jogging to walking for her pregnancy.
  3. If you do different activities after having kids, why is that? A lot of things changed from 1978 until our first child was born four years later. We had returned to New England, got new jobs, met, courted, married, and settled in a suburban house. It's more noteworthy how little our activities changed.

    A significant change for me was that during my wife's first pregnancy I took up the sport of orienteering. I began to participate in the local orienteering competitions which were regularly scheduled in wooded areas around Boston. It combined running, which until then I had done on the roads, with map skills, which I had developed while backpacking.
  4. How old were your kids when you started doing outdoor activities with them? We may have waited a couple of months before taking them on trails in the hills, but essentially we went outdoors immediately. It was snowing when our first child came home from the hospital.
  5. What was your biggest challenge when you started doing outdoor activities with the kids? Executing a car camping trip for a week at a New Hampshire campground, with a variety of excursions, was a big effort, and once it rained the whole week!
Outdoor parenting:
  1. How have these challenges changed as the kids got older? We and the kids were involved in other activites -- church, dance, soccer, etc. that made time for activities in nature more scarce.
  2. Do you have trouble maintaining the kids interest in the activity (ie during a long hike) and if you do, how do you keep the kids interested?  Keeping them going during a long hike was definitely a thing. It helped to have an intermediate goal, and say, "In one mile we'll come to a rest spot and have a snack." We also had a couple of trail games that we played. Some of our long hikes were with cousins, which was great for preventing boredom.
  3. How do you fit the activities into your working life?  I would take the family or just a couple of the kids to an orienteering event on a Saturday or Sunday, as these were part-day activities in (mostly) local woods. Occasionally we would travel for a few hours to a big weekend orienteering event, camping overnight. A couple of the nicer events had square dancing in the evening.  The kids' favorite was a weekend at Pawtuckaway State Park in New Hampshire, which had regular orienteering, canoe orienteering, and an after dark "Vampire orienteering" event followed by smores..
    Occasionally I would take some of our kids with some of their friends for a hike, such as Mt. Monadnock.
    In the summers we would do at least a week of car camping that involved a good deal of hiking and sometimes canoeing.


  4. How do you balance outdoor activities with kids activities (organized sports, music, school)?  Those activities almost always took precedence. Given that the kids all either played soccer or had dance rehearsals, I can't recall how we got away for as many weekends as we did.
  5. If you have a partner, how do you ensure that both of you can keep doing your outdoor activities? My wife was content to keep in shape by walking in the neighborhood streets, and enjoy the more natural scenery during an occasional parents' or family getaway. We both consider aerobic exercise important. I would make it a priority to take care of the kids while she went for a walk, and she was wonderfully flexible in letting me spend half the Saturday orienteering. She also let me get out for 2 or 3 shortish runs on weekdays. For a while I was going for a two mile run after work with one of the kids.
  6. Have you ever received pushback on outdoor parenting from family, friends, or community? If so, how have you handled it? I don't think our friends understood that we were sending our little kids into unfamiliar woods on their own with just a map and compass.  :-)
    We attended church as a family very regularly on Sunday mornings. If we went away for a weekend, we would miss church of course, and my wife and I would kid ourselves about "playing hookey" from church. But no pushback. Massachusetts churches are grateful for whatever attendance and support they get.
Summary/Conclusion:
  1. What resources helped you figure out how to do these outdoor activities with your kids? (books, friends, groups, blogs, etc).  We both grew up in families that enjoyed hiking and car camping, and knew the basics. What led us to wonderful times wasn't so much "how to" guides, as friends, maps, articles and even travel guides that clued us in to great places. For what it's worth, the most memorable are: * White Mountains, NH * Baxter State Park, Maine * Appalachian Mountain Club Huts, NH * Fransted Family Campground, Franconia, NH * Umbagog Lake, New Hampshire & Maine * Kejimkujik National Park, Nova Scotia * Maine Wilderness Camps, Maine * Up North Orienteers Camping Weekend, NH​
  2. If you’re a writer, what are the blog posts, articles, books, videos that you have written/created that you think would most help other families? Recommended hikes with kids in the White Mountains
  3. What is your favorite outdoor parenting hack? Once we had kids, car camping assumed a more considerable role compared to backpacking. To make a great leap beyond the lightweight backpacking mattress I went to a local fabric store and bought 4" thick foam that was plenty long enough for my 6' sleeping bag. And similarly for my wife, except 5" thick. Sewed up a fabric cover over the foam and we parents had great mattresses. Kids with their smaller bones were content with the backpacking pads.
    I must mention a hack of a completely different kind. For our family, getting into the outdoors necessarily meant getting away from screens. What to do after dark? Invent and tell tall tales to one another. 
  4. What is your biggest outdoor parenting mistake?  Once we hiked from the valley up to the Franconia Ridge. We had rewarding snacks along; the problem was that they were not guarded sufficiently. Just as we were starting down again on the steepest part of the trail, our 8 year old son, normally a very willing hiker, developed such a pain in the gut that he could not proceed. Concerned that he might have a serious intestinal obstruction or appendicitis, we could not wait it out. I lifted the chunky kid and carried him down the mountain for at least 1/2 hour. Eventually he must have found the discomfort of being carried increasing to where it was comparable to his gut pain, which might have been easing. He allowed as how he could try to walk the rest of the way, and that it had been a mistake to eat the entire bag of m&ms!
  5. If you could give one piece of advice to other outdoor families, what would it be? Learn to have confidence in each of your kids, and thus teach them self-confidence.
  6. What is your favorite piece of gear for outdoor parenting? Karhu kid-size cross-country skis fit the budget and fit the kids when they were 5 to 7 years old. We had a couple of pairs and they were passed along from one child to the next. One child was so excited to have her own new skis that she went out in 5 degree weather and skied around the yard on her own for a half hour.
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Interview: Shannon (Skier and Backpacker)

