Children on the trail?

[Tipi Walter]

Timely thread Souzz.
I'm the one that started an almost simultaneous thread about backpacking with kids
https://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/sho...king-with-kids

Tipi Walter, that picture of your friend Rob with the red backpack. What is that pack? He could haul a lot of gear + two kids in that thing!!

Anyway, thanks to everyone. You've inspired me to make this happen. Now I just have to figure out how to teach my daughters how to pee in the woods.

Rob's pack is an old Dana Designs Astralplane---the King of big load haulers in the 1990s---although pic was taken more recently.

[TX Aggie]

Thanks TX Aggie for sharing your pics. There's dayhiking and then there's Backpacking---overnights vs not . . . And I like your comment, "My pack was 60 lbs but I didn't care." Hooray.

Thanks, Tipi. Here we are before hitting the road. My pack definitely doesn't check the UL box. But they are fun trips.




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[Tipi Walter]

Thanks, Tipi. Here we are before hitting the road. My pack definitely doesn't check the UL box. But they are fun trips.




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Squared away troops. Reminds me of my buddy Josh a recent graduate of Iraqi War College. He brings out his boys and his toys---

[saltysack]

A few separate NC section hikes startling at 8 yrs old....can't bring enough s'mores and candy to keep them going...lil fart kept wanting to collect shiny rocks along the trail...his pack was probably heavier than mine as was full of rocks...so much for keeping it light!!!!!





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[red5]

I did the 100 mile wilderness last year and I past a family doing the whole thing with 7 and 10 year old sons. This family seemed pretty seasoned. Personally I don't think i could have done that with my kids but they seemed completely fine. it was very inspiring. Kids can surprise you!

That was probably me if it was near the end of August.

[LittleRock]

Thanks, Tipi. Here we are before hitting the road. My pack definitely doesn't check the UL box. But they are fun trips.

Gig 'em Aggies!!! (My wife and I are class of '07)

[TX Aggie]

Gig 'em Aggies!!! (My wife and I are class of '07)

Whoop! '00 here.


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[Mglyon]

To celebrate the 20th anniversary of my 1997 AT hike, I took my 10 year old daughter from Watauga Lake into Damascus this past June. It was not a full week's hike but gave us several days of enjoyable walking jumping from shelter to shelter. Comparatively easy section, good water sources overall, several road crossings for potential emergency bail-out. I was able to maintain her pack weight right around 13-14 pounds and kept mine around 20 with some updated ultralight gear. We ended up among many current thru hikers and my daughter was captivated hanging out with them, hearing their stories and their plans for on up the trail. Every day she wanted to do more miles but I stuck to our itinerary ensuring she had the necessary rest. There is no doubt she was bit by the Thru Hiking Bug and I would be surprised if she does not try a thru hike of her own one day. School may not be back in session yet, but I'm going to go ahead and say this was the most fun thing we did this summer.

[Last Call]

I believe there was a young boy, "Backpacking Buddy" or some such, that thru hiked the trail a few years back....
My 8 y.o. and 13 y.o. did a good part of the Georgia section with me, didn't complain toooo much....in my opinion there are much better / more scenic trails to hike with kids.

[aruthenb]

There is not better place for kids than on the trail as long as you teach them what they need to know.

My 8 year old son and I hiked the Georgia section in July and are going back for another hike over Labor Day weekend. We met a Dad with his 12 and 14 year old sons who are thru-hiking this year (they were home in GA for family function and were knocking out a few miles via slackpack).

Here is also a great blog of a family with 6 and 8 year old kids who thru-hiked just a few years ago, they give lots of great tips for hiking with kids.
https://kallinfamily.com/
https://youtu.be/e7n3qRvGB7s

Get out there and hike with your kids, you will know when you are pushing too hard or not enough.

[gravityman]

We too backpack with our kids. Now 8 and 10. This year i the first year my oldest really was ready to go some distance. Previously short distances were necessary to keep it fun. And it wasn't always fun. This year 10 hours of hiking with a decent pack weight and he still had energy. My 8 year old also made the 10 hours but it was clearly tougher for her. She did complain. This year it was all during a 9 day hut to hut trip in switzerland. Mileage was necessitated for due to Berg hotel spacing. Honestly, we could have taken a bus around, but we want to do the hike, even my daughter. But 9 days of hiking (most days were much shorter) without a zero was a bit to much for the 8 yo. We should have zeroed in the middle.