Experiences with Kids

[baldhead]

Hi,

What are your expereinces and advise for bushwalking with kids?

With kids I have found it is very much about the journey taking it steady and being realistic in what you to do

The kids are really good at fine detail, spotting all the small stuff right below your feet ie ants fighting over food, colourfull spiders etc that I don't always see

Having plenty of snacks avialable as you walk and not fogetting things, last trip in my focus to pack everthing I forgot the matches
It was a very crunchy macarooni dinner, soaking for an hour before hand didn't really work
The kids love reminding me of this
A positive outcome is that now the kids are involved in the process of packing and going through what we need

Our 2 oldest now carry small packs with own sleeping bag, rain jacket, 500ml water , teddies are a favourite to come on trips
My wife and I share the rest of the load
How do you get your own pack weight down ( I know how Pepe the mule feels) when carrying alot of the gear / water for a family whilst keeping costs realistic
Our kids are 5,8,9

It would be good to hear your expereinces and words of wisdom

Cheers
Carl

[taswegian]

good topic Carl
Ours started early, but my first overnighter with the kids was when I took (on my own) our 4± year old twins to Blue Peaks.
It should have been called 'Blue' Murder' - not a pleasant trip in some ways.

I had underestimated the power of the home comfort of the bed and then those blessed noises in the night.

So thats something to remember (appreciate) first up despite teddy and other little creature comforts.

Then No 3 just romped into bushwalks and she and No 1 (son) were my main companions in many enjoyable walks until 'that dreaded age' that makes things difficult, hit the stage and that ended that.
(But not my walking I'll stress)
She still has many fond memories and comes on short walks with me.

Important things for me was to introduce gradually a pack with bare essentials.
Torch. whistle, compass, wet weather gear,bandaids, piece of lightweight ripstop nylon or similar, chocolate of course, a snack or two, small amount of water and dry socks and strides for change.
Also a mug - more important to grab those little critters and examine them then put them back. Oh its also useful for scooping up water.
A pack of cards and pencil and paper were essential items.

I taught my young girl:
how to cross creeks and how not to, including slippery logs. (often it was on the old boys back so that didn't teach her too much!!)
about snakes and spiders and how to respond - not respond.
an appreciation of the bush and the fickle Tasmanian weather.
how to use a compass
how to erect a tent and how to take one down and check we don't leave stuff behind - as you say they are acute detailers and thats a real boon when breaking camp.
how to pack your gear at night so possums and devils and cats didn't devour all your hard earned tucker. Heavy stones/ logs on upturned billies etc.
how important it is to take photos. Boy do I get stirred about that. Funny thing is she is worse than me now

But important was not to over tax her. Not to force a pace and distance for the day that left her whacked and naturally disillusioned.
Yes many times I'd say, not long now Nita! I learn't that from my older brother who dragged me about the high peaks in my early years.
It pays to be realistic I'm sure.

Kids are great fun bushwalking with and I have spent nights out in the bush with all of them and thoroughly enjoy those memories.
I'd certainly encourage others to start early and train 'em up.

[Taswegian DD]

As DD to the above I hole heartedly agree.

Start them young and then they can't complain when they have never done it. It is also a great way to spend quality time with your kids away from the everyday happenings and as a fatheraholic that was awesome!!

Things I remember from bushwalking with Dad:

- if he walked in front he got rid of all the spider webs, but then he walked too fast so we would swap positions.
- finding trapdoor spiders holes and playing with them.
- loving it when I saw whip snakes. We saw tiger snakes more, but that was never an issue.
- I always carried a pack, usually with just little things and my sleeping bag.
- my brother always being 'miles' in front and us catching up eventually.
- playing cards.
- seeing quolls.
- seeing horses and helicopters up the Walls of Jerusalem.
- the smell, dad's day pack smells just like bushwalking.
- all the 'cornflakes' up at Cradle Mountain Ball Room Forest.
- drinking awesome 'yellow' water out of streams in an enamel mug
- soyaroni
- prunes and rice for dessert cooked in our sleeping bags which then made them nice and warm.

The list goes on. Good memories even if I don't go out anymore.

I love Lees Paddocks and The Walls in Tasmania.

[baldhead]

Taswegian it sounds like you've had lots of great times and golden experiences
whilst they've drifted away for now, it may come full circle one day as they take their kids out into the bush
could it be a 3 generation trip?

I forgot about the whistles
when we first gave the kids whistles the temptation was too much not to blow them in unison, what a pitch
The boy who cried wolf story helped cement the importance of whitsles for emergency only

[steveh72]

Hi Carl,

Again great topic.

Not much more to add then above, but here is my two bob's worth.

I have 3 kids 7,12 & 13, the seven year old averages about 1.5km - 2.0km per hour so I try & pick what most people would consider an afternoon walk and hike in for say 5-6 km max & do an overnighter that way. That way the kids have a 3-4 hour walk tops each way which allows for lots of stops.

I too feel like a human mule for whilst the teenagers can carry their own stuff, the seven y.o is more of a challenge.

I'm not sure regarding the weight issue, if you find the answer please let me know - I weighed my pack for the last family trip & it was 22kg for an overnighter which just about killed me - I have since brought "lighter food" and lighter sleeping bags which should help reduce it for the next trip, but I tend to err on the side of caution when hiking with kids - extra food, water medical kit etc, if it was just myself, I would be able to cut it right back to the bare essentails.

