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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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Socializing While Living in a Ski Van

10/26/2020

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When you decide to be a ski bum sleeping in your car with your family instead of buying or renting out a house or staying in a hotel, it does have an impact on your ability to socialize as easily with friends. You can’t exactly invite people over for dinner at your place, to reciprocate when they invite you over, so it’s easy to feel guilty about that. Here is how we tried to handle it pre-Covid, although working full time and wrangling kids onto ski-teams every two weeks often made things too stressful to effectively follow through on these plans. As always, we’d love more ideas on how to make this work! 

Pre-covid, we would arrive at the ski resort early, maybe 7:30 or 8 AM, and get a table inside and have breakfast. We had a group of other families that would also get there early that we could talk to (if we didn’t end up spending all our time getting the kids into ski gear and sunscreen and fed).

After skiing, we would also hang out at the resort but this time it would be a bit more relaxed. Any of us who were done skiing for the day early would wait in the lodge and chat with other families or play games. We would try to have some extra beers in the cooler in case an adult friend wanted one. The best night was when our friend brought an electric fondue pot and we all shared fondue together.

In the evenings we would go to dinner at one of the restaurants in the hotel near the resort, which also happened to be near where our friends lived. Many times we’d see friends there and hang out with them, especially since one of the restaurants had seating in the lounge area of the hotel. We did get to know another family that had a truck camper and we started seeing them more often in the restaurants, which was nice. As a bonus, the hotel had wifi so we could download books to read or movies to watch in the van.

Our friends would often invite us over to their places for dinner or après-ski. We would try to bring a bottle of wine or something over to share but we didn’t always remember to have something with us, especially when the invitations were last minute, or if we were worried about liquids freezing in the van. 

In a perfect world, this is what we would recommend doing:
  • Bring extra food and drinks on all trips: look for things that you can share at the resort while you’re hanging out or have in case you get invited somewhere.
  • Bring a good board game or card game to share - smaller games are good to play at the resort if table space is limited.
  • If you are invited over, make sure you are good guests - help to cook and clean up.
  • Look for places to eat dinner where you know people and invite them to join you and also places where it’s acceptable to hang out for a while.
  • For crowded resorts (which never happened to us at Bear Vally) and when the weather is good, bring chairs and set up a tail-gate at your van and invite friends over.

During covid, we are going to need to focus on making time to hang out with friends outside when the weather is good and before it gets too cold at night. No more invitations to friend’s houses, but we will consider bringing snacks and drinks to share if people are comfortable with it. Unfortunately, we are probably going to need to refocus on how to eat in our van more and socialize within our family, such as more van-movie nights and playing games. But as long as we get lots of good days out there skiing it will be worth it!
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Our van, in our favorite parking spot close to good dinner options and friends.
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Backcountry Skiing with Kids

10/14/2020

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Before we had kids, my husband and I enjoyed backcountry skiing. I wasn’t as good of a skier, but I loved the peace and quiet of skinning up a slope and spending the night in one of the Sierra Club huts with friends and exploring the runs near the hut. We are working to find ways to start doing that again with our kids - we will hopefully have some updates on it this winter as we try it out more. This post is part of our Skiing/Snowboarding page.

A note on this section: it is based more on research and less on experience than our average pages. My husband and I enjoyed backcountry skiing before we had kids but as of when this was written, we haven't done much with our kids yet. We have done plenty of tree skiing with our kids and have taken our oldest child on some side-country exploration with the Contour Startup Ski Touring Adapter, along with a friend whose daughter was on telemark. The rest of the information on gear is based on research.

First, safety: your kids cannot rescue you from an avalanche, except maybe if you have older teenagers, so you must be very careful about where you take them. The minimum age I’ve seen online for AIARE Level 1 classes ranges from 10-13, however I don’t feel my 10 year old would be strong enough to dig fast enough to rescue me and I would never want to put that responsibility on her. You know your kids best though, so make the decisions that are best for your family.

