Bringing the kids?

[JaxAJ]

Hi all,

I'm new to this forum, and if this isn't the right place for this kinda question, I'm sorry in advance.

I've always dreamed of doing a thru-hike, but I have always been too caught up with school, work, and famiy. Now, I'm a year away from 30 and just gave birth to the last of my 3 children. Since #3 came along, I've been a stay at home mom, so without work to juggle it seems like a a thru-hike might be possible (albeit several years from now) if I make it a family affair. I was wondering if any of the ladies on here have done a thru hike with their kids on their own? Or even heard of a mom taking her kids along with her?

If I could managed it, it would just be me and my kids-my husband's idea of getting close to nature is stepping off the patio in the back yard, and he even finds things to whine about when he does it. Plus, he's military, so getting time off would mean waiting until retirement. But I started backpacking with my dad when I was 6, in NW Montana, and I remember being able to manage 10-15 mile days by about age 10. I'd really like my kids to be able to experience that sense of empowerment and independance that I remember feeling while hiking as a kid.

Right now I'm thinking I've got to wait until my youngest is at least 8. That will leave me with an 8, 9, and 12 year old on the trail. Or I could just wait until they're teens, teach them how to cook and leave them behind with their dad....

If anyone has any ideas or advice, such as miniumum ages for my youngest, gear choices, starting dates, etc., I'd really appreciate the imput.

[weary]

Hi all,

I'm new to this forum, and if this isn't the right place for this kinda question, I'm sorry in advance.

I've always dreamed of doing a thru-hike, but I have always been too caught up with school, work, and famiy. Now, I'm a year away from 30 and just gave birth to the last of my 3 children. Since #3 came along, I've been a stay at home mom, so without work to juggle it seems like a a thru-hike might be possible (albeit several years from now) if I make it a family affair. I was wondering if any of the ladies on here have done a thru hike with their kids on their own? Or even heard of a mom taking her kids along with her?

If I could managed it, it would just be me and my kids-my husband's idea of getting close to nature is stepping off the patio in the back yard, and he even finds things to whine about when he does it. Plus, he's military, so getting time off would mean waiting until retirement. But I started backpacking with my dad when I was 6, in NW Montana, and I remember being able to manage 10-15 mile days by about age 10. I'd really like my kids to be able to experience that sense of empowerment and independance that I remember feeling while hiking as a kid.

Right now I'm thinking I've got to wait until my youngest is at least 8. That will leave me with an 8, 9, and 12 year old on the trail. Or I could just wait until they're teens, teach them how to cook and leave them behind with their dad....

If anyone has any ideas or advice, such as miniumum ages for my youngest, gear choices, starting dates, etc., I'd really appreciate the imput.

Just a quick comment from a male eavesdropper. Get the kids on the trail as soon and as often as possible. If they show any affinity for the outdoors and are willing to make the attempt, I say give it a try -- once the youngest is seven or eight. But be willing to back off it it's not working.

All my kids were backpacking by age 3, but early on, mostly to a fixed campsite five miles into the mountains for two days of day hiking. By age 7 we were backpacking long weekends and occasional week long trips.

My longest walk with a young child was with a 9-year-old grandson -- 30 days and 260 miles of Maine. A couple of years later the same grandson did 700 miles on the AT. He was fully capable of a thru hike starting about age 9, if his mother had been willing to delay school.

Don't expect to make it from Springer to Katahdin, however, especially with a seven year old. Kids need to set their own pace. Which tends to be slow in my experience.

Weary

[JaxAJ]

They've all been on the trail with me from about 6-8 weeks old. Missoula, MT is a big hiker community, so it was fairly normal there. We just relocated to Florida though, and so far I've gotten some very odd looks when I carry the youngest 2 past trailhead signs... (I don't think it's the kids, though, hikers just don't seem to exist in Florida. I've never run into anybody else on day hikes so far.) My girls love it, and so far my baby sleeps better on hikes than in his crib.

