Before graduating high-school I would hike and camp fairly regularly. Anything from short segments of the AT to state parks and more. I really loved getting out, packing into a remote area, and just enjoying the time spent with family.
Flash forward several years and I'm now the proud father of 2 young boys (2 and 4 years old) who love nothing more than to go take short hikes on my days off. They've even begun to tackle trails that would challenge most grown adults, albeit with some help and hand holding along the way. Although I haven't been backpacking since well before they were born, they've both stayed in a tent and the oldest has even done a camping trip out on some family land. I figured they were ready for their first "real" camping trip with dad. Something that would challenge them both but was still reasonably within the realm of possibility for the 3 of us.
We started our adventure the way any good father son trip should, big juicy burgers from the local joint down the street. With the old Cherokee packed down and everyone full we made the relativly short drive to the South Mountian family campground. Check in should have been 1pm and I fully expected to have to start our hike before getting to set up camp, but at the main office we were assured there was nobody in the spot we had reserved and although it was only 11am we were good to go.
Until this point I'd only ever stayed at the remote backpacking sites at SM and was pretty excited to get the tent up before the hike instead of afterwards. The campground it's self reminds me of the parks where I grew up but maybe a bit more cramped. I've got to say though that they've done a really nice job there and I have no complaints about the sites or facilities at all.
With the tent up and our day packs full we set out for the upper falls no later than 12pm. This would be the boys longest hike yet but still within their relm of possibility. The oldest needed no help at all to reach the top and carried his water, his brothers water, and some miscellaneous odds and ends to fill out his bag. The youngest took my hand from the point where the trail began to get rocky and there were some points where he needed to be lifted over obstacles (bear in mind that he is only 2 and stands as tall as some of the rocks in the trail).
After visiting the lower portion of the falls we ventured down stream a few hundred yards and took a break on some boulders in the river. The trip back down from the falls was admittedly harder than coming up if only because having to lift the youngest now meant lowering him further down than before. When the trail began to flatten out though both boys were moving significantly faster than I would have expected. By the time we reached the main parking lot both were beginning to slow down though and we needed another break before the half mile back to the family campground.
As impressed as I am with the kids I still wasn't suprised when I did eventually need to carry the younger one. Even though the flat meandering path that follows the river back to camp wasn't even close to the difficulty of what we had already done, little man was just not having it and for no less than a quarter mile needed a lift while his brother led us back. He did however finish the hike by himself and at no point did he want to quit. 3 miles total.
We arrived back to finish setting up camp around 3:30 or 4 and were cleaned up and eating by 6. Everyone finished their soup and I'm not ashamed to say we polished off an entire bag of marshmallows. Before bed the boys explored the campsite and played by the river for maybe another hour before bed.
I had known it was going to rain before we left but it managed to hold off until the second day. During breaks in the rain I made oatmeal on the camp stove and broke down camp. The boys stayed in the big tent and when the storm picked up we played candy land and did puzzles. Everything was packed by 11 and we took off.
I know it's not the most exciting hike/camping story you'll see in this forum but I was certainly a proud dad. This style of camping isn't something I've done since I was kid but the memories we made are new favorites. With any luck we will continue to work up to overnight backpacking trips and if everything goes well I hope to have them out deep in the woods in a few years.
Flash forward several years and I'm now the proud father of 2 young boys (2 and 4 years old) who love nothing more than to go take short hikes on my days off. They've even begun to tackle trails that would challenge most grown adults, albeit with some help and hand holding along the way. Although I haven't been backpacking since well before they were born, they've both stayed in a tent and the oldest has even done a camping trip out on some family land. I figured they were ready for their first "real" camping trip with dad. Something that would challenge them both but was still reasonably within the realm of possibility for the 3 of us.
We started our adventure the way any good father son trip should, big juicy burgers from the local joint down the street. With the old Cherokee packed down and everyone full we made the relativly short drive to the South Mountian family campground. Check in should have been 1pm and I fully expected to have to start our hike before getting to set up camp, but at the main office we were assured there was nobody in the spot we had reserved and although it was only 11am we were good to go.
Until this point I'd only ever stayed at the remote backpacking sites at SM and was pretty excited to get the tent up before the hike instead of afterwards. The campground it's self reminds me of the parks where I grew up but maybe a bit more cramped. I've got to say though that they've done a really nice job there and I have no complaints about the sites or facilities at all.
With the tent up and our day packs full we set out for the upper falls no later than 12pm. This would be the boys longest hike yet but still within their relm of possibility. The oldest needed no help at all to reach the top and carried his water, his brothers water, and some miscellaneous odds and ends to fill out his bag. The youngest took my hand from the point where the trail began to get rocky and there were some points where he needed to be lifted over obstacles (bear in mind that he is only 2 and stands as tall as some of the rocks in the trail).
After visiting the lower portion of the falls we ventured down stream a few hundred yards and took a break on some boulders in the river. The trip back down from the falls was admittedly harder than coming up if only because having to lift the youngest now meant lowering him further down than before. When the trail began to flatten out though both boys were moving significantly faster than I would have expected. By the time we reached the main parking lot both were beginning to slow down though and we needed another break before the half mile back to the family campground.
As impressed as I am with the kids I still wasn't suprised when I did eventually need to carry the younger one. Even though the flat meandering path that follows the river back to camp wasn't even close to the difficulty of what we had already done, little man was just not having it and for no less than a quarter mile needed a lift while his brother led us back. He did however finish the hike by himself and at no point did he want to quit. 3 miles total.
We arrived back to finish setting up camp around 3:30 or 4 and were cleaned up and eating by 6. Everyone finished their soup and I'm not ashamed to say we polished off an entire bag of marshmallows. Before bed the boys explored the campsite and played by the river for maybe another hour before bed.
I had known it was going to rain before we left but it managed to hold off until the second day. During breaks in the rain I made oatmeal on the camp stove and broke down camp. The boys stayed in the big tent and when the storm picked up we played candy land and did puzzles. Everything was packed by 11 and we took off.
I know it's not the most exciting hike/camping story you'll see in this forum but I was certainly a proud dad. This style of camping isn't something I've done since I was kid but the memories we made are new favorites. With any luck we will continue to work up to overnight backpacking trips and if everything goes well I hope to have them out deep in the woods in a few years.