6/15/2020

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This week I'm excited to introduce our friend Shannon. She and her wife are masters of organizing group camping trips, which we have been lucky to be part of for many years now. (They created the camping spreadsheet I shared last week). They have also started taking their kids backpacking and skiing, while impressively managing sports and activity schedules. She is right about how friends help kids hike more - when my kids hike with them they go much farther!

Name: Shannon
Location: Bay Area, CA, USA
Family Activities: hike, camp, backpack, cross country ski, downhill ski
​Kids: 5 and 9
Work Schedule: ​1 full time, 1 newly self employed part time
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Transitioning to parenthood:
  1. What outdoor activities did you do before you had kids? More Skiing and backpacking, kayaking, plus all that we do with kids
  2. If you or your spouse were pregnant, did that person continue any of the activities and how did they modify the activity while pregnant? Not really, we got a cushier sleeping pad for car camping. 
  3. If you do different activities after having kids, why is that? We haven’t taken the kids paddling yet, but we should be able to do that with our 9 year old soon. Our schedules are busier now with sports and kid activities, so we don’t necessarily prioritize our outdoor activities. We waited until age 7 or so to introduce downhill skiing, but did enjoy cross country skiing when they were young.
  4. How old were your kids when you started doing outdoor activities with them? We started camping and hiking when the kids were just a few months old.
  5. What was your biggest challenge when you started doing outdoor activities with the kids? Working around the nap schedule! Trying to schedule a hike around a toddler’s nap is tough. 
Outdoor parenting:
  1. How have these challenges changed as the kids got older? Our schedules have gotten busier! Soccer, swimming, softball teams, birthday parties, etc. The kids are less enthusiastic about hiking now, but that usually dissipates after the first quarter mile. 
  2. Do you have trouble maintaining the kids interest in the activity (ie during a long hike) and if you do, how do you keep the kids interested? Candy. Lots of candy. Also, we just introduced the kids to geocaching and the kids are surprisingly interested! The best thing is having friends on a hike! Chatting with friends makes the miles fly by! Finding ways to make things fun by singing and playing games while hiking helps. 
  3. How do you fit the activities into your working life? We try to get out for a hike every week. During our 2020 Shelter in Place we tried to get out one midweek afternoon each week for a hike. 
  4. How do you balance outdoor activities with kids activities (organized sports, music, school)? It’s hard! Our balance leans toward a greater commitment to team sports at the detriment of our outdoor adventures. That said, we don’t have a problem with taking off on a Friday after lunch a few times a year to get an early start to a camping weekend. 
  5. If you have a partner, how do you ensure that both of you can keep doing your outdoor activities? We take turns. She likes running so I make sure to be on kid duty so she can run. I play soccer, so she’s on duty then. When we’re outdoors together, we’re both on duty...with some breaks.
Summary/Conclusion:
  1. What resources helped you figure out how to do these outdoor activities with your kids? (books, friends, groups, blogs, etc). We started with Strollerhikes.com when our oldest was a baby. Then we found a core group of friends who shared our interest in getting outdoors with the kids. Mostly we relied on our outdoor skills from before kids. 
  2. What is your favorite outdoor parenting hack? Put the baby/toddler in a snowsuit for chilly nights when camping. Bring extra blankets to pile on in the middle of the night.
  3. What is your biggest outdoor parenting mistake? Not pushing the kids hard enough. They can do so much more than we think they can. 
  4. If you could give one piece of advice to other outdoor families, what would it be? It is ok to start small, within your comfort zone. Just get out!
  5. What is your favorite piece of gear for outdoor parenting? A small solar powered inflatable lantern. It is lightweight enough for backpacking, but creates a lovely soothing glow in the tent.
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Interview: Karl Klemmick (Skier, snowboarder, backpacker, canoist, climber, biker)

