preparing for an 11 year old to thru hike

[JAK]

Whoopsa.
Obviously I meant to say the lyrics are NOT really about parent/child,
but still a rather nice song, and fitting, and I am a sucker for coincidences,
even when they don't fit perfectly.

[hontassquirt]

little girl have I told you
you're my guiding north star
and my love travels with you
wherever you are

from the mountains to the valley
leave the light on for me
from Virginia to Alaska
from sea to shining sea

totally awesome...

[JAK]

We will have to change some of those lyrics.

[JAK]

Little girl have I told you
how you light up my life
come and lay down beside me
in the chill of the night
do you wanna?

I'm not saying I love you
I won't say I'll be true
there's a darkened moon passing
when I look after you

I'm so weary and lonesome
and it's cold in the night
when the path to your doorway
is a pathway of light

do you wanna come walk with me?
do you wanna come walk with me?
if you do baby say it now
though we'll both wonder anyhow

do you wanna come walk with me?
do you wanna come walk with me?
do you wanna?

little girl have I told you
you're my guiding north star
and my love travels with you
wherever you are

from the mountains to the valley
leave the light on for me
from Virginia to Alaska
from sea to shining sea

do you wanna come walk with me?
do you wanna come walk with me?
if you do baby say it now
though we'll both wonder anyhow

do you wanna come walk with me?
do you wanna come walk with me?
do you wanna?

[JAK]

Anyhow, this isn't getting my thesis written,
and it isn't getting either of our wee daughter's closer to Katahdin.

have a good night, and best regards. it's been fun.

[hontassquirt]

NOTE: I understand this might be too complicated, could be cost-prohibitive, just food for thought.

2) Do the trail over two summers, not one. All the way to New Jersey relatives, year 1 (halfway point as to effort, approximately), NJ to Katahdin year 2. Nice thing about this option is you'll be avoiding most all hypothermia issues (except in Northern New England, where they always loom), and greatly mitigating any issues about your daughter's physical health, growth and development. Again, food for thought. Your trail mileage may vary.

my job is getting moved to canada, so next year is my last year at my job (hence, the reason i plan to start our thru in 3/2012 - 3 months later). i would never get an escape from responsibility to do something like otherwise. i'm trying to pay off all my debts, sell my house (which i have to do anyway), and plan on living a dirtier life for 6 months before finding a new job to strap me to a desk for 9 hours a day for another 12 years

honestly though - if things were different with my job (and i could keep working), i really, really like the idea of 2 summers. then again, the world is supposed to end in 2012, so i'm trying to hurry up and finish the trail so i can tell my dad i made it through the whole thing when i see him again!

[hontassquirt]

We will have to change some of those lyrics.

yeah, i noticed that. i felt like i was reading someone's personal blog (sorry, didn't mean to go there again)

[JAK]

my job is getting moved to canada, so next year is my last year at my job (hence, the reason i plan to start our thru in 3/2012 - 3 months later). i would never get an escape from responsibility to do something like otherwise. i'm trying to pay off all my debts, sell my house (which i have to do anyway), and plan on living a dirtier life for 6 months before finding a new job to strap me to a desk for 9 hours a day for another 12 years

Totally understand. I've been blessed with similar misfortune myself, somewhat slef imposed though, doing a postgrad, but spending alot of time with my daughter in the process. A long hike with her would have been nice, but I've had my fun so soon it will be back to the grind forever. It will be my wife that will have a chance to do something like you are doing with our daughter while she is still young. My wife has certainly earned it, working full-time with me back in school like a child. All goes well it will be me working full-time forever soon enough, and perhaps her and my daughter off to europe for a year or some such thing. What do they miss in middle school that they can't learn better in Paris or Geneva or Vienna or Athens? The dream, that's the thing.

From Stone to Steel
E.J. Pratt

From stone to bronze, from bronze to steel
Along the road-dust of the sun,
Two revolutions of the wheel
From Java to Geneva run.

The snarl Neanderthal is worn
Close to the smiling Aryan lips,
The civil polish of the horn
Gleams from our praying finger tips.

The evolution of desire
Has but matured a toxic wine,
Drunk long before its heady fire
Reddened Euphrates or the Rhine.

Between the temple and the cave
The boundary lies tissue thin:
The yearlings still the altars crave
As satisfaction for a sin.

The road goes up, the road goes down —
Let Java or Geneva be —
But whether to the cross or crown,
The path lies through Gethsemane.

[JAK]

I'll leave you with two more...

Ebudæ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnlnobPoRI0

(in Irish Gaelic)
Amharc, mná ag obair lá 's mall san oích',
Ceolann siad ar laetha geal, a bhí,
Bealach fada anonn 's anall a chóich'.

(in English)
Look, women working by day and late at night,
They sing of bright days that were,
A long way back and forth forever.

The Hebrides, or Western Isles, of Scotland were known as the Hebudæ or the Ebudæ in ancient times. The name is of Latin origin, appearing on ancient maps of Roman Britain.
This song is loosely based on the traditional "waulking songs" sung by women and used when fulling cloth. Waulking songs are unique to the Outer Hebrides.


Book of Days
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPa9r9gkBAE

(in Irish Gaelic)
Ó lá go lá, mo thuras,
An bealach fada romham.
Ó oíche go hoíche, mo thuras,
na scéalta nach mbeidh a choích'.

(in English)
From day to day, my journey,
The long pilgrimage before me.
From night to night, my journey,
The stories that will never be again.

[Pony]

Read Zero Days about a family with a 10 year old girl who thru-hiked the PCT. The kid was very determined. It was very educational for her. She finished the trail in the snow in October.

