Forum Index > Trip Reports > Overnight test with my 9 year old, Lower South Fork Skok
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ranger rock
One of the boys



Joined: 14 Dec 2011
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ranger rock
One of the boys
PostThu Mar 28, 2013 9:51 am 
My youngest kid wants to hike and backpack with me but last year when I took her out she pretended to bonk after just .20 of a mile and when we got to camp 1/2 mile from the car she kept tripping over the tarptent guylines and a thunderstorm was due that night. Also I had not thought to pack any beer or vodka. It was a stressful trip for me. My 16 year old kid has no desire to be seen in public with mom. Maybe she'll come around and want to hike again when she grows up. My husband is on oxygen so he's not going anywhere. I always told him that he could be a hiker or he could be a smoker, but he could not be both. Anyway this year I decided I was going to give my 9 year old another chance. smile.gif I took her to the Lower South Skok, the plan was to go about 1 mile and then set up camp, spend one night and hike out. She did great this time. We went 2.5 miles (about 1/4 mile bushwacking) and she went out of her way to not complain. She knew that complaining too much might prevent future trips from happening. She did great when I drug her through a salmon berry jungle. We camped on the river bank and had a nice fire since it was a bit chilly. Overnight I nearly froze in my sleeping bag but made good use of hand and foot warmers, extra layers of cloths and my down parka. It was 35 degrees, I have a Campmor 20 degree bag.. no way that's a 20 degree bag.. My daughter had an accident in the night and in the morning she was very cold. She could not get her own mittens on since they have crazy finger holes inside of them. The fire did not want to restart either. So I made hot breakfast and chocolate with my alcohol stove and got my daughter out if her wet pants and into her rain pants. Then she warmed up nicely. In spite of all that fuss I managed to take a couple of sunrise pictures. I packed up and we hiked out at about 11. I was surprised to find we had gone 5 miles round trip. Yay! My daughter is ready to hike. I just need to wake her up in the middle of the night and make her go outside... not hard to do since I get up about six times a night myself. Can't risk her soaking her sleeping bag if we are more than a day out! When we got home I washed and dried her Campmor 30 degree down bag and now it's fluffy again.. It's nice to have a front loading washing machine! For our next trip out I went out and bought myself an REI magma 7 degree bag and bought her some mittens she can put on her self. I also bought 4 study tent stakes since she knocked the tarp tent down twice in the first half hour. Thanks to Vodka I took that well instead of freaking out about our sudden loss of shelter. I still wish she had a better coat to wear. I'll probably have her carry a 25 synthetic REI bag on our next hike, it's a bit heavier but will be easier to dry out if she has an accident and I think it's warmer too. My load was 23 pounds (not including my camera gear) her load was 9 pounds. Since I backpack ultralight I can take my kiddo on trips without having a man to haul our gear. Her father is on oxygen so his hiking days are over. We brought the dog for protection from things that go bump in the night. All in all a great time was had. I'm taking her out backpacking again next week. I look forward to lots of backpacking this summer. My days of being limited to day hikes are ending. My daughter was allowed to bring one small plastic toy. But instead she smuggled 4 small stuffed animals, a book, scissors, paper, a pencil 4 plastic bags, a pillow and some bubble wrap.
Our 40 ounce shelter
Our 40 ounce shelter
bag-bugs
bag-bugs
One pot dinner
One pot dinner
sunrise-pano
sunrise-pano
track-and-elevation
track-and-elevation
rough-skinned-new
rough-skinned-new

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Critter
Woodland Creature



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Critter
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PostThu Mar 28, 2013 10:14 am 
Awesome trip report. I read it on your blog. Your 9 year old's gonna kill you if she reads it. Your trip reports are way better than mine. Thanks for everything.

soUthinkUcanCamp
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Phil
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PostThu Mar 28, 2013 10:17 am 
Excellent up.gif Looks like you camped 50-100 yards upstream of one of my favorite spots. Plenty of cool camping areas in those miles.

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kite
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PostThu Mar 28, 2013 10:28 am 
Nice way to get out up.gif up.gif up.gif

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SusanHikes
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PostThu Mar 28, 2013 10:28 am 
Good job Mom! up.gif I love to hear about kids in the outdoors. Great job managing through obstacles. You should both be very proud of your achievements. I wish you many more great experiences!

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ranger rock
One of the boys



Joined: 14 Dec 2011
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ranger rock
One of the boys
PostThu Mar 28, 2013 10:45 am 
Thanks for all the kind replies.. here is a different account of the same trip: http://mosswalks.blogspot.com/2013/03/first-backpacking-trip-of-year.html Same story, just different details to go with it..