6/1/2020

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For our second interview we are excited to share Karl's experience as an outdoor dad. We have known him and his family for a few years. They are part of a group of families we go on group camping trips with a few times a year, until they moved back to Colorado. I have always been impressed with how they find the time to get into the mountains so often while they both worked full time jobs and also with the impressive hiking stamina of their daughter.

Name: Karl Klemmick
Location: Boulder, Co, USA
Family Activities: Mostly downhill skiing, snowboarding, hiking, backpacking, camping, biking, and hot springing with a little canoeing, climbing, mountain biking mixed in.  We travel whenever we can make it happen. Recently we have been working on much longer backpacking / trekking trips with a fair amount of success. 
​Kids: 9 year old daughter
Work Schedule: ​Usually we’re both full time, Currently one full time and one not working. We have changed this equation many times over the years.
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Transitioning to parenthood:
  1. What outdoor activities did you do before you had a kid? Pretty much the same with less day hiking and more climbing, mountain biking and trail running.
  2. When your spouse was pregnant, she continue any of the activities and how did she modify the activity while pregnant? We tried to keep up the outdoor activities.  We even planned a backpacking trip at about 5 months, but afterward we discovered that she needed to back off a bit.  She also gave up canoeing and climbing and any other activity that had a potential for jostling.
  3. If you do different activities after having a kid, why is that? Our activities changed and how we approached those activities changed, partly to accommodate the safety and abilities of our child, but also because we were getting older and slowing down a bit.
  4. How old was your kid when you started doing outdoor activities with them? 4 months.
  5. What was your biggest challenge when you started doing outdoor activities with your kid? Finding that balance between fun and exhaustion.
Outdoor parenting:
  1. How have these challenges changed as your kid got older? I’m not sure it has. We still work hard at pushing our child’s limits without harming them or making the activity miserable. Every year she can do more, so we do more.
  2. Do you have trouble maintaining the kid's interest in the activity (ie during a long hike) and if you do, how do you keep the kid interested? Hiking games! From Fetch the stick to 20 Questions to Name an Ingredient.  The games have changed as she has aged, but they are still very useful as the mileage increases. 
  3. How do you fit the activities into your working life? Anyway we can (from maxing out our weekends to taking a six month sabbatical).
  4. How do you balance outdoor activities with kid's activities (organized sports, music, school)? We have avoided organized sports and have done everything we can to keep our weekends open. 
  5. How do you and your partner ensure that both of you can keep doing your outdoor activities? We have settled on a group of activities that we can all enjoy together. 
  6. Have you ever received pushback on outdoor parenting from family, friends, or community? No.
Summary/Conclusion:
  1. What resources helped you figure out how to do these outdoor activities with your kid? (books, friends, groups, blogs, etc) We have pretty much learned by trial and error.  We just kept doing what we liked to do and tweaked things along the way. Early on, I was also involved in a Bay Area group called Stroller Hikes, that organized mid-week hikes with the littles. They are still up and running and can be found at strollerhikes.com.
  2. If you’re a writer, what are the blog posts, articles, books, videos that you have written/created that you think would most help other families?  Back when our daughter was little and I had more time, I published a blog with tons of stories and photos from our earlier adventures. It’s quite a good snapshot of our transition from an adventurous couple to adventurous parents. I currently have aspirations of adding some of our more recent long treks and the planning involved in making them happen. The blog can be found at somehowlost.com
  3. What is your favorite outdoor parenting hack? Just get outside. Go early and often.
  4. What is your biggest outdoor parenting mistake? This one is hard.  I don’t want to say we didn’t make any mistakes, but honestly none of them mattered. We now have a daughter that is just as addicted to the outdoors as we are.

