Need kids first backpack trip ideas

Backpacking and camping basics and other general trip planning discussion for the uninitiated. Use this forum to learn where to look for the information you need, and to ask questions, related to the beginner basics of backpacking and camping, including technique and best practices.
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giantbrookie
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Re: Need kids first backpack trip ideas

Post by giantbrookie »

AldeFarte wrote:I will figure it out when the time comes, but it strikes me as weird that when I was a kid , The worst trip that could have happened would have been just fine with me and my brothers, as long as we were backpacking or camping. We had more of a hunger than I see nowdays.
I was pretty much like what you remember. My dad taking me to the High Sierra was the highlight of any given year and 35-40 years later those trips stand out as the highlights of my childhood. I didn't do my first true backpack until age 8, and I really didn't carry a pack. I tried, but eventually found that even a little bit of weight was too much (hiked fine with no weight). The destination on that first memorable trip was Pear Lake in Sequoia NP and it was a fall trip. It was very cold, with frost on the sleeping bag, but my dad, who was into a bit of overkill, had us in minus 20 bags, so I was quite cozy. We climbed Alta Peak on the next day. My brother actually did a few things a tad earlier than me, given that he was the younger one. The whole family (brother, mom, dad, plus an aunt and two cousins) did Iceberg Lake and the Mountaineers route on Whitney when my brother was 8 (I was 11); that may have been his first backpack trip. My bro never quite got into it to the degree I did, but he still enjoyed it and he still likes the outdoors.

The flip side is that I know of some people who were "dragged" on trips as young kids and found the experience miserable--an experience that has kept them out of the mountains since. I also know of spouses, girlfriends, or boyfriends that had this happen to them. It is for this reason that I advise caution to others and was reasonably conservative with my own kids, although doing an off trail backpack as a debut for my kids last year is hardly conventional.
Since my fishing (etc.) website is still down, you can be distracted by geology stuff at: http://www.fresnostate.edu/csm/ees/facu ... ayshi.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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