For younger kids, see if you can attend an avalanche awareness presentation for kids such as the ones given by the Nikolay Dodov Foundation. These sorts of presentations get the kids to start thinking about where avalanches can occur and what causes them, and the risks of getting caught in one.

Always bring a first aid kit and enough food and warm clothing to be prepared to handle the weather, especially when you’re hiking in tougher terrain such as in snow.

Backcountry touring setup options: (I have very small feet - 22.5 boots - so finding gear that fits small feet has been a battle for me since I started backcountry skiing)
  • The Contour Startup Ski Touring Adapter fits into your binding and gives you a releasable heel. 
    • It works with boot sole lengths from 245-305mm, which means the smallest boot size is about 21.5
    • For our family with small feet, this means that it didn’t fit our kids until our daughter was 10.
  • For skins, you can trim an old pair of adult skins to fit the kid’s skis.
    • Or sew tother scraps from what people cut off.
  • Jones Snowboards makes a splitboard for kids, but the only size available is for bigger kids.
  • Telemark (although boot size limitations seem to be similar to tech bindings so don't work for smaller kids).

Non-skiing/boarding options:
  • Snowshoes - kids skis are small so you can fit them in your pack
  • Bootpacking - KidProject.org recommends putting Yaktraks and micro-spikes on the kids boots to prevent slipping

DIY options:
  • From a comment on KidProject.org: try putting cross country boots on straight skis with skins attached to the skis to get your kid uphill and carry their downhill skis.
  • DIY kids splitboard setup
  • Telemark 
  • Modify an adult binding to fit a kids size boot.

How to start:
  • First, get your kids to enjoy skiing or boarding in the trees and get them to a point where you feel they are doing it very safely.
  • Next, try side-country gates or boot-packs at the resorts - get them to enjoy the benefits of putting some energy in to getting fresh tracks.
  • Finally, look for some very safe hills to play around on. 
    • Use the opportunity to look at your local avalanche website with your child and discuss the risks.
    • Make sure to focus on enjoying the hike, because it will take up most of the time. Check out our page on keeping kids entertained while hiking.
    • Also make sure the kids put on and take off layers appropriately while hiking and switching to going downhill - those skills are not instinctive and you don’t want to end up with a hypothermic kid.
    • Turn around if the avalanche danger looks higher than you expected, and talk about it with your kids. That might be the most valuable lesson for the trip.
​
As I mentioned, we currently don’t have much personal experience backcountry skiing with kids. Here are some of the other helpful links I have found on backcountry skiing with kids:
  • KidProject.org: one of their kids even competes in SkiMo.
  • DadDispatches.com
  • YukonBackcountrySkiing.com
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Outdoor Inspiration for October

10/7/2020

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Our monthly post to highlight the best writing and most useful tips written by Outdoor Parents over the past month.

You won't typically find gear reviews or travel guides here - on this site we focus on the skills and inspiration to help you get outside and stay outside with your kids. We also believe that everyone should feel welcome in the outdoors, so we share articles by parents and outdoors-people of color to make sure everyone is learning each other's perspectives.

Hopefully, this encourages you to plan your next outdoor adventures, reflect on what you were able to accomplish over the past month, or what you learned and would do differently. Enjoy!
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Upper Kinney Lake, on the Pacific Crest trail, Humbolt-Toiyabe National Forest
Washoe Land
Activities to try with kids:
  • The Beginner's Guide to Foraging | Backpacker
  • A Crowd of Campers Trashed Max Patch | Backpacker As more people are going outdoors due to the pandemic, there is a lot more trash being left behind. As someone who thru-hiked the AT and has fond memories of hiking across Max Patch, this was upsetting to see. Let's get our kids in the habit of packing a trash bag on hikes and making the trail cleaner than when we started.
  • Teach our kids about the native people of where you live or travel to with this website.
  • Wildflower Hike and Homemade Bookmarks | Run Wild My Child Make sure you do this in places where you're allowed to pick the plants. We just did this with fall mountain plants in our yard and it was a lot of fun.