See all of our interviews here, where you can browse through them by keywords and locations.
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Interview: Emily F. (Climber and Backpacker)

5/25/2020

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We are so excited to introduce our first interview of an Outdoor Parent! We are hoping to do about two of these each month and use this information to improve our information pages. If you're interested in being interviewed, please contact us.

Name: Emily F.
Location: Bay Area, California, USA
Family Activities: Hiking, camping, backpacking, climbing
​Kids: 6 and 2 years old
Work Schedule: ​Both parents are full time with some flexibility. I have large chunks of time off because I'm a teacher. Steve is self-employed in event production so can set his schedule somewhat.​
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​Transitioning to parenthood:
  1. What outdoor activities did you do before you had kids? Hiking, camping, backpacking, climbing.
  2. When you were pregnant did you continue any of the activities and how did they modify the activity while pregnant? When I was pregnant I continued all activities while pregnant with modifications. I didn't backpack after the first trimester (mostly because I was tired and not interested in carrying any more weight) and I climbed only at the gym (not outdoors) while pregnant. Hiking and car camping had no modifications.
  3. If you do different activities after having kids, why is that? No change
  4. How old were your kids when you started doing outdoor activities with them? 1-2 months started hiking. Car camping around 6 months? Backpacking around 1 year. Climbing for parents went along with car camping. Climbing for kids around 3 years.
  5. What was your biggest challenge when you started doing outdoor activities with the kids? Adjusting expectations for how big/high/far/fast we would go. Balancing adult fun and kid fun so everyone has a good time. But really it's been amazing. I remember our first J Tree trip when Evelyn was about 18 months old. She ran around in the dirt for hours chasing after the other kids and having a tremendous time. It was amazing to sit in a chair and not have to entertain her. It was the first time that I realized a pack of kids + nature actually can increase adult free time and relaxation. I've made sure to take advantage of the phenomenon as much as possible since then.
Outdoor parenting:
  1. How have these challenges changed as the kids got older? Do my kids count as older yet, lol? My 6 year old is starting to have more opinions about what she wants to do, but so far she loves nature activities. Probably the biggest challenge has been motivating her to hike, since she isn't very easy to carry anymore. See below!
  2. Do you have trouble maintaining the kids interest in the activity (ie during a long hike) and if you do, how do you keep the kids interested? Yes, I have trouble with this. The things that have worked include 1) hiking with other kids so they play together along the trail, 2) Carrying a giant box of blueberries for trail tag. The game is "whoever touches the next tree/log/rock/etc up ahead gets a blueberry!" This game has been known to carry Evelyn and her hiking friends shockingly far (several miles), even with significant elevation gain. 3) Adjusting adult expectations about stopping. Stopping more than we want to to explore, talk, snack, etc. Then continuing on. 4) Giving in and carrying her part of the way. She's only ~45 lb.
  3. How do you fit the activities into your working life? Right now we are satisfied with planning ~4 - 6 trips/year and doing a lot of local hiking. We are fortunate that most of our family is close so our vacation time is generally spent in the outdoors. This could be a long weekend or a longer trip. We also built a climbing wall in the backyard for at-home free play. This seems to fit with the amount of time we have free.
  4. How do you balance outdoor activities with kids activities (organized sports, music, school)? Because I'm a teacher, my vacation time generally lines up with the school year for my kids. I mostly restrict kid activities to the afterschool program Evelyn attends. If she's doing something on a weekend like swimming or gymnastics, I am fine with her missing a class and swallowing the money if we have another plan.
