Planning a backpacking trip with an 11 year old

[mtthwlw]

I have lots of questions here. A little background on me: I love to hike, but I've done precious few multi day backpacking trips as an adult.

My 11 year old daughter and I want to go on a backpacking trip on Pine Valley Mountain. I think she's ready, so, we've decided to plan one for spring or summer 2013. I would like to take 4-5 days and hike part or all of the Summit Trail. (Which I have never done.)

Is it feasible for an 11 year old to hike the whole thing in that much time, or is this much a bad idea? Is it better to start on the north end of the trail or the south?

On an average year, when is a good time to plan for a hike like this? June? July?

Also, any gear tips for a hiking and backpacking with a kid of that age? I'd like to buy her some stuff for the trip. I'd like it to last as she is my oldest and my other kids will likely use this gear as they grow up.

Thanks,
Matthew

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[nefariousdeeds]

Mtthwlw,

I recently took my 11 year old boy on a small 21 mile trip in the Sol Duc area of Washington State, over 2 days. He carried a 28lb pack (rounded it off to 30 in my TR).

The things we noticed for an 11 year old.

- Shoes , make sure your kids feet are broken into the shoes. Kids that age often change shoe sizes a lot, but a single bad ass blister will end a kids trip. Make sure her shoes are broken in and that she keeps her feet dry. (Changing socks etc) if you are crossing water.

- Weight, over 4 or 5 days you will be carrying a bit of her weight in your bag. Be prepared to possibly have to carry her entire bag. (pack your bag with all of the stuff you need AND the expectation you will be "helping" her out a lot)

- The actual backpack - Kids backpacks are fairly pricey if you are just going out to buy one, Id check with somewhere like REI your local rec center etc, to see if they have actual kids packs. My boy carried a "day pack" but it still didn't fit quite right. If the bag does not fit right, it will zap your kids energy , because they will constantly be messing with it.

- Last but not least.... show your daughter every single thing in your backpack and what it does. Then show her everything in her backpack along with what it does and how to use it in-case she has to save your life.

Edit: I also made my boy show me where we were on the a map and where we were going, so that I had piece of mind he knew the basics of map reading.

[mtthwlw]

Thanks for the reply. Those are good things to think about. I'll look for your trip report to see what was in his pack to make 28lbs. That sounds about right for a kid. Hers may need to be a little lighter, because she's on the small side, but I'll work from that goal.

We've revised our trip to be a tough 6 miles on day one, a short 4 miles on day 2 and 8 miles down-hill on day 3. This cuts a full day off, and has her on the prettiest views on day one.

I've found that what you say is true about kids' packs: they're expensive. She's my oldest kid and I expect to do this a few times over the next few years but I just can't afford what they have for her size at REI. I've checked the Boy Scout store online and they have internal frame backpacks for about half as much, but that's still expensive. I'll check on rentals. Good idea.

I may have some other questions after reading your TR. Thanks again.


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[blueeyes]

I wanted to answer you the other day when you first posted but couldn't gather my thoughts on the subject. I took my daughter for her first backpack trip this spring to Havasupai, 10 miles in 10 miles out. The weekend before Havasupai we hiked the Subway which is 9.5 miles and she did great until the Dinosaur tracks. Even after that she was a real trooper so I didn't think I would have a problem with Havasupai. We spent two nights down there I really wish we would have spent 3 or 4. She is 12 and I kept her pack to under 30 lbs, weighed out everything and made sure pack and water included it was under 26 lbs. I measured her back and found a really nice small Gregory pack through the REI outlet. When it arrived in the mail we pretend loaded it and she loved it. However this quickly changed after we started hiking.

1. Go with tons of patience; make sure you have extra in reserve.

2. When you get the pack use it fully loaded on a trail where you both can see what is working and what is not before going on the actual trip. If it is Pine Valley you want to backpack I would pick a practice trail where you go uphill and then downhill because the way they walk up a hill with the back on is different than when you are hiking downhill. Maybe something like Jones Bones at top of Snow Canyon it is a great little hike and at the top she can see Mr. Jones Bones in a pile.

3. Clothing, make sure this is compatible with the pack and hiking. Sarah's shorts kept getting pushed down by the pack so she was constantly pulling them up and it drove her crazy. We finally put a sun dress on but that posed other issues.

4. Shoes! I had forgotten about the blister on her foot until nefarious mentioned shoes. She wore shoes that were broken in and she was comfortable with but still ended up with a blister on the hike out.

5. If you are traveling uphill plan on a much slower pace then you expect to go. Sarah only enjoys hiking when the hike is fun or exciting like scrambling over river rocks in the Narrows or up Kannaraville. Stick her on a normal hiking trail and she doesn't have much interest. On the way out of Havasupai I had to set a timer, we hiked for 30 min and rested for 15. It took 12 hours to go 10 miles. Did I mention tons of patience?