​Books to Read:
  • 20+ Amazing Books for Outdoor Kids | Born to Be Adventurous
  • The Best Books Featuring Black Children in the Outdoors | Outside Online
Note: we will be making a big update to our Books page soon and start adding reviews, so be on the lookout for that!

General:
  • How a Jogging Stroller Saved My Outdoor Life | Backpacker
  • Ways to Reconnect with Nature as a Family | Run Wild My Child
  • Inheriting a Tradition: Embracing My Dad's Love of the Outdoors | Latino Outdoors This story is a good reminder that even if our kids say they don't like playing in the outdoors when they're in high school or college, they can often have renewed appreciation when they get older and it can be a way to reconnect with them.

Inclusion:
  • Gaining Experience | Latino Outdoors
  • Why Route Names Matter | Access Fund As I mentioned in a previous Outdoor Inspiration, we shouldn't accept route names that we wouldn't feel comfortable with our kids saying. Let's support Mountain Project and the Access Fund to get rid of offensive route names.
  • 5 Ways to Build a More Racially Inclusive Hiking Community | Melanin Basecamp An excellent summary of ways we can support each other.
  • Out There, Nobody Can Hear You Scream | Outside Online If you have ever said or heard someone say that Black people just don’t like to do outdoor activities, please read this to understand the barriers that have to be overcome to spend time in the outdoors. As a woman hiking alone I have definitely felt the fear of being attacked, but I never felt the need to look up lynching maps or hate-group maps to see if I was safe to hike somewhere and that is a huge privilege. 

School/Education:
  • Introduction to Outdoor Schools | Run Wild My Child
  • Intro to Federal Public Lands in the US | NOLS Blog A short summary that can be used to teach your kids the history of the public lands we play in. 
​
Travel:
  • Everything You Need to Know to Pick and Awesome Family RV | Crazy Family Adventure A really comprehensive list of the pros and cons of different sizes of RVs for traveling with kids of different ages, from a family that travels full-time.​​
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Camping in Weather

10/5/2020

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For this week we have an update to our camping section, with tips on camping in weather. You may wonder what we know about camping in the rain since we live in sunny California, but we both grew up on the east coast and have plenty of experience camping and hiking in the rain!

Unless you only camp if the weather is perfect (like summertime in California) you’re going to have to have contingency plans to deal with weather when you’re camping. When you’re an adult, it’s a lot easier to just wing-it when the weather is bad but with kids having a good plan can make all the difference. Here are our recommendations to keep everyone happy when the weather isn’t perfect:

Cold:
  • Don’t take them camping in cold weather until: 
    • You know they can stay in their sleeping bag and stay warm reliably.
    • Or if they’re small and trapped in a sleep sack, until you feel comfortable that they will be warm enough or can tell you that they’re not warm enough, especially on their fingers and toes.
  • Bring more layers for everyone than you think you need - someone might be colder than expected and that way you can usually share something.
  • Get kids into warmer gear in the afternoon/evening before it gets cold or as soon as you stop exercising.
    • They might not believe you that it’s important, but when it’s cold later, ask them if they’re glad they did it and remind them the next day that they were happy they did it.
  • Feed them lots of warm drinks and meals.
    • If you need to, let them sleep in while you make them some hot cocoa in the morning.
  • Make a campfire for them to sit around in the evening (of course, not if there’s fire danger).
    • Watch out for kids wanting to get too close to the fire to get warm! Our kids have almost melted their shoes for example.
  • Consider an earlier bedtime to get them into their sleeping bag to get warm.
  • Just like with adults, have them take off some of their layers when they get in the sleeping bag and have them put any clothes for the next day in the bottom of their sleeping bag (or yours).
    • Consider having them change underwear or long underwear into clean clothes the night before when they’re warm so they don’t need to do it in the morning when they’re cold.