  5. If you have a partner, how do you ensure that both of you can keep doing your outdoor activities? It's mostly about scheduling trips that work for our schedules. He is busier than I am at work, so I often will take weekend trips with other families that he can't attend. Neither of us really do outdoor activities sans kids. Kids are just part of our life now and they are generally included. We do occasionally rely on sitters to allow us to climb together. This takes the form of swapping childcare with another family, or getting paid help. We found ourselves stranded in Red Rock Nevada once when another family skipped out our planned trip and we were able to find childcare at a local kids gym in Las Vegas (Evelyn was around 2 or 3yrs). We would wake up, drive her into the childcare, then book it back to the rocks, climb something shorter and then dash back to pick her up by 5pm.
Summary/Conclusion:
  1. What resources helped you figure out how to do these outdoor activities with your kids? (books, friends, groups, blogs, etc) Rock Rugratz, our babysitting co-op group (Oaktown Babyswap) that we do at least one trip/year with, and trading tips with other active parents.​
  2. What is your favorite outdoor parenting hack? Rather than mess around with a million sleeping mats in the tent, I pack one big egg crate foam for all of us to share. This is nice and comfy on my hips too, which are less resilient than they used to be.
  3. What is your biggest outdoor parenting mistake? One time I led a group of families to a climb in The Pinnacles. In my mind the climb had a simple approach and nice flat ground for the kids to play. My memory did not serve me well that day, it was a sloped ravine with a drop-off and there were a lot of toddlers tied to ropes that day.
  4. If you could give one piece of advice to other outdoor families, what would it be? Definitely try camping/climbing with another family or two. It keeps the kids busy, provides social time for everyone, and gives the parents flexibility to support each other's activities.
  5. What is your favorite piece of gear for outdoor parenting? My daughter had trouble with nature peeing for a long time. The Go Girl was a life saver. I even started taking it to the local playgrounds at home so she could step behind a bush if needed.

See all of our interviews here, where you can browse through them by keywords and locations.
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First Aid Planning

5/18/2020

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This week we have an update to our General Advice section: first aid planning. This list is based on my experience and my wilderness medicine training that I take every 2-3 years and I updated it based on the course I just took in January. 

As always, we love hearing feedback from readers so we can make this page as helpful as possible.

First aid planning is more than just building a good first aid kit. Our recommendation is for at least one and preferably both parents to take first aid and wilderness medical training to match what you would be expected to do if you were a trip leader on a professional course. This gives you peace of mind that you know what to do in an emergency and also gives your family the best chance of a good outcome. As a bonus, you are also able to help other people that you meet on your trip. All the classes recommended below include adult and infant CPR training/certification that is good as long as the overall certification lasts for, so you don’t need to spend time taking that as an extra class. 

If you just go on day trips or car camping, the recommended class is a 2 day Wilderness First Aid (WFA) class, making sure you get adult/infant/child CPR training.

If you take your family on multi-day backpacking trips, the recommended class is the Wilderness First Responder (WFR). This class also trains you on the use of epinephrine which can get you special certification depending on your state which may allow you to purchase epi-pens to carry on your trips (not necessarily needed if your kids are already prescribed epinephrine by their doctor).