Pretty sure I camped with that family in Maryland. Either way, it was a family that thru hiked the PCT with their daughter who was ten at the time. They were great folks and the kid, who I think is somewhere around 16 now, seemed mature and very well adjusted. One thing that stuck out in my mind was that they went into Boonsboro around 9:30 at night to eat at a restaraunt. When I talked to the Dad, he said that anytime they can they let the kid decide things like that. Seems like they involved the kid in decision making and took her into consideration before themselves.

[hontassquirt]

One thing that stuck out in my mind was that they went into Boonsboro around 9:30 at night to eat at a restaraunt. When I talked to the Dad, he said that anytime they can they let the kid decide things like that. Seems like they involved the kid in decision making and took her into consideration before themselves.

there's no better way to make a child happy than to make her part of the family. good for them! the little things like this mean so much to a child. especially one walking for 2,000 miles because "her parent's wanted to"

[Driver8]

honestly though - if things were different with my job (and i could keep working), i really, really like the idea of 2 summers. then again, the world is supposed to end in 2012, so i'm trying to hurry up and finish the trail so i can tell my dad i made it through the whole thing when i see him again!

Chuckle. You could be the first to through-hike the AT carrying a sign that says "The End Is Near."

As to freak/outlier tag: on my proudest day of hiking yet, I passed across the grounds of the fancy Berkshire prep school at the foot of Mt. Everett. Crossed paths with a nice septugenarian lady who was there for a classical music concert. She was dressed and coiffed very much in a conservative, pleasant, suburban style, and I looked somewhat like Bill Murray from Caddyshack, except chubbier, with glasses and a backpack.

She asked if I was there for the concert and, chest swelling with pride, I shared that I'd just climbed Mt. Everett, confident that she'd appreciate and admire the accomplishment. Instead, her reply - "Where's that?" - floored me.

Recovering quickly, I pointed to the big mountain looming to our southwest and explained. She couldn't conceive of it and said, dismissively, "Oh, so you just walk around out here?" lol. She wasn't some mean nasty person - she just could not in any wise see the point.

Vive le difference!

[Driver8]

my job is getting moved to canada, so next year is my last year at my job (hence, the reason i plan to start our thru in 3/2012 - 3 months later).

Hmm. In terms of school red tape then, I'd say taking daughter out of school for the spring 2012 semester is probably simplest way to go - home school her for the semester. That will remove the issues of how much time you can take her out of school, etc. You can then start whenever you're ready and weather permits. You might still try a bit of flip-flopping. Start, say, at Harper's Ferry, work south to Roanoke, then make way to Springer northward to Roanoke, ride to HF, hiking to points north. Nice thing about that, too, is Shenandoah region is relatively forgiving. Probably a nice way to ensure you both get your thru-hiking legs underneath you. Food for thought.

[hontassquirt]

ha! yes, you just started walking and didn't stop. too funny!!!

[Driver8]

ha! yes, you just started walking and didn't stop. too funny!!!

Exactly. When you stop - that's when the aches and pains set in. Better to just keep on going.

[futureatwalker]

Two thoughts (and apologies; I haven't read every post in this thread yet):

1) Have you read Walking North by Mic Lowther? He walks the AT with his wife and 10-year-old daughter. This is still one of my favourite AT accounts - you might find it particularly relevant.

2) If I was planning such a hike, I think seriously about starting in April. It can be really cold in March in the Georgia mountains. If the object of the trip is to have fun, start in April.

Best of luck!

[sbhikes]

Pretty sure I camped with that family in Maryland. Either way, it was a family that thru hiked the PCT with their daughter who was ten at the time. They were great folks and the kid, who I think is somewhere around 16 now, seemed mature and very well adjusted. One thing that stuck out in my mind was that they went into Boonsboro around 9:30 at night to eat at a restaraunt. When I talked to the Dad, he said that anytime they can they let the kid decide things like that. Seems like they involved the kid in decision making and took her into consideration before themselves.

There's a great part in the book where they discussed how they realized they should listen to Scrambler, that sometimes she had insights that her parents didn't have and often knew a better way to do something. It's a great point in the book. I think it shows a little of the "education" that happens on an adventure like this. Young people can gain knowledge and skills that they normally don't get credit for in ordinary life. They can make mature decisions if they are given the opportunity.

[hontassquirt]

Two thoughts (and apologies; I haven't read every post in this thread yet):

1) Have you read Walking North by Mic Lowther? He walks the AT with his wife and 10-year-old daughter. This is still one of my favourite AT accounts - you might find it particularly relevant.

2) If I was planning such a hike, I think seriously about starting in April. It can be really cold in March in the Georgia mountains. If the object of the trip is to have fun, start in April.

Best of luck!

no, i haven't read it. i'll add it to my list of must haves!

we actually live right next to GA and hike there during all seasons. i cannot underestimate the difference between a week long trip up there, and a month long trip. i can imagine the "pushing on" will be different. the GA mountains don't scare us....Maine boulders do though!!!

[flemdawg1]

Here's a good website that tells hat the specific requirements are for each state.
http://www.hslda.org/Default.asp?bhcp=1

You'd be surprised how little time it takes each day to homeschool. Math can easily be handled via a workbook style curriculum. History, literature and science can all dovetail nicely if you are thoughtful in how you implement. (i.e. My 5th, 1st and preschool homeschooled kids will all tour a replica of Columbus's ships this weekend, find a book about the voyage (history, literature), some material on the physics of sailing (science) and some info about how the sailures were provisioned (home economics, math). You can do the same all along the trail and afew side trips.

I leave all the anti-homeschool remarks alone. Homeschooling fulfills the goals that I want my kids to have, if they ever asked to stop and return to public school I would honor their wishes.

[Trailbender]

Maine and NH would be pretty brutal for a kid.