Rain:
  • A tent over the cooking area is key for rainy camping days - consider one with removable wall panels that can also function as a screen tent when it’s not rainy.
  • A vestibule for your sleeping tent is useful as a place to take off your rain clothes before getting into the tent.
  • Prepare your tent for the rain: if you know it will rain, stake out all the guy lines and double-check the tightness before the rain. 
    • Consider having the kids sleep in the middle part of the tent, not touching the walls, so their sleeping bags don’t get wet wicking through the tent walls.
  • Make sure you have good rain gear for the kids and parents: rain pants or bib, jacket, boots, hat or hood, and maybe mittens.
    • Also have plenty of extra dry clothes, especially socks, to change into after playing in the rain.
  • Have a plan for rainy-day outside activities:
    • First: understand if there’s any potential for lightning danger that day.
    • Hiking (with your good rain clothes) - look for the things that happen in nature when it’s raining or look for natural shelters in caves or under trees.
    • Swimming (if there’s no lightning danger and it’s warm enough).
    • Keep a close eye on the kids to make sure they’re not getting too wet or cold.
  • Prepare a “rainy day box” with activities to do in the tent - only bring this out when camping in bad weather so that everything in there is exciting and special.
  • If you need to do something outside, have a list of places inside that you can drive to, such as a bookstore or library, indoor play area, small local shop, or restaurant. 
    • Save these places to go to if it’s rainy, so they’re still special, and make this plan before you go on the trip.


Wind:
  • Similar to rainy days, bring the right kind of shelter: 
    • Make sure to have a wind shelter for cooking, and watch out for the winds getting so strong they break poles.
    • Stake out all the guy lines on the tent really well.
    • Pick a tent with a vestibule big enough for eating (not cooking!!) so you can use that as a back-up plan to the wind shelter.
  • Make sure to have wind-proof layers for everyone, including warm hats and gloves.
  • Plan hikes to sheltered areas, and if there’s nothing good then see the list of rainy-day inside activities above.
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A cold night of camping: we forgot our son's warm jacket, so he had on long-underwear under his hiking clothes and soon he had on his dad's jacket before he got in his sleeping bag.
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Hiking Food for Kids and Babies

9/28/2020

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This week's post is a new section for the Hiking Page that covers the topic of what food to bring while hiking. As always, this is intended to be a living document and we'll add in any new tips we get from comments or from any interviews we do, so please give us improvement ideas!


Having the right food can be the difference between a joyful hike with kids and a miserable slog. Kids don't understand "powering-through" when you're running low on food and almost at the trailhead or don't like the food you bring. They can often just refuse to hike, even if the sun is setting and it's starting to get cold. So plan ahead with lots of options to make sure you have an enjoyable hike! Here are our tips on what food to bring:

Babies:
  • If you're already breastfeeding, that's the easiest way to feed a baby while hiking.
    • Just plan your layers to make sure you stay warm and dry - for example, I liked using a nursing camisole under my normal hiking layers so I wouldn’t end up with a cold stomach.
  • If you're bottle-feeding with powdered formula make sure to purify the water that you use water with a filter, don't use iodine or chlorine.
  • For pureed foods, squeeze bags may be easier than feeding with a spoon or lighter than bringing a jar. Look for refillable ones to minimize waste.
  • When you pack finger food, assume they're going to drop a bunch that you might not want to pick up and eat so bring extra, plus a trash bag for the dropped food so you don't feed the animals.

General:
  • Make sure to bring food that the kids like - the most important thing you can do.
    • Let them pick (maybe not everything, but at least some of the things).
    • Save certain foods to only have on hiking trips to make it special (for example we say no individually packaged food unless we’re out on a trip).
    • Bring variety in case they change their mind because you really need them to each so they don’t crash - not an option to just say sorry this is what we have.
  • Save some of the treats for a surprise for when they're having a tough time, or tell them they only get the treats at milestones (every mile!) or during breaks or only if they're hiking when they hit a milestone. 
    • See the Hiking Tips section for more suggestions on how to use food as a motivator.
    • Warm food brought with a lightweight stove or a thermos can also be a good motivator for breaks.
  • Make sure to bring a mixture of sugar and fat for both slow and fast-burning fuel.
  • If you’re hiking with friends, bring extra to share because kids always want what someone else has.
  • Bring plenty of water, especially if it's hot, and maybe a backup water filter in case someone spills their water or drinks a lot more than expected.