We recommend recertifying on the schedule the provider requires. Hopefully you don’t have opportunities to use what you learn (because you plan well and have good luck) so the hands-on part of the classes give you good opportunities to practice what you learn.

The most well known training organizations are:
Organization
WFA
WFR
Certification

​Wilderness Medical Associates
2 day
5 day and 7 day and 8 day options (5 day options requires 3 days of preparation work) ​
3 years no grace period

WFR - 3 day recert
SOLO
2 day (doesn’t include CPR)
8 or 9 days​
WFA: 2 years
WFR: 3 years/2 day recert
No grace period
NOLS Wilderness Medicine
​(formerly WMI)

2 day (doesn’t always include CPR)
9 or 10 days

2 years with a 1 year grace period

WFR - 2 day recert
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​We have taken classes with all 3 of them (although over a 25 year time span). They are all excellent, but have slightly different approaches. Our recommendation is to start by finding the organization that offers the most classes close to home, to make recertifying easier. Otherwise, you can look at the information on their website to see if one of them appeals to you more than others.

Once you’ve completed your class, create your first aid kit and make sure you pack it with you at all times:
  • Wound care:
    • Band-aids (with fun characters for kids)
    • Gauze pads / gauze roll
    • Betadine
    • Syringe for irrigation
    • Tweezers
    • Vet wrap or coban
    • Badger balm / triple antibiotic
    • 2nd skin
  • Blister kit (Great link to blister care from a WFR instructor)
    • Moleskin
    • Molefoam
    • Tincture of benzoin ampoules
    • KT tape blister
  • General:
    • Nitrile gloves
    • KT tape (video on how to use for ankle stabilization)
    • Blank SOAP notes
    • Thermometer
    • Children’s tylenol / Advil / Benadryl
    • Epinephrine (if you have authority to carry it)
    • CPR Mask
    • Scissors
    • WMA Field Guide
    • Pen
    • Triangle bandages
    • Tourniquet (they are recommended again)
    • Biodegradable soap
    • Ziploc bags 

And don’t forget to restock your kit before you go out on a trip and audit it once a year for expired supplies. 
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How to keep your kid moving down the trail

11/24/2019

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The biggest challenge to hiking or backpacking with kids is keeping them moving. It's so important, because we all need to be able to count on completing our hikes before dark or making it to our campsites in time for dinner. Here are the tips we have compiled over the years of hiking with our kids and with our friends:

Get the right pacing and timing of breaks:
  • Take enough breaks: 
    • Try to time breaks to milestones based on distance or time
    • Plan for longer breaks to play/play cards every certain time/distance
  • But don’t take too many breaks - experiment to find the sweet spot, keeping in mind it changes over time
  • Communicate the timing of the breaks so kids can track their progress to the next break
    • Make sure to give the kids their own watch or map if you do this

Be prepared with multiple options of entertainment (rotate through these as needed):
  • Try Geocaching 
  • Bring pocket guides for animal or bird or plant identification
    • Count how many of a common thing you can find or keep track of who can find the most varieties
  • Print out a scavenger hunt to have the kids fill out while hiking 
    • But remember they have to fill it out while still moving!
  • Play “I Spy”
  • Play the "Alphabet Game" - you have to find something that starts with each letter of the alphabet, in alphabetical order
  • Make up stories to tell, or tell stories from books you’re reading
  • Hike with their friends - so they entertain each other
    • Even better, if you hike with another family try splitting up the kids and their parents (because our kids often hike farther with other grownups)
  • Pick up a Junior Ranger activity book at the park visitor center and try to complete the activities during the hike
  • Teach them how to use a topographic map and compass and have them practice