The 7 y.o carries her clothes in a small back pack & she has a whistle tied to a laynard around her neck.

She also carries her own "fun stuff" - torch , lollies and toys.

The eldest two carry their own stuff.

I have a list of equipment for each child, which the night before they then pack their bag from. The bag must get past "mum" and pass her inspection for warmth of clothes , raincoat etc.

I also give the kids their food in their own ration packs so to speak + their own drink bottles.

Last but not least I also give each kid a photocopy of the map of where we are going & highlight the path and as we go along we play games as to working out where we are on map etc. The eldest two are in Scouts & Army Cadets so I figure they can put their "training to the test".

The eldest two also now cook their own meals and I try & leave them up to their own devices within reason.

I would love to have the 7 y.o carry her own sleeping bag, but since she must have 6 changes of clothes per day all of which must be color co-ordinated, I feel that the sleeping bag is actualy the lighter option. Needless to say I don't think she will ever by caught out by the weather and pink fluffy high heels in the bush around camp do make a sight.

I try & make the eldest two accountable for themselves and make the 7 y.o feel like she is taking care of herself whilst keeping a watchfull eye to make sure they don't do something stupid - as teenage children like to do.

Some of our "wildlife experiences"are what stands out in my mind the most, like watching the kids doing the "trout dance"after catching dinner,the children being awe struck admiring a tiger snake spread out over the track sunning itself (from a safe dist. of course) and the laughter caused by being overtaken by two emu's whilst driving up a steep road (near Thredbo) on our way to a camp.

Cheers

Steve


Steve

[andrewbish]

As much as I love solo walking I would love to have my daughters share the experience with me from time to time; however, they are not particularly interested. I suspect a major factor is that I got into walking only recently and so did not get them involved during their 'Dad is hero' years. For the two teens it's all about friends and shopping centres now. That said, hope springs eternal - I think the angle with them will be to get the friends along on the adventure too.

[north-north-west]

What are your experiences and advice for bushwalking with kids?
........
It would be good to hear your experiences and words of wisdom

Don't.

[Drifting]

You'll have to remember their gear weighs almost as much as yours, so if you are planning to be a Daddy pack mule, consider investing in some ultralight gear.

I'd avoid down bags, and stick to synthetic. Problem is, as far as I know there are no good bags here, as the one's I've found are too heavy or too thin (actually- both!) I ended up getting my daughter a Northface Blue Ridge bag, which is probably good down to -4, and weights a bit under a kilo.

Depending on the age of your kids, you may have to take night pants too. A multi-night walk can be wrecked by a wet sleeping bag.

Also, they may need an extra pair of clothes, as they aren't as good at staying dry as us.

If you are looking for goretex boots, go to http://www.llbean.com . We're on our third pair. For gaiters you can get the smallest shoe-sized gaiter from Mountain Designs and cut the cord down to fit.

Buy them an el cheapo digital camera to use too.

[baldhead]

Drifting thanks for the boot tip will look into this

To help with pack mule have found a shorter hike on the first day to a base camp for a day or two for short day walks or near somewhere of interest ie swimming, then hike for another day or two works well , it allows you to eat through food supplies early on to bring pack weight down and not have to break camp / set up everyday
Water is another weight factor, it's good to plan, undertake walks were you can replenish during the days walk and not have to carry a whole days supply

We upgared the kids to One Planet synthetic bagsV2 they are 1.3kg & rated to -2c, have found these to be very good

Cheers
Carl

[bailz66]

Our Kids are not very old yet

1 (In a week) and 2

We haven't done much walking but are starting to get into it. As a part of our training we plan on carrying our kids on our backs (11kg and 15kg) using an Ergo baby carrier each. We will just do day walks or loop walks with them rather than overnight unless we can get someone to meet us with all the gear ect at camp.

The youngest we think will happily sit in the carrier and just enjoy looking around/have a sleep every now and then.

The oldest one may want to hop down and walk in parts and can get distracted so it might be a slow walk but still enjoyable.

The carriers are quite comfortable so doing a 3-4 hour walk wont be too hard and at least it will prepare us slightly for what it will be like under pack conditions.

[Son of a Beach]

The carriers are quite comfortable so doing a 3-4 hour walk wont be too hard and at least it will prepare us slightly for what it will be like under pack conditions.

In my experience, they feel comfortable for a while, but the baby carriers I've had experience with (2 brands, 4 models) get very uncomfortable after about half an hour. Any more than about an hour and the enjoyment of bushwalking is reduced to near nil. For some reason, they get much more uncomfortable than backpacks after a while.

The solution of course being to only do short walks, or to have frequent long breaks without the baby carrier on (or with the kid walking and not in the carrier).

PS. It is possible I just didn't have all the straps adjusted correctly.

[bailz66]

Thanks mate!

I have done a 14k walk along the beach with one but Chloe (Our eldest) was quite young then.

We are going to test it along the plenty river this weekend in melbourne its just a metropoliton walk but will be a good test

Will report back on how it went afterwards so that others may be able to do the same. We will experiment with a few methods of doing it

[baldhead]

We've found the WE wild child kids carrier pack to be good there is a Sml/Med or a Med/Lge size
The med / lge worked well as we could adjust the harness size to suit my wife or I

We found as the kids got older they hope out more than in, like a growing joey with a pouch
Now that our youngest is almost 6 we don't use the carrier anymore, last time was hard work jumping in for the steep parts

Same expereince as Nik do short day walks at first, having a car camp base is good

Cheers
Carl