Winter:
  • Warm food and drinks can be key here - think about warm soup, oatmeal, or hot chocolate to get the kids happy to keep going.
  • Bring stuff that doesn’t freeze (frozen apples or oranges aren’t as fun).
  • Bring things that don't get really hard to chew when it's cold - we love Starbursts as treats while hiking, but when it's cold they're hard to eat. Or put those things inside your jacket to keep them warm.
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The most important thing about hiking food - finding a good spot for a snack break!
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Different climbing disciplines, with kids

9/21/2020

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For this weeks post, here is our first page for the climbing section. We haven't been very successful in getting our kids to go climbing, probably because we mostly did multi-pitch trad climbing before kids. Here is what I wish I knew before we had kids:

If you loved climbing before you had kids, the good news is that there are lots of ways to keep climbing after you have kids. The bad news is that you may have to change which disciplines you do. And if your partner was your primary climbing partner, you may have to get better at finding extra adults to bring with you. Here’s the rundown on the challenges associated with each type of climbing when you have kids:


Multi-pitch trad: 
  • Obviously not little-kid or baby-friendly (although I may have discussed putting the baby in the haul bag, we were never serious about that), so you’ll need to find a way to do this without the kids until they get a lot bigger.
  • If you and your partner were each other’s primary climbing partners pre-kids, this can be a bid adjustment.
  • Option 1: Bring a friend and have the parents take turns climbing with the friend.
    • If you can’t bring a friend, like on a long road trip, use the on-line partner forums.
  • Option 2: Find a babysitter for the trip and leave the kids at home.
    • If climbing with your partner was a big part of your relationship pre-kids, this can be an important option to make happen. 

Bouldering:
  • This can be kid- and baby-friendly and can let you climb with your partner.
  • Doesn’t require coordinating with other adults, but can also be good for groups.
  • No set-up time, just the hike in.
  • Look for a spot with really easy kid bouldering in addition to adult bouldering.
  • Make sure there’s a good spot for the kids or babies to play out of the fall zone for the climbers and scope out any hazards (poison ivy, cactuses, etc) ahead of time.
  • Watch out for the kids trying to monopolize the crash pad when you need it!

Sport climbing:
  • You’ll need a safe base area (ie no immediate cliff drop-off next to the base of the climb).
    • This is especially important with kids you can’t trust or if there’s no extra adult.
    • Consider anchoring the kids to something if there is a cliff nearby but you feel OK giving them some space to move around.
  • Bring a third adult if the kids can’t be trusted to stay safe and stay out of the way of other climbing parties.
  • Be prepared for the kids to start talking to you at the worst possible time and distracting you! 
  • For all the best advice on sport climbing with kids, read the cragmama blog, especially her creating a cragbaby and toddlers at the crag sections, since those are the most challenging years.

Top roping:
  • Good for groups, or introducing your kids friends to climbing.
  • Especially if there are no existing anchors or if the hike to the top of the climb is long or tricky, it can require a much longer set up time than bouldering and sport climbing.
  • Plan to set one climb for adults to have fun on and one for kids that is easy so they stay engaged.

In general, consider doing hikes ahead of time to the crag to check out the “kid-friendliness”. Set low expectations for that hike and don’t bring all the gear with you - if you happen to be able to boulder around a little then consider it a bonus!

Even if you remember a spot being kid-friendly it might not be - if you didn’t bring your kids with you the last time you were there, or if it was a long time since you were there with your kids your memories might have faded about the difficulties. 

If it’s one of your first times out with kids on real rock, note that climbs need to be really easy for the little kids - and even 5.2’s can be too reachy! You may end up setting up a top rope or finding a boulder problem that’s not in the guidebook because it’s too easy, and that’s fine, the most important thing is that the kids have fun and enjoy climbing.

