Category: Outdoor Adventures

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Hiking Most Popular Posts Outdoor Adventures Tips & Tricks

6 Tips for Helping Kids Hike Without Whining

6 Tips to Help Your Kids Hike Without Whining! We really struggled with this for FOREVER but things are finally getting better!

I’m ready for my kids to be long distance hikers. I realize they are still little (8, 6, and 4 years old) but I MISS hiking. Pre-kid and even when Rachel was little and would fit in a backpack, we would take a Saturday and do 8-13 mile hikes OVER mountain passes. It was glorious. Even better will be the day when they can go backpacking, as that is definitely our favorite way to go camping.

That said, we are starting small, but I feel like its a good time to start. Lately, our hikes have been maybe 1 to 1.5 miles tops including lots of whining from the kids about how hard it was, how tired they were and everything in between. As we started prepping them for their first 5 mile hike in Great Basin National Park we decided to try a few things and luckily for us, a lot of them worked! Time will tell how these play out and maybe in the future we’ll be able to add more items to this list!

1. Prep them beforehand. This was huge. I don’t think we had ever sat our kids down and said, “We are going to do a long hike. Its going to be FUN. We LOVE hiking and are excited about it. We know you guys can do it and we expect you to without any whining”. Cara loves to hike with me, but she knows that I will get frustrated and walk away if all she does in whine. She has to be mommy’s HAPPY hiking buddy.

2. Snacks with a goal. Bring some snacks that they love. Recently I discovered a granola bar recipe that everyone can’t get enough of. We brought some with the stipulation that we got to eat them when we got to the top. We had other small fruit snacks and other things that we spaced out along the way, but that was a HUGE motivating factor for them.

3. Bribe them. We recently started a new chore system that involves the kids earning tickets and then being able to redeem them at the family store on Monday nights. They get 1 ticket per happy hiking mile. Sam and I use Endomondo or a step tracker so we know how long we have hiked, and the kids know they only get tickets if there’s no whining. Andrew, cleverly, even negotiated for 2 tickets per mile for any hike 4 miles or longer. Sneaky little guy. There have been times where the two oldest earn more tickets than Cara because she had a particularly loud tantrum in the middle of the trail.

4. Play Games. This doesn’t always work, but occasionally we get a good 30 minutes out of playing I-Spy with the kids. Someone will start and then whoever guesses what they are spying gets to go next. Since a lot of the places we hike are either Red Rocks, or trees & dirt we generally include clothing, shoes, and anything super small on anyone hoping no one will guess it.

5. Listen to Music. Maybe this totally contradicts enjoying nature, but it really works for us. We don’t listen to music the whole time, or if there’s ever anyone near us on the trail as we don’t want to ruin their experience. I pull up the Frozen soundtrack on my phone and just carry it in my hand while we walk along. All the kids sing along (okay, I was singing too) and it lasts us a good 45 minutes on some of the steeper sections. Totally helps pass the time.

6. Have a destination. This one even helps me. If we aren’t hiking TO something its a lot harder to motivate anyone up the trail. There needs to be a lake, or a glacier, or something interesting at the “top” whether the trail is a loop or an out and back. If the trail is varied enough maybe this one doesn’t matter as much, but when we are just hiking through trees it gets a little tedious. Knowing there will be something to look forward to keeps them moving.

For many people, especially kids, learning to hike long distances is a mental exercise. The biggest obstacle that we encounter is boredom. Once they are bored, the whining starts. Finding ways to occupy their minds and keep them distracted as we hike has been our greatest success! Physically I believe they are capable, but mental training tends to be a bit more difficult. We are hoping to make a lot more progress this summer as we continue to travel!

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Hiking National Parks Nevada Outdoor Adventures Video

Skiing a Glacier in Great Basin National Park – Nevada

We had plans to stay at a lake between Bryce Canyon & Cedar Breaks that fell through due to lack of Verizon signal, so with a couple of extra days before we needed to be back to Salt Lake for a photography workshop we decided to detour to Great Basin National Park. This had been on our list, but we had thought there wouldn’t be time. Good thing we are nothing but flexible.

When We Visited: July 2014
Ages of Kids: 8, 6, 4
Tips: Fill up on gas & groceries before heading out. This park is in the middle of nowhere on the border of Utah/Nevada and gas is expensive and groceries are hard to find. Local residents of the surrounding little towns drive an hour to two hours to go grocery shopping (crazy!).

When deciding what to do while we were in the park, I really wanted to go hiking. REAL hiking. The kind where you actually sweat and the next day you are sore and tired but you feel awesome because you showed that trail who was boss. Finding a glacier at the top of the mountain we calculated out the distance for a round trip and came up with just close to 5 miles. Next we just had to pitch it to the kids.

“Seriously mom? There’s SNOW up there?” Andrew asked skeptically.
“Yup. All the time. It never really melts,” I answered. “A glacier is a slow moving pile of snow & ice that carves its way down the mountain. You want to go see it? It’ll be the longest hike we’ve ever done.”
“Yes!!” All three kids answered at the same time.

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It was magical. The hike was great, but watching my kids scramble all over this snow in July was exhilerating. Andrew took off by himself, while Cara and Rachel stuck a little closer to Sam & I. Sam managed to step his way up the hill in a way that Cara and I could follow pretty easily in his footsteps. We threw snowballs, the kids slid down on their backsides, and we generally had a good time goofing off. THEN Sam started skiing down the glacier on his feet. Immediately all the kids wanted in on the action and one by one, we helped them know where to put their feet and we slip-slid down the snow together.

