First backpacking trip with kids

[rlown]

Try a fly/bubble combination with a black or olive woolly bugger on it. Black with a bit of salmon egg color on the end can do as well. Cast out and drag it back slowly.

[Tom_H]

Snow is actually good, as the kids can play in it and if you camp near enough to the melt-out zone, the skeeters should be less, assuming you find a dry spot to camp on.

And you can scrape the top off, get some clean snow in a cup, pour Kool-Aid powder on top to make snow cones! You can also take a really lightweight fry pan and lid, mix up a boxed store bought cheese cake in the pan, bury it in the snow, then have a yummy desert! Same with Jello, puddings, and the like.

[Harlen]

Hi Eric, and welcome to HST. We did a ton of backpacking and skiing with our two boys when they were just the ages of yours, and we would love to have them come with us today, but strangely, they both ran away from home!
I see you have received some very reasonable sounding advice from several of the other, more cautious members such as Giantbrookie's below:


"If you haven't hiked much with your kids do not overestimate their hiking capacity..... and I also wouldn't have them carry much (ie you may have to consider taking their sleeping bags and stuff....... but it will be best to raise the odds that they will enjoy their first trip by keeping the hiking and carrying mellow." Giantbrookie


But our experiences were different. Lizzie and I were surprised to find that in fact, the little boys could carry just about everything for all of us, leaving us free to ski in unhindered.

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And if you poke them with a stick they go faster.

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Ahhhh! There is nothing like cruising in with just a light day pack full of fine Belgian chocolate.

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The only time we take the big packs off the boys is in blizzardy conditions, when we send them out to break trail while we drink coffee and eat chocolate in the tent.

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Eric, you should find the children to be very useful around the camp too: washing pots, fetching water, and in winter we always have them dig out the snow cave.... which can also serve to hold them while we are out day-skiing.
Like GB says- all kids are different; I don't know how yours will behave Eric, but ours generally try to escape! Just seal the entrance with a large stone a la Polyphemus.

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Careful, or they'll break out through the small breathing holes.



We wish you the very best adventures with your kids. It was the greatest joy of our lives the times we spent traveling with our boys in the mountains and around the world! [and they haven't run off yet, they just became teenagers- which is sort of similar.] Good luck Ian and Lizzie.

[efinley]

Thanks for the feedback guys. Went to Kiene's over lunch and got some more flies. Funny thing is that I was spin casting with my fly vest on for convenience, I could have pulled a wooly bugger out if I had thought of it.

TomH and Harlen, thanks for the ideas and inspiration. Here's hoping my weekend goes well. I'll put together a trip report next week.

[wildhiker]

Harlen,

I was laughing out loud reading your post about your kids! I had the same wishful thoughts during the many backpacks with our kids. Maybe I should post the other side of the story, where the parents actually carry and do everything, but I'm sure I couldn't make it as amusing as your post.

I can't resist posting this one photo from 1984:

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The lump on my belly is our 3 month old son in a "Snugli" pack that I figured out how to hang from the pack frame. Thankfully my daughters (3.5 and 5) were good hikers already. My wife took the picture - she was also carrying a full pack. This was only an overnight in the Santa Cruz mountains, so my main pack was probably less than 40 pounds. Later that summer, we used this same setup for a Mokelumne Wilderness 4 night trip, and I swear I had 55 pounds on the back and 15 on the front - most I've ever carried. I don't look very happy in pictures of the later trip!

-Phil

[rlown]

You look pretty happy given you were basically 12 months pregnant at the time Nice photo!!

[Harlen]

Hi again Eric,

I noted that you are having difficulty with the family tent design- apparently your own fault for being to tall?
Now this time I am dead serious- if you are anywhere near a big snow slope, (very likely this year) you guys should really consider a snow cave. We have built ones that easily housed 5 of us, and they are surprisingly warm. The boys got right into it as part of the adventure- voluntarily! Here are a few tips, then go online to checkout various visual design schemes:

1. Bring a real snow shovel- don't try to make do with hand trowels, an ice axe, plastic spoons, or the cooking pot- though in a pinch, all of the above could work, (well maybe not the spoons).
2. Bring a lot of extra mittens and gloves, as it's cold work, and expect it to take a long while (~2 hours.)
3. Bring extra foam pads, and use them for the workers to kneel on, and also to pile the snow upon for others outside the growing cave to haul out. Later, these pads will help make the cave interior warm and dry, along with ground sheets.

4. The one design point I will stress is to create a domed roof (not a doomed roof, those are the flat ones you must avoid). The domed design give a big snow cave roof its strength- that, along with making it thick enough- roughly 6-12" depending on the quality of the snow. We've never had one fall in, indeed, I generally can walk over the top of the cave several times before they cave in- sometimes I have to jump up and down a few times to make it fail. A lot depends on the quality of the snow; and with that in mind, this may be your last chance this year as the weather warms up and the snow softens. You can increase the density by stamping over the surface of the roof-to-be from above before you begin excavating, and you can increase the size of the future snow cave by piling more snow on top, compacting as you go. If it looks like rain is coming, best avoid the snow cave, as rain destabilizes the structure.

You can custom make it to accommodate your frame, and it will hopefully become a memorable part of your family history.

p.s. If you decide against this option, and do to take the big heavy tent, remember my advice from the former post- all the heavy stuff goes in the kids packs.

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It's hard to tell from these pics, but this 5 person cave was very roomy, and well above 5 feet high at the domed center.

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Yes, it's possible to do a bit of cooking inside, but beware the potential for carbon monoxide buildup, which can be deadly. We have only cooked inside this giant snow cave, and we left the entrance door wide open, and had extra air vents- it was a clear night. Better to do your cooking outside.

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[Harlen]

Thanks for the kind reply Wildhiker.
We reckon you must have started your family pretty early Phil- do you really have a 38 year old daughter?! I was 39 when we had our first son Ryan- who is just 17 today. Do you still go backpacking together? Something for Eric and me to hope for. Cheers, Harlen.

[rlown]

A snow cave is a nice thought but it is a little late in the season to be doing that.

[Harlen]

Well I am quite sure that I could make one Russ, but it is a lot of hard work/fun, and you won't find a couch or a television in it.