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wakerobin
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PostFri Mar 29, 2013 6:48 pm 
Your daughter is going to kill you smile.gif But I think it's so great you took her out, I wish I had has someone to do that for me when I was little (in my family boys got to go camping, I got to stay home and do "girl" things frown.gif ) Is that a Rainshadow 2 you are using? Do you love it? It's sort of at the top of my list for a new tent.

Between the silence of the mountains and the crashing of the sea...
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ranger rock
One of the boys



Joined: 14 Dec 2011
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ranger rock
One of the boys
PostFri Mar 29, 2013 8:41 pm 
No one took me backpacking when I was a kid either.. it was aways staying in a camper in the worst camp grounds ever because they happened to have a boat ramp. It was all about fishing. I grew up in this state but the first time I went to ONP I was in my 20's. I guess the fishing must not be good enough there. But I know that my Dad and my Grandfather who were not hikers both hiked up to Lake Constance when my Grandfather was 64 years old. My Dad's a famous published fisherman now with his own signature steelhead rod and he did teach me how to fish. The boy scout troops in my area all got to go on backpacking trips. But the girl scout troops sat around and learned how to sew and stuff and went car camping once a year, so I quit the girl scouts after the second year. Yes my tarp is the rainshadow 2. It's okay. I think mine was a factory second (it was a gift) and I've had some issues with it. I've had to sew it up in a couple of spots where the seams were bad. The cover over the poles is so tight that the poles were going to poke a hole in it. I showed it to Henry Shires at a PCT kickoff and he put some silicone over the weak spots. The other ones I have seen have much more material there. My rain fly has a very thin strip of velcro that is hard to use. The newer ones have thicker velcro. Also mine does not have the line tighteners that the new ones have. Henry sent me some for free last fall, but now I have to figure out how to put them on, but not until I figure out where I put them. So for the price I'm not much impressed with my tarp tent, but I think mine is a lemon or a beta or a factory second. All the other Rainshadows I've seen look much better. Perhaps I should treat myself to a new one, but not this year. A new sleeping bag was my big gear purchase of the year.

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olymountainman
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PostFri Mar 29, 2013 8:51 pm 
Nice trip! I love that area, I'm pretty excited for all of the wildlife gates to open on....Monday I think?

The mountains will always be there, the trick is to make sure you are too. -Hervey Voge
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ranger rock
One of the boys



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ranger rock
One of the boys
PostFri Mar 29, 2013 9:01 pm 
olymountainman wrote:
Nice trip! I love that area, I'm pretty excited for all of the wildlife gates to open on....Monday I think?
Yep April first I think. I look foward to to it too but there still might be too much snow to drive up the the upper trail. I was glad the gates were shut on this trip that meant less noise coming from the road.

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olymountainman
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PostFri Mar 29, 2013 9:12 pm 
Ranger Rock wrote:
Yep April first I think. I look foward to to it too but there still might be too much snow to drive up the the upper trail.
Yeah, it might be awhile frown.gif Although, last year in the first week of reopening, I went and climbed Mount Tebo (great spring climb) and was able to push my Subaru Impreza to 2500 ft, almost made it to the end of the road! Lets hope for the same this year smile.gif

The mountains will always be there, the trick is to make sure you are too. -Hervey Voge
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ranger rock
One of the boys



Joined: 14 Dec 2011
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ranger rock
One of the boys
PostFri Mar 29, 2013 9:15 pm 
olymountainman wrote:
Ranger Rock wrote:
Yep April first I think. I look foward to to it too but there still might be too much snow to drive up the the upper trail.
Yeah, it might be awhile frown.gif Although, last year in the first week of reopening, I went and climbed Mount Tebo (great spring climb) and was able to push my Subaru Impreza to 2500 ft, almost made it to the end of the road! Lets hope for the same this year smile.gif
Hopefully, its supposed to be warm this week. One year I went and go my Jeep with studded snow tired stuck one week after the gate opened. I was so eager to the to the upper trail head.. Is Tebo more than a class three climb?

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olymountainman
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PostFri Mar 29, 2013 9:23 pm 
Yeah that definitely happens up there, dang snow! Tebo is class 3 I think, but route founding and large cornices are an issue of concern when there is snow.

The mountains will always be there, the trick is to make sure you are too. -Hervey Voge
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PorcupinePhobia
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PostFri Mar 29, 2013 11:00 pm 
Fun read. My first backpacking trip was at 9. And tomorrow I am going backpacking with my mother, 16 years later. She and my wife get along well, which allows me to space out and wander about. Bed wetting is no fun. Made a lot of my childhood difficult. No sleepovers, etc. Yes, hopefully your daughter doesn't read your blog, she will definitely destroy you!

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ranger rock
One of the boys



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ranger rock
One of the boys
PostWed Apr 03, 2013 9:44 am 
Correction, wildlife gates open May first. I'll change my blog a bit..

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