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Backpacking Georgia Outdoor Gear

Backpacking with Kids: The Gear List

Gear List For Backpacking with Kids from CurrentlyWanderingLast Thanksgiving we went backpacking in Franklin D. Roosevelt State Park in Georgia. Andrew is working on his Wolf rank in Cub Scouts, and needed to create and use a gear list for a hike or backpacking trip. He did an excellent job, and the trip was great, so I thought I’d share the gear list we made. This doesn’t include any food, so that’ll just have to be the subject of another post.

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Standard Disclaimer: This worked well for us given the weather and ages of our kids. Adjust accordingly, Your Mileage May Vary, etc. etc. We’ve also included some Amazon and REI affiliate links. Shopping through these helps support our blog in a small way and we appreciate it very much!

The core of our backpacking gear remains the same no matter where or when we are going. You need somewhere to sleep (tent), something to sleep in (sleeping bag), and something to put it all in (backpack). All other gear really depends on when and where you are going, how cold it will be, and your comfort level. Our gear list is ever evolving, but here are some ideas to get your started!

Our Tent

We have a  Kelty Yellowstone 6. It is definitely NOT a back country tent, but we already owned it and had it with us in the Airstream. At 14lbs its a beast, but we’ve concentrated on getting our other gear as light as possible. I think when the kids are comfortable sleeping by themselves, we’ll eventually have two light weight tents. It IS a great car camping tent, however, just in case you are looking for that. But since you are here looking for backpacking gear, its probably not relevant.

Back on topic…

In addition to the tent, we also have a large piece of plastic (cut from a larger piece at my father in law’s house when he was doing some home improvement repairs) we use as a groundcloth. Its not fancy, but it does the job.

Sleeping Bags

Sam and I sleep VERY differently. At one point in our marriage we tried sleeping bags that could zip together, but that didn’t last long. He is constantly too warm, and I am constantly freezing.

Sam’s Bag: Since he is a super warm sleeper, Sam didn’t want anything overly warm. Half the time his bag is unzipped while I’m snuggled in tight. He has something similar to this REI Helio Sack 55 Sleeping bag from REI.

Jess’ Bag: REI Flash Sleeping Bag. I absolutely love it. Its down, lightweight, incredibly warm and cozy. I love that I have a place to tuck my pillow in and it won’t move, much. Its a bit pricey, but I expect it’ll be my sleeping bag until we are done backpacking. And then it’ll probably be Rachel’s.

With kid bags its important to make sure they won’t be too cold. This obviously depends on the weather and where you will be, but if you start out with a cheaper bag just make sure they have warm pajamas if the temperature is going to drop at night.

Rachel & Andrew’s Bags: Marmot Mavericks 40 Semi – Rectangular Sleeping Bag. Looks like this one is no longer available, but we love that it has two zippers, and even a place to stuff a pillow.

Cara has cheap sleeping bag from Wal-Mart (the polka dot one in the photo below). Out of all the kids, she could probably use a better one since little kids tend to not stay in their bags at night. So far we’ve been fine and eventually we’ll upgrade Rachel to a small women’s bag and she’ll inherit hers.

Another great option for kid’s bags that’s been tested by friends of ours are the Backcountry Quilts. Check out a review by Alyssa at Kidproject.org here.

Backpacks

Sam has an AIRX bag from ULA leftover from his trip on the John Muir and carries the tent and most of the bulky gear since his bag is the largest. Jess carries the Mindshift 180 bag with her camera gear (blog post here), Rachel has a GoLite 35L Bag (no longer available), Andrew has the REI Flash 18, and Cara uses the ChicoBag Reusable Travel Pack.

We are changing these up in the future with the addition of a Deuter Fox30 for Andrew and new bags for Rachel and I so we’ll keep you posted on how those work out!

