Last weekend my daughter and I went on a backpacking trip to the Mount Evans Wilderness Area. I chose the Abyss trailhead because I am familiar with the trail and knew that my daughter could handle it. The Abyss trail follows a good sized river through most of it and for the most part is an easy to medium hike. If you hike in more than five or six miles the hiking difficulty and altitude both increase. This hike had great views and plenty of solitude. We arrived on Saturday morning and saw very few people on the trail.
Although she has been camping with me since she was three years old, this was my daughter’s first backpacking trip. My daughter is just shy of seven years old so I had to plan and execute this trip completely different than my prior backpacking trips. The first thing I did was to build her up for the journey. I spent the last three years taking her on increasingly longer hikes carrying light weight in a small backpack. I told her that she was practicing for the day when she would be able to go on a backpacking trip. Over the last two years she became more and more exited to go backpacking.
I learned that backpacking with children is very different than backpacking with adults. First you really need to lower your expectations. Usually when I go backpacking I set goals for myself as far as how far I would like to hike each day between camps. When I set out on this trip I planned on her and I walking about 3-5 miles over the course of an entire day. I figured I would take plenty of breaks and we could accomplish this easily. I found that although my daughter is a great hiker, carrying a pack at altitude really wore her out. We made it about 2 miles and I could tell from looking at her that it was time to find a place to camp.
My first reaction when I saw how tired she was getting was frustration. I had wanted us to get further up the trail where we could camp near the river. I knew there was some beaver ponds another 2 miles up the trail and I wanted her to see them. Luckily for me and her I kept my frustration to myself and set out to look for a place to camp. The area we stopped was nothing but open woods so I decided to walk off the trail to the north to see what I could find. We found a perfect campsite about a 1/4 mile north of the trail where we found the river.The next thing I learned was that like everything in parenting, my backpacking trip became a classroom. My daughter loved to learn all the tasks of backpacking and camping. She got a chance to set up the tent, cook on a camp stove, puryify and learn about safety.
Because this was her first trip we only stayed one night then we walked out the following afternoon. I did not cover near the ground I usually do but I had a much better time sharing my trip with my daughter. Watching my daughter experience backpacking and increase her love of the outdoors was much more satisfying than covering 30 miles over 5 days like I would do if she was not there. Being with her forced me to slow down and really enjoy the trip.
I can't wait till next summer so that we can go again. I'm already fighting myself to not set my sights to high. I want her to be able to walk 25 miles and be gone for a week but I know it won't be possible for many more years.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Backpacking Colorado - exploring with your children
I have been camping, backpacking, hunting, fishing and hiking in Colorado most of my life. I trully fell in love with backpacking when I participated in W.E.P. (Wilderness Experience Program) when I was 12 years old. This program was a program set up for kids of all ages to experience the mountains of Colorado and was similar to summer camp. The program consisted of two one week backpacking trips during the summer. groups of 10 kids were formed based on age and were guided by College students from Colorado.
During these trips we hiked about 5 miles a day and set up a new camp every night. We fished, cooked and learned to navigate. During these trips I learned many skills but mostly I learned to love being in the mountains. After attending this program for two summers as a young child I was hooked on backpacking and I have continued my entire life. Now that I am a parent It has become my goal in life to teach my children to have the same love for being in the mountians that I do.
I started this blog with the intent of sharing my experiences camping, hiking and backpacking in Colorado with my children as they grow. I thought it would be interesting to share experiences with others who are attempting to teach their children to have a love of the outdoors exploring the mountains of Colorado. I also thought that the insights of others might save me from learning many lessons the hard way.
I have been camping with my daughter since she was 3 years old. Over the last four years we have camped at Dowdy Lake, Chambers Lake and Turquoise Lake. As she grows older I have found that camping in a campground is no longer enough exploration for her. This year I have decided that I will attempt to bring my daughter backpacking to see if it is something that she will enjoy. Since I spend a lot of my camping time at campgrounds looking for trails near the campground for us to explore, I figure backpacking might be a better way to go.
I am planning on going for three days and two nights in the Mount Evans area. This is an area I have backpacked in several times and I remember the trails being fairly easy. On one of these trips I took my 9 year old nephew with me and he had no trouble.
When I came up with this idea of taking my daughter backpacking I started by ensuring that I had all the equipment. I found that the sleeping bags, shoes, clothing and backpack that I had for my daughter were great for camping and day hiking, but they were inadequate for backpacking. Another thing I found is that it is very difficult to find these items for young children.
My three days of shopping at all of the major sporting goods store left me with very little that was trully made for her. I found that if you want a backpack to fit a child it will cost you about $150.00 and if you want a sleeping bag, it is very hard to find one short enough and light enough.
I think I have what we need.
I plan on posting when I get back with pictures and descriptions of how it went. Any suggestions or ideas for the future are welcome.
Bill
During these trips we hiked about 5 miles a day and set up a new camp every night. We fished, cooked and learned to navigate. During these trips I learned many skills but mostly I learned to love being in the mountains. After attending this program for two summers as a young child I was hooked on backpacking and I have continued my entire life. Now that I am a parent It has become my goal in life to teach my children to have the same love for being in the mountians that I do.
I started this blog with the intent of sharing my experiences camping, hiking and backpacking in Colorado with my children as they grow. I thought it would be interesting to share experiences with others who are attempting to teach their children to have a love of the outdoors exploring the mountains of Colorado. I also thought that the insights of others might save me from learning many lessons the hard way.
I have been camping with my daughter since she was 3 years old. Over the last four years we have camped at Dowdy Lake, Chambers Lake and Turquoise Lake. As she grows older I have found that camping in a campground is no longer enough exploration for her. This year I have decided that I will attempt to bring my daughter backpacking to see if it is something that she will enjoy. Since I spend a lot of my camping time at campgrounds looking for trails near the campground for us to explore, I figure backpacking might be a better way to go.
I am planning on going for three days and two nights in the Mount Evans area. This is an area I have backpacked in several times and I remember the trails being fairly easy. On one of these trips I took my 9 year old nephew with me and he had no trouble.
When I came up with this idea of taking my daughter backpacking I started by ensuring that I had all the equipment. I found that the sleeping bags, shoes, clothing and backpack that I had for my daughter were great for camping and day hiking, but they were inadequate for backpacking. Another thing I found is that it is very difficult to find these items for young children.
My three days of shopping at all of the major sporting goods store left me with very little that was trully made for her. I found that if you want a backpack to fit a child it will cost you about $150.00 and if you want a sleeping bag, it is very hard to find one short enough and light enough.
I think I have what we need.
I plan on posting when I get back with pictures and descriptions of how it went. Any suggestions or ideas for the future are welcome.
Bill
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