The final tip: if there’s only one climb the kids can do and it’s a busy area, have someone go early to set up so that you get the climb you need. And when other people show up, please share the rope with them or take it down as soon as the kids lose interest. We need to find ways to support other outdoor parents as much as possible because it can be challenging even as it is rewarding.
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Camping - Gear Selection

9/14/2020

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This week's post is a new Gear Selection section of the Camping page.  We hope it's helpful, and as always, we love feedback!

This section is a summarization of the gear tips for camping that are included in the different camping sections, with some additional tips added. Since the philosophy of this website is to not recommend certain specific gear band instead to give criteria of what to look for when selecting gear, that is what you'll find here.

General:
  • Packing for car camping is a lot faster if you are not filling up every square inch of your car when packing.
    • If you have a smaller car, consider spending a small amount extra on key items in order to get them in a smaller version if possible.
  • Lighter gear isn't important unless you will be using the gear for backpacking also (for example sleeping bags and pads).
  • Try to buy gear that can be used for multiple activities, so if you also go backpacking, don't buy completely separate gear for car camping.
  • Buy color-coded gear for each family member if possible, otherwise label clearly with names.
    • ​Examples: clothing duffel bag, mug, toiletry kit

Sleeping:
  • Buy a tent that has easy to use stuff-sack.
    • For example one with different compartments for different components instead of lots of separate bags for stakes, poles etc like this one.
    • The tent should easily fit in the stuff-sack and not require a lot of time to fit it in tightly 
  • Sleeping bag:
    • Consider how much space you have in your car and then decide if you need one that packs up small or not.
    • Get one that isn't excessively longer than the kid if possible.
      • For example: a toddler or little kid length sleeping bag is good when they are young.
    • If your kid moves around a lot, get one that attaches to the sleeping pad like this one.
  • Sleeping pad:
    • If size or weight is a consideration, get a 3/4 length pad.
    • Otherwise, get a full-length one they can still use as a teenager (although I know adults who backpack with 3/4 length pads).

Personal Gear:
  • Headlamps - don't need anything fancy since the kids will try to lose them
  • Toiletry kit - something simple and small that the kids can manage and keep track of on their own.

Cooking:
  • Stove:
    • Get one that has reviews for durability and can simmer if you need it to.
    • Pick the fuel system you are comfortable with:
      • Liquid fuel that can be refilled easily vs gas fuel that needs disposable canisters or can be refilled at a shop.
    • Consider the number of burners needed for your family and the amount of cooking you like to do.
  • Dedicated camp kitchen box:
    • Rubbermaid or similar box with a locking lid
    • Shallower ones let you find things more easily, but if they are too shallow they don't fit the washbasins.
    • Alternately, could use a plastic set of drawers.
  • Cooler:
    • You don't need a super-expensive brand-name one, although they do look cool.
    • Read up on how to pre-chill a cooler before filling it (when you have time, are going on a longer trip or somewhere warm).
    • Consider freezing your own ice blocks (such as with small size juice containers).
  • Washbasin: could just buy simple stacking ones, or consider fold up one.
  • Water container: they come in handy in places with less water, don't get one too big, look for one with an optional nozzle, and be careful of leakage in the car.
  • Table:
    • Useful if you have extra space or if you camp in places without good tables.
    • Roll-up lidded tables fold up small, which is useful if you are tight on space.
  • ​Food storage:
    • ​Have dedicated storage (bags or bins) for food in camp.
    • For longer trips, consider having bags labeled "breakfast", "lunch", "dinner", "snack" to make it easier to find food.
  • Cooking extras:
    • ​Label utensils and marshmallow skewers so they don’t get accidentally taken by friends.
    • Buy a separate small cheese grater/measuring cup/measuring spoons/can opener/wine opener that you can leave in the kitchen - we bought cheap versions of all of those for camping only.
    • I'll break our rule: we love Rolla Roasters for roasting marshmallows.

