My Daughter’s First Overnight Backpack
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I've been wanting to take my daughter (two years old) on her first overnight backpacking trip, but I've been a little put off by the idea of carrying gear for two while carrying my daughter, who weighs 30lbs/13.5kg. Enter Backpacking Light. With the advantage of lightweight gear over "traditional" gear, I thought I could pull it off.
My "Big Three" list:
Sleep system
-WM Summerlite bag (unzipped, it makes a dandy quilt for two), 19oz/540g
-3/4 Length Thermarest NeoAir pad, 13oz/370g
-Inflatable pillowShelter
-SMD Gatewood Cape, 11oz/310g (used with a trekking pole)
-7 ti stakes, 2oz/56g
-3'x7' Tyvek sheet, 4oz/125gPack
-Golite Pinnacle, 32oz/905gTotal for "Big Three:" 5 lbs, 3oz/2.3kg
Getting the weight of my Big Three down to about 5 pounds total was HUGE. My old backpack alone (empty) was 5 pounds.
So, with that, my trip report:
We started out by taking the Pacific Crest Trail (and a little short cut) from Angeles Crest Highway. The PCT parallels Angeles Crest Highway here.
We went up after work, and it was an hour's drive, so it got dark quickly. First order of business was site selection, but a not too distant second was getting dinner ready.
Very quickly thereafter, a very sleepy little hiker retired for the night.
Note the use of an ultralight, floorless shelter. Careful gear selection let me keep the weight down to about 30 lbs for two people including food, fuel, and water.
Sleepy or not, my daughter doesn't sleep late, so we were up pretty early in the morning.
Time to get breakfast started. I'm currently field testing a new Primus OmnilLite Ti which is the newest offering from Primus. On the OmniLite is a "silent" cap (like a muffler for your car but for a stove) from QuietStove.com which I'm also field testing.
In no time at all we've got a nice sausage and cheese omelette.
And after breakfast, we see we've got a happy camper. :)
For those who haven't been, Little Jimmy Trail Camp is a nice spot to camp.
One of the great things about Little Jimmy Trail Camp is the presence of nearby Little Jimmy Spring which is a highly reliable source of clear, cold water.
Well, enough time spent in camp! Let's hit the trail.
Looking to the west over our intended destination, Mt. Islip, the weather is looking good.
But a quick look to the east, changes my opinion. Looks like we might get a little wet today.
Still, the storm is a ways off, so we "stop to smell the roses."
Nearing the summit, we can see that the San Gabriel Mountains Trailbuilders have been hard at work. Fresh trail maintenance.
Thank you, Trailbuilders!At last, we near the summit ridge for the final push, and the weather continues to hold.
From our position high on the south flank of Mt. Islip, we get a good look at Mt. Hawkins and Hawkins Ridge.
Moving higher, we approach the very summit and encounter the remains of this old cabin. This was the fire lookout's quarters back when a fire lookout was stationed atop Mt. Islip.
Finally, we reach the summit itself. Note the foundation of the old fire lookout tower.
One look at the view and it's clear why the Forest Service chose this spot for a lookout.
Whoa! That storm is hot on our heels. Better get on down the mountain.
For our route down, we chose this, the forested north ridge of Mt. Islip.
There's no formal trail, but there are bits and pieces of a peak-bagger's trail.
From our vantage point, we look WSW at Twin Peaks and its great SSE ridge.
Note in particular Triplet Rocks. This is perhaps the single most difficult summit to attain in all of the San Gabriel Mountains.
Descending further, we enter the more flat areas proximate to Little Jimmy.
From here, we retraced our steps back to our car and made our journey home.
My thanks to BPL for making this trip possible!
Wow. Backpacking with three kids? I'm a lightweight. :)
I'm hoping to take her out more now that I've broken the psychological barrier of having to carry both her and a pack.
Having a BPL assisted lightening of my gear means that I can "opt in" on a few luxury items like having real food — food that my picky eater daughter will actually eat.
She loves the muffins from this ESBIT muffin baking set up. The mix:
The results (baked in an Evernew 1300ml Ti pot):
Tender, moist, and-oh-so delicious:
I need to get this up on my blog.
> Great TR Jim, 30lbs for two is a good weight. When I took my kids a few weekends ago, I was closer to 40lbs. I need to get my daughter used to the idea of a floorless shelter.
Thanks, Angus.
My daughter's young enough that she doesn't really know the difference between shelter types. I started taking her on hikes before she was one year old. I figure that if she grows up with it, it won't feel strange to her. My wife didn't grow up with this stuff, and she just can't get past the idea of certain things (like not having a flush toilet!).
One draw back to a floorless shelter is that the creepy crawlies can come in and out at will. Something bit me in two places on my forehead on that trip. That really sucked, but at least they didn't bite my daughter.
Ah. A centipede bite. I hadn't thought of that. I figured it must be a spider or something.
It's a week and a half later now, and it still hurts like heck, but the swelling around my left eye is thankfully 95% gone.
And so as to not end on a down note, a picture of my (unbitten) daughter playing at our lunch stop this past weekend.
> you ought to try her walking on her own. Topanga State park has a backpacking site that is 1 mile in, so she might be able to hike that on her own. You can take longer trails if you wish. The site has running water and a plumbed bathroom. We took our kids there on day hikes. Best regards
Jon,
Do you know the name of that camp site and that trail? I looked on the Topanga State Park website, but there's very little information.
My daughter is actually a good little walker.
But when she's done, she's done, so I have to be prepared to carry her.On a Friday after work, when I hike into a site, I usually carry her 100% just for speed. I'm racing against the clock in hopes of being able to set up before nightfall, which I strongly prefer.
The following day, I let her walk more, but walking with my daughter means that we stop to investigate a lot of important sticks and leaves and such. :)
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