How to avoid stopping in between designated breaks:
  • Put water bladders in the kids’ packs so they don’t have to stop to drink water
  • Give them some snacks to put in their pocket to eat while hiking
  • Help them take layers on/off while walking
    • Make sure they keep the right layers on so they don't get too cold or hot
  • Pack the right clothes and check on them during the hike
    • Make sure they don't wear clothes that will give them chafing or blisters
    • Prevent sunburns by putting sunscreen on (obviously this is important in general, but it does make it even harder to hike)
  • Bribe with food: 
    • Give them “hiking treats” that have to be eaten while moving 
    • Remind them of a snack and break they are going to get after a certain time or distance
  • Give them something to look forward to after the hike (ice cream in town or at the camp store, or a swimming destination)
  • Find a hiking stick to play with while hiking (although sometimes this backfires and slows them down)
  • If you feel you have to let them stop, try not to let the kid sit down, tell them they can only take a standing break
  • And of course, develop standard responses to all the excuses they will come up with for stopping (because you know they will repeat them over and over). For example:
    • Tie their shoelaces yourself so they don’t come undone
    • Remind them to pee during a break
    • Have them take off or put on a layer after a break

Our biggest advice is to keep experimenting and keep getting out there! We believe that you will eventually find something that will work for your family. If you have any specific questions, feel free to reach out to us. And as always, please give us more suggestions of things to add to this list.
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How to go backpacking with small kids

11/17/2019

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​Backpacking with small children can try your patience, but keep getting out there because each year gets easier! We started with our kids when they were able to hike a mile or two. This meant that for us we had a “gap year” in our family backpacking journey, between when we couldn’t carry them any more and when they could walk on their own. Here are our tips to make it work:

What can your kid carry: (Note: these are rough suggestions, adapt them to your kid’s size and ability levels and consider starting with less stuff when they’re older if they’re less experienced)
  • 3-4 years old: snacks, small toy, maybe water (keep it very light at this age to encourage them to carry the pack)
  • 5 yo: add in more water, headlamp, mug, spoon, maybe playing cards
  • 6 yo: add in toiletries, something for group gear (we had our son carry the trowel and TP)
  • 7 yo: add in some clothes
  • 8-9 yo: add in sleeping bag/sleeping pad
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7 yo and 4 yo
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6 yo
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9 yo
Kids backpacking gear:
  • Pack size examples: (for different age ranges)
    • Tiny (3-4): North Face Youth Sprout or similar 
    • Small (5-7): REI Tarn 18 or similar 
    • Medium (8-9): REI Tarn 40 or similar 
  • Sleeping bag:
    • We like the Big Agnes Little Red 15 because the pad is attached, and small kids move around a lot Our son is still using it at 6 years old
    • We bought a women’s sleeping bag for our daughter at 7 years old, since she was able to stay on the pad and the adult sleeping bags are usually lighter (but more expensive). She hasn't had problems with getting cold.
    • Another option is this expandable bag (the Duster 15) from Big Agnes that grows with your kid.
  • Sleeping pad:
    • Go for a ¾ length since you don’t need the extra length
Picture
2 yo enjoying her Big Agnes Little Red
Key items for the parents to carry:
  • First aid kid, and make sure to include any child-specific versions of medicines you might need and fun bandaids
    • Consider getting Wilderness First Aid or Wilderness First Responder trained
  • Extra water (in case kids spill it, or if they aren't carrying it)
  • Lightweight sleeping bag, pad, stove etc - since you're still carrying other people's stuff it's really worth it to invest in a few key lightweight items
  • Tent
    • Stay small as long as you can - we only switched to two two person tents when our two kids were bigger (we used a three person tent for the four of us before that)
  • Platypus gravity filter - the water can be filtering while you're doing other things (or you can train the kids to do it)
  • Extra snacks or special treats - for tough spots on the trail

How to pick a good backpacking route for kids:
  • Distance: 
    • Many kids can “hike their age” starting at 3 or 4 up until 9 at least (one mile per year of age). It’s a fun challenge to give to them!
    • When backpacking, pick something shorter than what they usually do while on day hikes until you’re sure they can do it. 
    • Some kids are motivated to hike all the four thousand footers in New Hampshire at only 5, some (like my son) can hike 11,000' mountain passes at 5 but take a lot of pushing, and some (like my daughter) are less excited about hiking but love the destination. You need to understand your kids, know when to push them and know when not to. 
  • Other hike features to look for:
    • Water (always the #1 choice for my kids)
    • Interesting wildlife (banana slugs to count!) or flowers to identify
    • Rocks to scramble over (the domes in Tuolumne Meadows are a good example)

Other tips:
  • Make the kids help out with chores (getting water, setting up tents) and adjust the expectations as they get bigger
  • Try not to carry the kid's backpack - once you give in it’s hard to give it back. Instead, you need to keep the pack light enough that they’ll carry it the whole time but ensure they are carrying something and that every year they carry a bit more.

