ErnieW
Trail Wise!
I want to backpack
Posts: 9,865 
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Post by ErnieW on Oct 30, 2019 6:34:22 GMT -8
The twins are 7 now so we decided it was time to take them out on a backpacking trip. They grew up with car camping but this is their first backpack trip. It was just local at Harriman park. The hike in was only about 3/4 of a mile. There was a rocky steep climb part to it. You can see the beginning of it in one of the photos. Coming down it made my wife very nervous. I was only slightly nervous. I don't think the girls were at all.
The girls did really well and had a lot of fun. Lots of snacking and fun food helped. They loved the Mountain House Breakfast Scramble. One surprising thing is that at times they wanted to use our poles. We had only brought poles for my wife and I but since it was short we surrendered them as needed. I have no idea how they know about poles though. We have never used them on day hikes or otherwise in front of them.
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rebeccad
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Writing like a maniac
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Post by rebeccad on Oct 30, 2019 8:24:06 GMT -8
Looks like a good time! And since they liked it, you can get them “real” backpacks for Xmas (based on what I see, they’re ready for the Deuter Fox 30 or Fox 40, or whatever the modern version of those is. Those packs will carry more and do it more comfortably than the book packs they used).
As for poles, our second son was VERY uncomfortable on steep descents, and moved super slow. Finally on one trip we loaned him a pole or two, and it made a huge difference, so we bought him his own poles. He was pretty uncoordinated then, so he needed something to improve confidence. I’m happy to say that he is perfectly agile now (at 20.5) and no longer uses poles. I predict they will return in 10-15 years :D
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zeke
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Peekaboo slot 2023
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Post by zeke on Oct 30, 2019 11:01:14 GMT -8
Looks like a great time. Nice place for hammocking.
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ErnieW
Trail Wise!
I want to backpack
Posts: 9,865
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Post by ErnieW on Oct 30, 2019 11:21:00 GMT -8
you can get them “real” backpacks for Xmas (based on what I see, they’re ready for the Deuter Fox 30 or Fox 40, or whatever the modern version of those is. Those packs will carry more and do it more comfortably than the book packs they used). They were only carrying their water bottles, wind jacket, some snacks and a Barbie each. Mommy and mostly daddy were carrying the rest including their sleeping bags (Frozen sleep over bags. They were good enough) I don't think we will be doing any more family trips this season. Next season I think we will have to think about budgeting out for real sleeping bags and possibly real packs that could carry them. I think the biggest thing to turn them off would be a cold night not sleeping. For this trip the overnight was like 65F. They slept solid through the night. So if we are going to do this more I am going to start with sleeping bags and then work from there. They already have trail clothes and boots. I might aim at bags they won't outgrow too quickly. The packs need to fit correctly to be comfortable but then they might be outgrown sort of quickly. |
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rebeccad
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Writing like a maniac
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Post by rebeccad on Oct 30, 2019 19:18:23 GMT -8
ErnieW, we shifted our kids into adult bags as soon as they were done having night-time accidents. That allowed us to get them good down bags that kept them warm and fit into our packs. I think at age 8 ours were carrying all their own clothes and their bags, but nothing else except a bit of water and a snack (and their equivalent of a Barbie, which is to say a small stuffie and a HotWheels car). As for packs—ask around on here. The ones we bought are still out there somewhere. I know BlueBear bought a couple of them, and I know that one of the members who’s on FB but I don’t think has come back here probably has one or two, as well (unless they’ve been passed on. It was a while ago  ). Others will be outgrowing packs, too. As for shoes—ours hiked in their every-day sneakers until they were in high school. They had no issues, and since kids WILL get their feet wet, the sneaks dried quickly. That was a budget-saver in the years when they changed shoe size between each hike.
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ErnieW
Trail Wise!
I want to backpack
Posts: 9,865
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Post by ErnieW on Oct 31, 2019 5:26:49 GMT -8
As for shoes—ours hiked in their every-day sneakers until they were in high school. They had no issues, and since kids WILL get their feet wet, the sneaks dried quickly. That was a budget-saver in the years when they changed shoe size between each hike. Currently the girls have pairs of www.rei.com/product/133769/keen-targhee-mid-waterproof-hiking-boots-kidsA little pricey particularly for 2 but we bought them a size bigger then they needed for this fall. With fluffy socks they fit OK. They will also be their snow boots for this season. Hopefully they will be just the right size for this summer/fall season with regular socks. There are a few differences between east and west coast hiking and in particular hiking in the Hudson valley where we live. Stream crossings where you go above your boot are rare. No glacial melt here. Bridges built over most streams that need them. As a matter of fact for the last few years it has been dry to the point of being a problem to find water sources. Muddy trails are more common issue. The Hudson valley is strewn will rocks from the last ice age. The glacial silt from the Hudson glacier formed Long Island where it hit the ocean. I think like 14,000 years ago. There are cool things like giant boulders sitting up on top of bedrock ridges like someone put them there. Deposited by the glacial retreat. Unfortunately the smaller rubble is kind of tough on the feet. I think boots for this area is a good idea. Also I am putting in my two cents that sometimes function trumps fashion. |
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rebeccad
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Post by rebeccad on Oct 31, 2019 8:12:08 GMT -8
ErnieW, when it comes to hiking footwear, function ALWAYS trumps fashion. And boots make more sense for you, since the kids need something like that during the winter. For us, they were a hiking-only thing, and just didn’t pencil out (even rain wasn’t that common in Daly City, and you don’t need boots to walk to school in the fog). The boys never seemed to have a problem on rough and rocky trails, though we mostly didn’t have much mud to cope with (they got their feet wet playing, not so much hiking). Children’s light weight makes it easier for them, I think. But I’ll not deny that boots are nice, and your reasoning makes sense to me (even if they outgrow them before next summer, which is always possible :D).
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Post by cweston on Nov 12, 2019 11:45:07 GMT -8
We had some nice Eureka kid-sized synthetic bags. They were a lot warmer than sleepover-type bags but also survived laundering pretty well. (Our boys were bed wetters for a good long time, so this was important.)
Kelty used to make a pretty slick external frame pack that had a broadly adjustable frame height. Dunno if they still do, now that external frame packs are so last century. I think someone on the forums may have ended up with the one we had, too. We also had a smaller Kelty pack designed for a pre-teen kid.
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mk
Trail Wise!
North Texas
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Post by mk on Nov 12, 2019 15:33:59 GMT -8
Looks like a great time was had by all, ErnieW. Thank you for sharing -- the location is beautiful and your happy family made me smile. It's pretty cool to be able to introduce your children to an activity you love. |
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). Others will be outgrowing packs, too.
