Kids first time out!

[Bulldawg]

We did the five mile loop today to the top of Rabun Bald. My daughter was loaded at about 9 pounds, which is what I figure her pack will weigh for our May or June overnighter. She did complain one time, almost at the top. After the 20 minute break at the fire tower, she was candy to the truck. I think she is ready for the 13 mile 2 FULL day section in May or June. We will keep practicing though.

[Wilson]

Taking a vacation day tomorrow with my 4 and 6 year old boys, they're good for a couple hours hiking and then stop for ice cream and sleep all the way home.

[ki0eh]

Taking a vacation day tomorrow with my 4 and 6 year old boys, they're good for a couple hours hiking and then stop for ice cream and sleep all the way home.

I went on the Thousand Steps on PA's Standing Stone Trail http://www.hike-sst.org/highlights.htm with my 4 year old daughter last year and she could barely stay awake through the ice cream!

[4eyedbuzzard]

I am planning on taking my 7(8 in June) year old daughter out on her first overnighter in May. She has been car camping for 4 years and we have been doing some day hikes as well. I am currious to hear from some parents out there that have started their kids out at that age.

I have her a pack and sleeping bag and plan on keeping her wieght below 8lbs. To start out we are going to do one night and its only about 2 1/2 miles into the camp site.

I am looking for any tips, suggestions or little tricks from people that have gone throught this with their own kids.

Thanks for any info!

Mine are all grown now, but I started them at age 5 or so. Only one of the four really has the bug though. She wants to thru hike and drag my sorry butt along in 2010.

If you arrive way too early and are able to do more than the 2 1/2 miles, consider planning a short side hike using the campsite as a base. Maybe a walk to a lookout, stream, or other point of interest just to kill some extra time if needed. Kids love to gather firewood too and it keeps them busy (hint). Try to only collect one or two souvenier rocks. Also remember that kids get colder and sleep colder than us adults so plan appropriately. A candle lantern, a few baby wipes, and bug juice, can be assets tha can make life easier as well.
A nice dinner followed by campfire with hot chocolate, marshmellows, smores, etc. always works(I'm kinda partial to them too).

I used to take a constellation guide with us for star gazing on clear nights if there was a view of the sky.

Werewolf, Jersey Devil, and other such stories are usually best avoided until they're tweens.

[AlabamaDan]

I talked to my daughter (almost 9) about hiking the other day. She says she likes it alot so I said, "Did you know there's a hiking trail that goes all the way from GA to ME?....It's over 2000 miles." We talked about that for a while and she said that would take about 4 months. Good guess for a little girls - I said try 6 or 7. She said, we couldn't do that over the summer without missing school.

I said maybe we could try some long weekends after she gets out of school, but we're not ready for a thru-hike.

I need to be careful or I might create a monster!

[envirodiver]

Went camping this weekend with the family at Fall Creek Falls. Did some day hiking in Saturday with my daughters. I let my oldest try out her pack loaded with what she would carry on a overnight trip. Her pack weight with 1 liter of water was right around 8lbs. We went about 1 1/2 miles and she had no problem at all. After that we hiked down to the base of Fall Creek Falls which is 1/2 mile and prety steep going down. I did not have her carry her pack but she did it no problem. This was the first test with her new pack and shoes. I would ask her about every 10 minutes if she was hurting anywhere. She never did have any pain or discomfort. The pack worked great for her and she had no issues with the weight. We are shooting for out first overnighter in May. Looking at doing about 3 miles in.

After this weekend she is all excited about going again!

Fall Creek Falls is a great family camping spot. Took my young daughters there often.

[Blissful]

I talked to my daughter (almost 9) about hiking the other day. She says she likes it alot so I said, "Did you know there's a hiking trail that goes all the way from GA to ME?....It's over 2000 miles." We talked about that for a while and she said that would take about 4 months. Good guess for a little girls - I said try 6 or 7. She said, we couldn't do that over the summer without missing school.

I said maybe we could try some long weekends after she gets out of school, but we're not ready for a thru-hike.

I need to be careful or I might create a monster!

This is great!!!

You can talk to Kirby who is out of school to do it this year - he has to do summer school and work on some projects when he gets back. Or as many hikers told me when I was out with my son last year, there's no better schooling to be had.