I figure if I view each re-supply point as an easy exit if need be, it should give us a lot of flexibility. The logistics, though, are a bit intimidating.

[Feral Bill]

I would want the youngest to be 9 or 10, and for all to be exceptionally responsible.

[docllamacoy]

In '98, we hiked with "The Family". It was a mother and her 5 children. They ranged in age from 8 to 21. They finished the whole trail. People really supported them along the way. They did skip a few sections to make it to Katahdin before they closed it, but as soon as they finished Katahdin, they headed back and completed every single section they missed. So it can be done.
We're hoping to take our son on an AT thru-hike when he's around 10, if he's interested in it then.

[Kelleelynn]

I am planning a 2011 thru hike (March NOBO) with my daughter who will be 9 when we start. I haven't heard anything discouraging about it other than from my mother lol She has never been an outdoors person tho so she can't fathom why I would want to do this to begin with!

I have been planning it out now for awhile but its not set in stone, what will be will be! I have us starting real slow in Georgia (going to take about 2 weeks) taking alot of opportunity to go into towns. I also have alternate plans for the usual week it should take. I will just have to wait and see what happens. I know my daughter has the ability to do good mileage everyday but I dont want this to be a grueling experience.

I will be keeping a journal, taking 1000's of pictures, and using the SPOT personal tracker so my family and friends can be apart of this from the comfort of their home lmao. If your interested in tracking my progress let me know and when I get it all set up I will give you the information!

[BarFight]

Hiked in 2008 with a mother and her roughly ten year old daughter and they flip-flopped. I think they may have finished in November or December in Harper's Ferry.

[Wise Old Owl]

Honestly I glad you posted this, teach them to cook and leave them with Dad, Let him sweat it for a few months alone... Hike your own hike.. I don't believe any hike with a child over 5 miles is any fun unless they have been worked up to it and are ten years old. Some children might want to do it younger and thats ok if they have done a few short ones.

[aimeeg97]

This is a great post. I would like to thru hiek with my son as well. He is 13 now and he is a great hiker. My question for anyone who has done it, is what happens with school? Obviously he would miss school. Are schools pretty easy to work with or how do you handle this aspect of it?

[weary]

Honestly I glad you posted this, teach them to cook and leave them with Dad, Let him sweat it for a few months alone... Hike your own hike.. I don't believe any hike with a child over 5 miles is any fun unless they have been worked up to it and are ten years old. Some children might want to do it younger and thats ok if they have done a few short ones.

Kids are all different. My 260-mile walk with a 9-year-old grandson through Maine one August was great fun for both of us, somewhat to my surprise. It was his first serious hike. He had spent most of his life in a household of unrelated females, which made him a bit spoiled. But which may have helped him adjust better to the trail. He loved hiking with a male and meeting the mostly male thru hikers.

My three kids had been on trails from age three and older. But we did nothing longer than 4 or 5 days, and mostly weekend family overnights.

Weary

[DaveSail]

Read the first of the " Barefoot Sisters " books . For a good bit of the trail , they hiked with " The Family Fom The North " ; ( see earlier post . )
Their joys , trimphs and hardships will give you an idea of what it is like !

David V. Webber

[peakbagger]

Sorry for intruding but you may want to check out the adventures of Trish and Alex up in the white mountains, they are mother and daugher day hikers rather than thruhikers but I wouldnt be surprised if they start longer distances, once the younger daughter get done her 4000 footer list

http://www.viewsfromthetop.com/forum...ght=trish+alex

[JaxAJ]

This is a great post. I would like to thru hiek with my son as well. He is 13 now and he is a great hiker. My question for anyone who has done it, is what happens with school? Obviously he would miss school. Are schools pretty easy to work with or how do you handle this aspect of it?