Short synapses of our Havasupai hike:

On the hike in at some point she complained enough and I somehow convinced her brother to switch packs. He was using an old Kelty pack that I bought for me to carry college books in. She found this pack to be more comfortable even though it was packed with more weight. I think Spencer and I had about 30-35 lbs going in to Havasupai. I know I was trying to keep us all as light as possible because I have a habit of taking way more than I need. The hike in took us about 7 hours. Her pace was slow but not bad going downhill. Heading home I ended up carrying all of Sarah's stuff out in my pack. The only thing she had in her pack was water. It was uphill and really that trail has nothing of interest to offer as far as views or excitement. I think this hike was a death march for her. If I could go back I would have just stuck her on the helicopter and met her at the top. Not sure I will ever get her to go backpacking with me again. I do know she loved the waterfalls and we had an amazing time while we were there.

Do report back. Pine Valley is on my list.

[Deathcricket]

I would start on the South side, my friends and I can hike to the top in less than 2 hours going at a medium pace. I think it's like 3 1/2 miles? But if you guys go slow and get tired there are lots of spots to camp on the way up. Where as the North side I don't recall seeing any until you got pretty far up there. Also there might still be some snow on the top so be prepared for that. I was surprised to see it even late June. I imagine it still gets chilly in the evening.

[mtthwlw]

Thanks DeathCricket and Blueeyes. I'd been thinking about some of those same things since my 1st question.

Right now, I'm thinking that we'd like to start in the town of Pine Valley and end up in Anderson Junction (Near our home in Toquerville.) We would start out on the Whipple Valley Trail (6 strenuous miles on the first day) Have an easy day on day 2, perhaps take a side trail to West Valley and start down South to Wet Sandy (Maybe 4-5 easy miles on day 2), and then finish Wet Sandy Trail on Day 3 (7-9 miles of downhill.)

DC, you mention snow. I've been trying to weigh the snow and cold issue with the water one. Obviously, I'd love to be there when streams are running so that we could filter water, but maybe I could go up wet Sandy and place water caches along the trail on day 3 if we decide to go up early July rather than a June trip. I could do the same for the end of Whipple Valley Trail. It wouldn't take long for me to do that a week or so before the trip. Is it a bad idea to count on gallon jugs that I leave out a week in advance?

Blueeyes, I've got nothing but patience planned for this trip, but I hadn't been thinking about her being tired. My daughter is a big-time talker-- geeky and outdoorsy (the same way I'd hope others would describe me). Hopefully this will give her an outlet and I'm looking forward to seeing if she runs out of things to say over the space of 3 days uninterrupted by other things. We'll try a hike or two to LaVerkin Falls or other 5-10 mile distances this winter to build up to a 30 lb pack for 3 days. I'll plan on bringing some extra patience along. I want her to look back on this fondly.

Nefarious mentioned having her learn to read a map before and during the trip. This is another great idea.

Thanks all for the ideas.

[blueeyes]

Blueeyes, I've got nothing but patience planned for this trip, but I hadn't been thinking about her being tired. My daughter is a big-time talker-- geeky and outdoorsy (the same way I'd hope others would describe me). Hopefully this will give her an outlet and I'm looking forward to seeing if she runs out of things to say over the space of 3 days uninterrupted by other things.

Umm, good luck with that. I have one that is 16 and he and I hike a lot. He never shuts up. But I am glad, we have some of our best conversations on our hikes.

[iflycr500]

Find a pack that fits her the best you can find. Then keep it as light as possible and yours as heavy as possible. She will be slower so you should be able to handle some extra weight. What do you plan on having her carry? She should be carrying her own clothes, sleeping bag, a head lamp or flashlight and possibly some of the lighter food items. Some water, snacks and some music that are easy to get to while she is hiking. I would try to keep her under 20 pounds. You should have all the big stuff like the tent, the cooking gear, food, gadgets, first aid kit, etc. Keep her focused on your goals like lets see if we can do a mile in 30 min. and then maybe try to beat some of your times. Take a small notepad and everynight talk about things you liked and saw that day, keep track of these and research them when you get back home. Have her take lots of pictures, make sure you get one when you start and then finish. I could go on and on but just keep her smiling and you guys will have a blast.

[worldfamilytravellers]

We did a 4 mile (8 round trip) this summer with our 10 year old daughter and 4 year old son in the Uinta Mountains. She caught her first fish on her own and we had a pretty fun experience. I hope you also have a great experience with your daughter. A few things that we learned.

1. Pack a camera for your daughter, it makes her aware of her surroundings and draws her attention away from "are we there yet?"
2. Be sure she helps "plan" the trip. Even if you're guiding her toward the hike as you see it, get her buy in so that she understands how far it is and takes ownership of the experience.
3. Good sleep makes all the difference in a young girl's attitude. If possible, make sure to pack some foam to sleep on.
4. It seems you're set on this hike, and I can't blame you, it sounds great. If you are open to other hikes, might I suggest something that is 2 days tops, to kind of break her in.