Low Miles / Slow Pace / Much Fun

[t.darrah]

My daughter (5 years old) and I went on our first true backpacking trip recently and had a wonderful time. We hiked 3.5 up hill miles to Puck Lakes and spent an enjoyable afternoon and (cold) night enjoying the outdoors prior to hiking back out the next morning.

At the trail head and ready to hike. My daughter carried a wind shell, water, a few dolls and a book in her pinl Camelbak pack. Me, I carried everything else in my loaded MLD Prophet.

The hike in was all up hill and warm. We took our time and enjoyed the trail. My daughter hiker strong and had a positive attitude the entire hike.

Arriving at the lake(s) we had the area to ourselves. Setting up a gg Spinntwin tarp and tyvek footprint provided a nice play area for the afternoon.

We spent the afternoon and evening playing at the two lakes. My daughter played with her dolls while I read and played with Moxie my border collie.

After much exploring and playing it was time to roast marshmallows. My daughter took charge of making smores while I kept a watchful eye.

The temperatures really dropped as the sun went down. We each used TorsoLite pads, nunatak quilts and MLD SL bivys. We slept warm with night lows in the low to mid thirties.

The next morning we spent time playing at the lake and then started the hike back to the trail head.

When hiking solo my focus is on long miles, a fast pace and pushing myself. This trip was about sharing time with my daughter and having fun. A great adventure in every way.

[Ken Helwig]

Nice trip report Thom. It looks like the both of you had a great time!! Awesome!

[Brian Camprini]

That's fantastic Thom. Good call using a bivy sack for her–my son covers as much ground sleeping as he does hiking–so hopefully that kept her warm, on the pad, and under the covers. Nice fit on the pack too ;-)

[todd]

Love it!

You will both remember these times!

[Philip Delvoie]

Very nice Thom.

[Tom Clark]

Thom,
Very nice! She looked like she did a great job, and I like the photo she took of Dad by the tarp.

How did she like sleeping under the tarp? Seemed like a great campsite to wake up and look around…then maybe go back to sleep.

Thaks for sharing,
Tom

[ben wood]

nice thom, thanks for sharing, i'm glad that you got to take your daughter out with you. nice pics.

[Thomas Burns]

This is so cool — just right for a five year old. Kudos!

Stargazer

[Dondo .]

Judging from the photos, it looks like your daughter had a great time. Nice job, Thom.

[BlackHatGuy]

Great fun indeed! Looks and sounds like a wonderful trip Thom! Very cool! Of course, in 30 years she'll be wearing the Prophet and you'll be wearing the pink camelback, but you'll still be having fun! ;-)

Thanks for sharing!

Doug

[D S]

Great trip Thom..maybe one day…some day…we can get our kids together and do a hike.

Dave

[P. P.]

You are obviously a great dad. Our son has always taken his kids backpacking and camping and it is really special to them. Hubby and I have shared many trips with them all as they have grown up and it is such a special family adventure. Kudos, indeed!

[Jedd Cheshier]

I have taken my 6 year old daughter on a few trips now too. We tried a REI Comet at first, but have since been using the same Mini Mule from Camelback. It fits about 4 Barbies, toothbrush, toothpaste, a couple changes of clothes, some flip flops/sandals, and you can lash a jacket on too!

If they made it just a tiny bit larger and added a hip belt it would be a little girl's dream pack.

[Ryan Commons]

My new favorite post!

I don't have a family yet and your post made me day dream about what all I'd like to do with kids someday.

Thanks,

RSC

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