This is the one hang-up my husband seems to have, aside from the whole "my wive and kids alone in the woods for seven months" thing, and the only solution I've come up with is to do the entire year's curriculum in a home-school fashion. I've got no idea how home schooling works, and it would obviously require adding some extra weight for a notebook and possibly reduced-sized textbook photocopies being included in mail drops. (I remember being able to get 4 readable, regular pages per copied page way back in college, though I don't remember why.) The next year, if the grade-level standards are met, I think it's just a matter of placing them back in school with the right age range. My husband is worried they'd be deprived without normal school techology, but I figure the worst that could happen is they have to learn math without a two pound calculator and actually visit a library every now and again...

[4eyedbuzzard]

Do a search on 2007 posts from Blissful or PM her - I believe she thru-hiked with her teenage son that year and would be a tremendous source of info.

[JAK]

Hi all,

I'm new to this forum, and if this isn't the right place for this kinda question, I'm sorry in advance.

I've always dreamed of doing a thru-hike, but I have always been too caught up with school, work, and famiy. Now, I'm a year away from 30 and just gave birth to the last of my 3 children. Since #3 came along, I've been a stay at home mom, so without work to juggle it seems like a a thru-hike might be possible (albeit several years from now) if I make it a family affair. I was wondering if any of the ladies on here have done a thru hike with their kids on their own? Or even heard of a mom taking her kids along with her?

If I could managed it, it would just be me and my kids-my husband's idea of getting close to nature is stepping off the patio in the back yard, and he even finds things to whine about when he does it. Plus, he's military, so getting time off would mean waiting until retirement. But I started backpacking with my dad when I was 6, in NW Montana, and I remember being able to manage 10-15 mile days by about age 10. I'd really like my kids to be able to experience that sense of empowerment and independance that I remember feeling while hiking as a kid.

Right now I'm thinking I've got to wait until my youngest is at least 8. That will leave me with an 8, 9, and 12 year old on the trail. Or I could just wait until they're teens, teach them how to cook and leave them behind with their dad....

If anyone has any ideas or advice, such as miniumum ages for my youngest, gear choices, starting dates, etc., I'd really appreciate the imput.

8 years old for the youngest seems about right to me. My daughter was 8 going on 9 when we did 38km on the Fundy Footpath over 2.5 days. It was pretty rugged but she had no trouble keeping up. She is on the small side, but a good hiker and runs cross-country now.

The most critical think with kids is motivation. If they are willing, and they stay willing, the rest is easy. No different than adults in that respect I suppose.

One possible issue might be how much each person can carry. I am 6' 195# and my daughter is still only 4'3" and 64# or so. We pack light enough, and I am big enough, that it works best for us if I carry everything, although this year if we get out for a hike this fall she will have a light sack of some kind, for odds and ends she may wish to have on here. I am sure that between the 4 of you it should be easy to work something out, but keep it all very light, even for you, as well as the kids.

I think a good rule of thumb for adults and kids is as follows:

For adults:
Height in feet x Height in feet = Max Pack Weight in Pounds
For growing kids:
0.5 x Height in feet x Height in feet = Max Pack Weight in Pounds

e.g.
4' eight year old = 8 pounds
5' twelve year old = 12.5 pounds
5'6" adult = 30 pounds

You can use some discretion. If a kid is built particularly strong, and has very little body fat, they can carry more. Similarly with adults. If a child is gaining height but hasn't filled in yet, or is carrying some extra weight that isn't bone and muscle, I would keep the weight limited, especially for the younger ones. Same with yourself. You won't be able to carry as much as you once did until you lean back down and toughen up some. Takes some time.

You can probably have alot of fun with you kids working this out on some trial day hikes and weekend hikes and section hikes. It can be hard to find good kids packs that are light enough so they can carry more than just the pack itself, especially for the 8 year old. If you get them involved in the UL movement, going ultralight, or at least lightweight, and maybe get them involved in making some homemade gear and stuff, then you might find it easier for them to carry less stuff without feeling left out.