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There are a lot of great things about Great Basin National Park. The campground was clean and nice, Lehman Caves were very interesting (we learned about shield formations), the Bristlecone Pines were majestic, the kids earned a Jr. Ranger Badge, we went on an evening hike, and we even had ice cream in their on site cafe. We had a great weekend, but I think all of us will remember Great Basin National Park as the place where we went skiing in July.

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Hiking Outdoor Adventures Tips & Tricks

The Best Time of Day To Take Your Kids Hiking

Now that summer is here, we are trying to get the kids out hiking. A lot. Usually this involves lots of whining and complaints about being tired. A few months ago, however, we stumbled upon the perfect combination: beautiful scenery + in the evening.

The first time we hiked in the evening it was by chance. We had a busy day as Sam worked a good 8-9 hours and the kids and I worked on a Jr. Ranger Book. Since we were in Zion National Park, I knew Sam would want to get out and go explore after he was done working, so we made an early dinner and set out on the shuttle for the Zion Narrows located at the end of the park. What we found surprised us: there were VERY few people there. Like maybe 5. On the whole trail. After a busy day fighting crowds of people we were kind of in shock. The weather was cooler, the light was pretty, and the kids had quite a bit of energy to burn.

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Putting our discovery to the test, we decided to try our formula again at Bryce Canyon National Park a few weeks later. We drove to the Bristlecone Pine Loop and had ourselves a nice, relaxing, evening hike. Everyone enjoyed it! The kids were in a good mood, I was in heaven with the beautiful light and my adorable subjects, and we ended the night on a complete high.

The BEST Time to Go Hiking With Kids! We've tried LOTS of different variations over our travels and by far this has worked the best! 02

A week later we were in Cedar Breaks National Park and all kind of cranky. It had been a rough driving day with lots of frustrations, but after we set up and had a quick dinner we set out on a short walk to the visitor center. Totally cured our crankiness. By the time we got back to the Airstream to get ready for bed, everyone was in a much better mood and excited about exploring the next morning.

The BEST Time to Go Hiking With Kids! We've tried LOTS of different variations over our travels and by far this has worked the best! 03

Now I’m not saying that EVERY time we head out in the evenings its perfect bliss, but we have a pretty good track record so far. Even most recently when the kids were complaining that they were too tired, swimming had worn them out, and even I was doubtful – Sam dragged us all out on the trail and it turned completely magical.

The BEST Time to Go Hiking With Kids! We've tried LOTS of different variations over our travels and by far this has worked the best! 04

As a total bonus, when we get back the kids are usually pretty tired and head to bed with little to no complaining. Total win all around! The ideal time of day likely depends heavily on the seasons, and will migrate earlier in the day as temperature drops. But for now, evening hikes will be a frequent habit.

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Outdoor Gear

Walkie Talkies – Adventure Magic for Kids

Nearly every outdoor outing can be made more fun with the addition of some walkie-talkies. We have had a few for years, and just recently added a few more to spread among our growing number of interested children.

We wanted to get new radios that worked well with our previous ones, so we made sure to get ones that are FRS compatible. Mostly based on price, we bought a few Motorola MH230R radios. After using them on most of our recent adventures, we love these new radios. In fact, we’ll be ordering a few more shortly.

Most of the Motorola FRS radios come with a rechargeable battery, and you can either use the rechargeable battery pack, or standard batteries. These new radios we bought use three AAA batteries in place of the battery pack. When you have the battery back in place, you can even charge these radios with a standard mini USB cable. FRS radios allow you to select one of several channels, and also one of a number of ‘security codes’ which help filter out any other users of the same frequencies.

Our kids love playing with the radios, and we get the added bonus of being able to talk to the kids while they are exploring and running ahead on our hikes. Might I pass along a few things I’ve learned about kids and radios:

1. Teach them to hold the radio away from their mouth when they talk. We frequently remind them “don’t eat the radio!”
2. Teach them to hold down the button while they talk. Then release it, and give others a chance to respond.
3. Teach them to keep the radio on, until the adventure is over. A radio that is off

Give a few radios a try, and you may find they add more to an adventure then you expected!

 

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Most Popular Posts Outdoor Gear

Best Seat on the Trail

For the past 7 years, most family hikes involved the littlest child riding in a kid backpack. We once hiked a 9 mile, 4,000 ft up, 5,000 ft down trail with Rachel on my back. I have fond memories of singing songs while we hiked, and passing snacks over my shoulder to little waiting hands.

Little Rachel and Jess, 2007

We bought one when our oldest child outgrew the infant sized front carriers. While a sizeable investment for some newly married students, it has paid off handsomely in the years since then. At the time, the Kelty kid carriers were not well designed, and we bought a Deuter Kid Comfort. I considered it to be an investment that would guide our family activities, and it has performed as expected. We have hiked more, and longer, as a result of having a good way to carry a tired child. When young, they took naps during hikes. As they got older, more and more time was spent hiking, taking riding breaks to rest tired feet.

Deuter has been a fantastic brand. Kelty has stepped up their game, and they have some good options as well. Whatever brand you consider, look for the following features:

A built in sunshade  Sleeping kids burn easily. The sunshade on our Deuter has been awesome. It’s attached, so I can’t forget it, and it deploys in seconds.
A hydration bladder. When you are carrying the load, having a drink when you need it is really convenient.
Nice grab handles. Nice handles on both front and back of the top come in very handy when you need to unload in a less than flat terrain.

After years of hiking kids, our littlest is almost grown out of it. On our recent hiking in Arches National Park, little Cara hiked 3 miles of our 4 mile hike. She spent two short segments riding: one at her request, and the other I insisted upon to speed a rocky descent. Though she’s nearly outgrown it, she still loves a ride when her feet get tired. She happily (and loudly) sang songs as we hiked, and I paused briefly to capture one of my favorites.