Extras:
  • Hammock - a small one is fun, doesn't need to be fancy or brand name, just small
  • Sun/rain/wind shade:
    • Look for one that withstands what you need it for
    • Example: strong enough not to be destroyed in wind or has good reviews that the roof won't sag from too much rain.
  • Folding chairs:
    • Consider kid-sized ones for smaller kids
    • They can take up a lot of space so consider getting smaller ones to make pack up easier 

Hiking Gear and Clothing:
  • See the Gear Selection section of our Hiking page.

Extra Car Storage:
  • First, consider if you really need the extra storage space, or can you take the money you would have spent on the box and buy smaller versions of some of your camping items so that you don't need it.
  • Then make sure you know where you'll store the extra box or bag before you buy it
    • If you need to leave it on the car, are you ok with the lower gas mileage that you'll get?
  • Understand who is capable of putting it on the car (does it need 2 people? are both of you strong enough?)
  • Consider how hard it will be to use for each person (is someone too short to reach it on top? Or do they need a step ladder?)
  • Extra storage options are:
    • Roof bag - it only requires a small storage area, but you need to carefully tie down all the straps each time you use it or you'll get flapping noise while driving.
    • Roof box - you'll need to find a space to store it, and you may need 2 people to put it on the roof.
    • Trailer hitch box - easy to reach for shorter people, needs a trailer hitch, and two people to install and you need to find a space to store it.
  • When you decide to purchase one, check out websites like Craigslist because you can often get a good deal since many people find they don't have space anymore to store them and haven't used them much.
Picture
Because good camping trips often include frog catching.
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Outdoor Inspiration for September

9/10/2020

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Our monthly post to highlight the best writing and most useful tips written by Outdoor Parents over the past month.

You won't typically find gear reviews or travel guides here - on this site we focus on the skills and inspiration to help you get outside and stay outside with your kids. We also believe that everyone should feel welcome in the outdoors, so we share articles by parents and outdoors-people of color to make sure everyone is learning each other's perspectives.

Hopefully, this encourages you to plan your next outdoor adventures, reflect on what you were able to accomplish over the past month, or what you learned and would do differently. Enjoy!
Picture
Bouldering at Columbia State Historic Park in Columbia, CA

Climbing:
  • 10 5.10’s in 10 Sleep at 10 Years Old! (aka Big C’s Experience) | Cragmama So inspiring to see a 10-year-old climbing so many 5.10's!

Backpacking:
  • Learning the Hard Way: Backpacking Oregon's Eagle Cap Wilderness | The Big Outside Good lesson on what do to when a kid forgets important gear.

School & Kids Books:
  • Wild Math Second Grade Review | Tales of a Mountain Mama Interesting curriculum for homeschooling and getting the kids outside

Paddling:
  • How to Stand Up Paddleboard with Kids | Run Wild My Child

Hiking:
  • Adorable Hiking Gear for Your Tiny Adventurer | Outside Online

Travel:
  • Dalton Highway is the "Ultimate Road Adventure" | AK on the GO This was on our list to consider for the summer, pre-Covid, and I love the tips on how to make it happen safely.
  • Travel with Carson | Colorado Parent More proof that travelling doesn't need to stop when you have a baby!

Inclusion:
  • Are National Parks Really America's Best Idea? | Outside Online
  • The Nature Gap | Center for American Progress
  • Kai Lightner Launches Non-Profit “Climbing For Change” to Address Racial Inequality in Rock Climbing | Rock and Ice
  • A Trailblazer | Latino Outdoors

General:
  • Does Raising Kids Outdoors Prepare Them for the Real World? | Backpacker
  • Missing Your Community During Covid | Run Wild My Child
  • Want Your Kids to Feel Safe? Let Them Build Forts | Outside Online


On a final note, I want to link to this article:
  • From outdoors to Oprah: Rue Mapp’s mission to open nature to everyone | The Mercury News 

I was specifically impressed by Rue Mapp's quote: "I love birds and wildlife. I love identifying them. But if I were to say we’re going birding today, I don’t know if anybody would show up unless you already were a birder. But if I say let’s go to Lake Merritt for a stroll and a potluck, people are going to show up. And guess what? I’m going to still bring out my binoculars, my spotting scope and my bird ID book." 

