Kids First Backpacking Trip

The last time I backpacked I was when I was between 7 and 8 months pregnant with J. 

Then, a couple of weeks ago, we got a wild idea and decided it was time.

Time to make it happen and go again.
With the whole family.
In 5 years time we went from two adults carrying super-light packs...

to this...

Me, him, an almost five year old, an almost four year old and an almost one year old.
Five years passed and we became a family of five.

 

...and life marches on, we were ready to hit the trail again. 

We left Friday around noon and drove up to Yosemite National Park. Our hike began off the Murphy Trailhead up in Tuolumne Medows. The hike was 2.5 to 3 miles going in with a gradual uphill incline. Ryan's pack weighed around 70 pounds and mine weighed between 35 and 40. We figured we could carry almost anything for 3 miles. Canned chicken, the big 6 man tent...Why not? Throw it in! it's only 3 miles.

It had been a solid five years since we backpacked. It was our first time with kids.  Turns out there were a few things I had forgotten. A few things I didn't expect, and

 a few things that were amazingly perfect.

A Few things I had forgotten.

1.We're not 25 with no kids.

The first night we rolled into Yosemite with no camping reservations. We got to the "open" campsite at 8:30 at night, 2 hours into the park, to see the depressing "Campsite Full" sign...I jumped out of the van and introduced myself to great Austrian couple peacefully enjoying their campfire, who happily let us park our van in their spot for the night. We're not 25 with no kids, but we still try to be ; ). 
Welcome to your lives, kids.

 

2. The Sierras are COLD. 

I didn't "bother" to bring a beanie or gloves. A blazing hot summer on the Central Coast makes it hard to imagine needing those things. We tried just putting the Colombia Puff Onsie on Donovan the first night and he woke up with cold little hands and arms. I had to bundle him in my down jacket for the remainder of the night and the second night I doubled him up with his fleece. He barely put his arms down and he couldn't roll over if he found himself on his back. Crawling was slow going and made him pant from the effort...but he was toasty warm all night long after that!

 

3. Camping with a Crawler is my least favorite age to camp.

Over the years I have slowly convinced myself that the pulverized camp-dirt around heavily used campsites, is basically clean.
 Good clean campsite-pulverized-dirt. Nice.
 If you can convince yourself of it's cleanliness when camping, your life is really so much easier. There are so many fun things to grab in that sweet dirt though...cold chalky black embers, fire rings, hot backpacking stoves on the ground...Little D. was our hardest kid. Someone had to be holding him much of the time. Plus, the being 11 months he's not as 'flexible." Late for dinner? Whine. Miss a nap? Hold me.

By the second day we had him figured out. We plopped him down on pine needley areas and he would play with pine cones, sticks, rocks and logs and entertain himself for chunks of time.

A Few Things I didn't Expect.

3. Diapers weren't that bad.

We just rolled them up tight and packed them out. Pack it in, pack it out.

4. K. Peed her bed the second night.

It doesn't happen very often anymore but of course it happens when we're backpacking. It was the one thing I thougth would be disastrous. Turns out when its 4 am and your kid pees their sleeping bag and its 34 degrees out you stick them in their hiking pants, cover the damp part of the sleeping bag with a layer you're not wearing and tell them to go back to sleep. At least that's what we did. It worked.

5. Yosemite has bears. Lot's of them. It wasn't that bad.

I think it was those good clean campsite-dirt-baths each evening before bed that killed the scent. We saw bear scat everywhere but never saw a bear.

A Few Things that Were Amazingly Perfect

1. The kids did great! We just "expected" them to be flexible, and they were.

3 miles with packs was by far the most intense hike they have ever done. We didn't tell them that, and they didn't complain (m&m's helped too). Their regular "lovie blankets" were too big to bring backpacking, so beforehand we told them to pick out and bring "backpacking lovies" for the trip. They loved on their little rags and softies for the weekend without missing a beat. We ate backpacking food all weekend, Breakfast= oatmeal, hot chocolate  Dinner= quinoa with chicken, sweet potatoes, apples and raisins,  and cheese Lunches = trail mix, salami, dried fruit, cheese...and by the second night K. figured out that she wasn't getting any more food after dinner was put away so she ate her quinoa and sweet potatoe bowl clean! 

I won't lie, the first evening setting up camp was tough. It seemed like there were tears of life-ending desperation every 15 minutes. Kids falling on the ground everywhere, occasional banshee screams expressing the unjust torture of childhood. 

But after a hot meal and a good night's sleep they recovered fully for the next day.

 

 

2. Jumping in the lake, drying off in the sun on hot rocks, and dozing under the pine trees to a perfect deafening silence.

The silence was heavy in the mountains. The lake mirrored the pines in the early morning before the breeze created a ripple, with a shadowy hint of the teal green rocks under the water. There are even less distractions backpacking than car camping. In some ways our Sunday in the mountains was the most peaceful day I have had, anywhere, in a long time. 

 

3. We Shared our Love of Nature with the kids. 

We all got to stare in awe at the silent night sky, lined with pine trees and intense with stars. We got to appreciate the flora and fauna of the Sierras, mushrooms, burnt trees, sitting on fallen logs, lichen on the granite and beautiful alpine landscapes.

 It feels so powerful bringing our kids, and ourselves, once again, to such amazingly different places and just saying, 

"Now rest. Stop and listen. Look. Touch. Climb. Explore. Imagine....and see the beauty that our Creator has given us to tell us He loves us. It's overwhelmingly beautiful and amazing. 

Worship."