The final thing is to find lots of creative ways to motivate your kid to keep moving down the trail. I have a lot of ideas on this one, so I'll save them for a future post.

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How to take your baby backpacking

11/3/2019

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​Taking your baby on a backpacking trip is a great introduction to outdoor parenting. We took our daughter on her first backpacking trip when she was about 9 months old. It was only one night and just a two mile hike but we loved being able to give her the experience of being in the backcountry with us from an early age. Here are some of our tips on how to make it happen:
Picture
Recommended age/weight for these trips:
  • Your baby should be small/light enough that you can carry him/her in a baby backpack and ideally with an extra 5 lbs of stuff**
  • Minimum age depends on your baby, weather, destination, and the comfort of the parent

Key equipment for parents:
  • Frame-pack style baby carrier with space under the baby to strap bulky but light stuff, such as one of the two below (we had an old REI carrier that is no longer made):
    • Deuter Kid Comfort 1 Child Carrier
    • Kelty Journey PerfectFIT Elite Child Carrier
  • Lightweight backpacking gear (especially tent, sleeping bags, pads)
    • Tip: a generous two person tent can work for two + baby and a three person can work for two adults and two kids for a while
    • ​This is where it's so worth it to spend the extra money for lightweight gear, because you have to carry so much extra stuff!
  • Nursing camisole/bra if nursing

Packing tips:
  • Have the person carrying the baby carry their water, snacks, and a diaper plus light but bulky stuff, such as sleeping pads, sleeping bags, or the tent
  • Strap these items under the baby.
Picture
Safety:
  • Bring a first aid kid, and make sure to include any baby-specific versions of medicines you might need and fun bandaids
  • Consider getting Wilderness First Aid or Wilderness First Responder trained
    • I am WFR certified. Fortunately I haven't had to use the training on my family, but it is great peace of mind

Baby’s equipment:
  • Something warm for the baby to sleep in, such as a fleece sleep sack (instead of a sleeping bag for small babies)
    • Sleeping bags only worked with our kids at about 3 years because our kids moved too much and came out of them, but might work for others sooner
    • Other options: have the baby sleep in the parent's sleeping bag, or bring a crib size quilt
  • Fleece top or jacket to wear over the sleep sack
  • Hat/mittens if it’s chilly
  • Layers and backup clothes in case of diaper explosion
  • Diapers
  • Something to spread out under the kid during feeding time to catch food spills

Time of year/weather:
  • Not too cold
  • Not too rainy

Location:
  • Plan a short first trip (just 1-3 miles)
  • Find a location near water because kids love water, and plan a camping spot with options for side hikes

Tips to find locations:
  • Look for good day hikes that are only a few miles that allow backpacking

Hiking tips:
  • Take it slow, stop as needed to play and let the baby out
  • Bring some small toys attached to the baby carrier

Sleeping tips:
  • Be prepared that it might be hard to get your baby to sleep - it's a different bed and the parents are nearby (if they're not used to that)
  • Remember - it will get easier the more you do it, but it won't get easier if you don't do it! (more on this to come in another post)

How to handle multiple kids:
  • Have the bigger kids carry something, depending on their age/abilities (more to come about this in a later post)
  • ​At this point it's even more important to have lightweight gear! (The photo below was a 3 night trip)
Picture
What are your tips for going backpacking with babies? Do you have any suggestions on good places to backpack with babies? Please share your feedback so we can make this page more helpful and comprehensive.

**Take your baby backpacking before you hit the “gap year(s)”! This is the time when the baby is too heavy to carry and too young to hike 2 miles a day.
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