Hiking with Kids
It took a deep breath and real leap of faith to start traveling again once we had kids. In hindsight, my guidance would be to start early, keep expectations low and be prepared.
Invest in a good backpack carrier (don’t go cheap here—your back will thank you now and again when you’re older). Kids can be in a carrier once they have the neck muscle tone to control their heads—typically 6 months old. Load up the cargo pocket with diapers, wipes, bottles/food, change of clothes, a small stuffed animal on a “leash” (to tie to the pack), etc. While the rocking motion will likely lull them to sleep, expect to sing and entertain them while you’re walking. I’m going to give a shout out to all the other hikers in Arches the day I serenaded them with the Muppet Show Theme Song—you know who you are. Everyone on the trail had a good time that afternoon.
Once they were old enough (2 years) to walk, I took them to Vernal Falls Trail for a hike and then planned on heading to back to Yosemite Village for lunch before splashing in the Merced River at Standing Bridge for the afternoon. We took an extra hour to get out of the cabin due to all their gear, etc, but I was still excited when we arrived at the trailhead. I know the trail well, and while I assumed I would have to carry them at least part-way, I thought I had a good plan for the day. One hour later, we had made it a whopping 40ft from the trailhead. But the kids were having a blast chasing squirrels, skimming stones, climbing trees and jumping off rocks (and not hiking). I knew lunch and the afternoon swim were not going to happen. I needed to have started with MUCH lower expectations for the day (and I really wish I had packed lunches with us). After a moment to re-center myself, I realized that while I had seen this trail a dozen times, I had never seen it this way before—through their eyes. Since then, I have a new outlook and look forward to each new (or new to them) trail and experience.
So how did I get my 10 and 12 year olds to hike 10 miles up a mountain this past summer. Bribes and competition (I’m not proud). It starts with a morning (or evening before) trip to the sandwich shop where they pick out their own lunch, as well as their own bag of chips. They have to choose what they want to eat (especially the day’s chips) so they are invested in earning their reward. Ideally, I try to save the sandwich for the halfway point (what sandwich doesn’t taste amazing on a mountaintop?) and the chips for the way back, but if they start to sag we’ll break into those earlier. I usually sneak a little candy (M&Ms don’t melt) or cookies into my pack for “emergencies.” We started small—one and two mile flat trails at Lake Yellowstone, etc. And each year, I played into their competitive nature by saying we’re going to break last summer’s hiking record. They’d get excited (rather than dread) an extra mile. I didn’t plan it this way, but in general my younger child’s age in years matches the mileage of our longest hike of the trip each year.
That's it. It just took patience, low [zero] expectations and a bag of chips. Good luck!
