Fundamentals of Backpacking

TAKING CHILDREN ON BACKPACK TRIPS

Include your children in the planning for your backpacking trips. Pick your destination together. Study the maps together. Plan the menus together. Teach your children how to avoid getting lost, and what they should do if they do get lost. Be prepared! Carry a tracing of your child's bootprint and a picture of your child with you (just in case you need it).

Hiking with children can be a most enjoyable experience. Children are natural explorers, filled with enthusiasm and curiosity. When hiking with children, your world seems a bigger and more wonderful place. Children learn quickly by observing. They will quickly imitate your behavior. Be a positive role model. Explain the things that you are doing during the trip. Tell the children why it is necessary to purify the water, and why it is necessary to dig a hole far away from camp and water (and cover it afterwards) when you "use the bathroom" in the wilderness. Explain why it is important to "take only pictures" and "leave only footprints" when visiting the wilderness. Backpacking is a great time to experience God's creation together . . . to sit with your feet dangling in a cold mountain stream, or to see who can see the farthest point from the top of a mountain, or to listen to the sounds of the forest as you "turn in" for the night.

Children may be physically more resilient than adults in some ways, but they need plenty of conditioning prior to a backpacking trip. Walk a lot prior to the trip. Walk to the park, walk in the neighborhood, climb some hills, walk in bad weather as well as good. But always make it fun. Let them catch some raindrops, stop to look at a rainbow, or watch a bug. Practice some of the routines you will follow on the trail, like shedding or adding clothing as the weather changes.

On the trail, each child should carry at least one item of bright-colored clothing, a whistle, and a plastic trash bag. The first two are for signaling and the last one is for emergency shelter. Make sure that the child�s clothing, boots, and backpack are comfortable and properly fitted. Remember that your child should not carry more than 20% of his/her body weight.