Four Loop Pass with young family

Awesome that you are taking your young kids on a trip.  That will be tough loop for kids that age.  But it sounds like you have experience with their abilities.  Don’t forget to take elevation into account.  The uphill will be tough, and some may suffer with altitude sickness.  Keep a close eye on them.  It’s an ambitious trip for kids that young.

Enlightened Equipment has double quilts.  I’m sure others do too.  And they have soem shorter, lighter quilts.  Your small kids may even be able to snuggle with you and your wife in single, wide quilts at that age.

Sounds like you have reasonable carries for the kids

I think you’ll need 2 bear cans.

“Are there any 4 person tents that are highly packable, light, and not a fortune?”

I recommend a large pyramid shelter like the black diamond mega light.

Wow, how cool that your family wants to do this!  Lucky kids.

I just have a few questions: what part of July are you planning your hike for?  Depending on what the winter and spring were like, there could be significant snow at elevation through early July, meaning drifts several feet deep.  No way to know that until next summer.

How long will you have to acclimate once you arrive in CO?  There is a pretty big difference between the hikes your family has done and the minimum elevation of 9,600 ft.  If you can come out a few days early and do some training hikes, hike high and sleep low, you will probably enjoy the 4 Pass Loop more.

Does your hiking schedule account for being off the high passes and exposed areas by noon or early afternoon to avoid potential lightning and thunder?  For most people this means very early morning starts.  That would have been very hard when my kids were the age that yours are.

And lastly, those pesky bear canisters are going to take up the sweet spots in your pack and that of your wife, leaving much less space for the rest of your gear and the kids’ gear that you guys will have to carry.  (The bear cans will also have to contain all of the other scented items you are carrying such as toothpaste, sunscreen, trash, etc., so you will almost certainly need 2 canisters.)  Everyone should have rain gear, hats, gloves, and extra warm layers, so you will probably need to carry more stuff than you are used to in warmer climates.

You don’t indicate how much backpacking experience you have, and taking young kids along on a trip of this magnitude is a whole ‘nother ball game.  Have you considered doing a slightly easier trip with the kids, at altitude in the Rockies, just to get things dialed in?  There are many hikes in Colorado that are just as scenic but less rigorous for a young family that might not be familiar with the idiosyncracies of high-altitude backpacking in the Rockies.

Some years ago, we took our then-4 and 7-yr old kids on a 3-day, 4 mile backpack to a lake in Rocky Mountain National Park, and that was perfect.  My son carried snacks, stuffed animals, water, and clothes; my daughter added her sleeping bag.  Husband and I carried the rest in our 70 and 80 liter packs, which were full, and bear canisters were not yet required.  We did not have extra gear, but that was before lightweight gear was so readily available!

Forgive me if I am making incorrect assumptions, but this sounds quite ambitious.

That was very well put, Jenny, and I agree with everything you wrote.

Well put Jenny.

I think you could just get by with two canisters, but you’ll want to optimize food for space saving- nothing like ramen or chips allowed.

A wide quilt can work for more than one person- we use two quilts for my wife, my 3.5 YO, and me.  Tarptent makes some nice tents for 4, I wonder if all of you would fit in a hogback?  Otherwise, maybe a large mid, but I’d start asking whether there will be enough space in campsites to pitch a tent that large, or whether you need to use 2 tents.

My 3.5 YO likes wearing a little pack, but not enough to carry as much as you list.  water and snacks and an extra shirt or puffy is about as much as I would expect him to carry if he was going to be wearing it all day.  And it would be an exceptional day to have him cover more than about 4 miles in the mountains under his own power.

That is a lot of food for two BV500’s but could be doable. I don’t know how much experience you have with canisters but I recomend packing 10 days worth of food in one before you go to make sure you can do it.

You may look at ursacks if you need extra space for some additional food or smell ables as they are lighter and pack better than bear cans.

Also make sure you and your wife can fit everything into your packs. Bearcans are bulky and awkward to pack and those along with all the gear take up a lot of space – you may need a bigger pack.

Have a contingency plan for altitude sickness. My wife got sick at 10,500ft last year.

That is a cool but challenging trip for kids that age. Report back how it goes.