Names and words have significant power, and we need to be careful with the words we use. They can be used deliberately or inadvertently to exclude people. They can be used to draw people in - like when we tell our kids we're going exploring when we actually mean we're going hiking. 

Names specifically have power when settlers come to a country and give new names to the mountains, rivers, plants, and animals even though most of the natural world already had names given to them by the indigenous people. There is also power when climbing routes are named with offensive or sexist names that we wouldn't feel comfortable talking to our children about.

Let's all think about the words and names we use to go play in the outdoors, both to make everyone feel welcome but also to respect the long history of the land everywhere we go.
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How to pack up from camp quickly

9/7/2020

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This week's post is an update to our Simple Packing section of the Camping page. It has been updated to include our tips for unpacking and some clarification to packing. Here are our tips on unpacking:​

As we have optimized our car camping system over the years, more and more I think the key to fast packing and unpacking is carefully picking what you bring with you. This means being honest with yourself about what you actually will use and understanding how many comfort items you need to still have a good time, without going overboard. This means that you do have to spend some time thinking about this ahead of time and occasionally reconsidering your packing list, as most of us can get sucked into camping lifestyle inflation over time.

One philosophy that has helped me with this is minimalism. This doesn’t mean to bring the bare minimum for survival, it just means to be intentional about each item that you bring with you and don’t toss in a ton of extra stuff that you likely won’t use or won’t use very much. For more reading on the idea, I suggest the blog Becoming Minimalist. 

This philosophy is especially important if you’re only staying a night or two, but if you’re staying longer it can be worth it to indulge in bringing more stuff if you’re more likely to use the items or it might be worth it to you to bring items that make camping more comfortable for you.

The other key technique for us is to develop systems that support fast packing and unpacking. This means:
  • If you can, don’t bring so much stuff so you have to zero space the car
    • If you do have a smaller car, develop a packing system of which items go where and stick to the same system
    • Also consider a roof bag if it makes packing faster for you
  • Buy a tent that has easy to use stuff-sack
    • For example: one with different compartments for different components instead of lots of small bags for stakes, poles etc
    • The tent should easily fit in the stuff-sack and not require a lot of time to fit it in tightly 
  • Have the kids pack up their own clothes and sleeping bags - it helps if they have their own duffle bag
  • Have a dishwashing system that you trust enough so you don’t have to wash the dishes a second time when you get home

Note on the dishwashing system: When we have to wash the dishes at home, often those dishes sit around in the kitchen for a while before we get around to putting them away in the camp kitchen, or the kids use them again and then they stick around even longer while you wash them, or the special camping spatula ends up in the regular kitchen stuff so when we go camping there’s no spatula!

Finally, get home with enough time to unpack the vehicle. If you have a fast system, unpacking isn’t much of a burden so you don’t have to get home much earlier. Additionally, unpacking the next day is never fun when you’re all back to work and school, especially if you forget and leave stuff in the cooler and it goes bad.

This is our fast unpacking system: 
  • Phase 1 - unpacking the car:
    • Someone unloads the car and puts things in the right general area (example: just inside the front door of the house vs the garage)
    • Someone else puts things in the final destination room (we have our kids do this)
      • For example - duffel bags go to each person’s room, sleeping bags go to the storage spot, food bags and the cooler go to the kitchen
      • Even 3-year-olds can help if you give them simple directions
  • Phase 2 - putting items away:
    • One person works on the kitchen unpacking the food bags and the cooler and washing any dishes that are needed
    • One person works on putting away sleeping gear/tents/other camp items
    • Kids take care of their own clothes bags - put toiletries away, put dirty and clean clothes where they belong (help them if they’re too little)
NOTE: this system may need to be modified for your house/storage area layout and the age(s) of your kids

We can unpack in 30 min with this plan and with good teamwork.
Picture
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