Backpacking Gear

Clothes (Per Person)

  • (2) underwear
  • (2) socks
  • thermal pajamas
  • long sleeved shirt (not cotton)
  • short sleeved shirt (not cotton)
  • hiking pants (REI Link child, women’s)
  • rain shell
  • hiking boots
  • beanies
  • puffy vest
  • rainshell

Hiking Gear

  • Backpacks
  • Hiking Poles (REI link)
  • Trail Map
  • First Aid Kit
  • Platypus Water bladder (2) (Amazon link)
  • Platypus Big Zip Reservoir with Hose (1) (Amazon Link)

Cooking

Sleeping Gear

Toiletries

  • Toothbrushes with steripods (4) (Amazon link)
  • Bathroom Bag
    • Hand shovel
    • Hand sanitizer
    • Toilet Paper
  • Toothpaste

Extras

  • Books (Kindles)
  • Swiss Army Knife & Dad’s Multi-tool
  • Bluetooth Speaker (for listening to audio books at bedtime)
  • External Battery and USB cable (Amazon link)
  • Phones (scriptures, camera, music, audio book)
  • Camera – Fuji X-T10 (Amazon Link)
  • Gorilla Pod with ballhead (Amazon Link)
  • Card games
  • Bug Spray
  • ENO Hammock (Amazon Link)
  • Sun Screen
  • Micro Fiber Pack Towels (Amazon Link)

There’s the short list! Make sure you tailor your gear list to your family’s needs and know that it will evolve over time. We are still switching out some of our heavier gear for lighter stuff.

What equipment or brands have you found useful in your back country adventures?

Categories
Biking Minnesota

Sometimes You Just Gotta Mountain Bike Solo – Ironton, Minnesota

Mountain Biking in Ironton Minnesota

While we were mountain biking at Lebanon Hills Regional Park in Minneapolis, we started chatting with a woman who was there with her niece and nephew. She is an avid mountain biker and gave us a few other places in the state that had good trails. On our trek north, we ended up doing some service for natural disaster clean up near Brainerd, which put us darn close to the Cuyuna County State Recreation Area she had mentioned.

We took a chance that the campground was decent (and had an open spot) and drove over in the late afternoon. While the campground wasn’t much to look at (and Sam warned me to definitely NOT look in the bathrooms) it was smack dab in the middle of a trail system. This is great because we have become extremely lazy and prefer to ride right from camp rather than driving someplace and then unloading the bikes.

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We tested out a small section of trail with the kids our first evening, and even though they whined a bit, Rachel actually rode it again with Sam after we switched bikes (it was a much better ride on the 29er over the cyclo cross). The following day they weren’t interested in riding at all, so I snuck away in the afternoon to test out ALL the rest of the trails. Okay, I didn’t expect to ride them ALL but I was sure going to try.

11355114_1616909808598781_1271556149_nThe trails were awesome. The system consists of a series of networked trails that create quite a few loops. Some with pretty significant climbs, rollings hills or speedy downhill runs. I rode about 12 miles in just over two hours and when I texted Sam and asked how things were going and if I could do one more loop, he immediately responded with, “Go get ’em!”

I seriously love my husband.

While riding solo is definitely not ideal in case something drastic happens, its better than not riding at all. While at our sticks and bricks house, I would often not do an activity because I had no one to go with. It just didn’t seem fun or feasible. Now, however, I’ve learned that some alone time on the trails is not necessarily a bad thing jump at the chance to get out. Traveling has created more opportunities to get out and enjoy the sports I love!

Categories
Biking Outdoor Gear

Gear Review: 6 Reasons WOOM Is the Best Kid’s Bike Out There

The bike company that focuses all of its time and energy on designing high quality and lightweight bikes for children of all ages.

We knew Cara was in the market for a new bike, but we kept putting it off. With how much we ride bikes (including the crazy mountain biking she’s done on her strider- see our YouTube video here), we also knew that a cheap bike from Wal-Mart was just not going to cut it. Since we didn’t know what to do, we just did….nothing.

Then we found out about WOOM Bikes. These are seriously awesome. After learning about this company I knew we wanted one of their bikes for Cara, and after a short email conversation they were gracious enough to send us a WOOM3 bike for review.

Note: The company behind WOOM Bikes is German, so ‘woom’ is pronounced ‘voom.’ Makes sense, right?

The short story is that, as parents, we absolutely LOVE this bike. Cara loves it too and has totally taken off riding as we expected her too. Yes, they are pricey, but they also have a fantastic Upcycle program (if you don’t have younger children to pass the bike on to). With how much we ride and enjoy riding long distances having a great bike for our kids is super important.

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For the longer version, read on for our Our Top 6 Reasons WOOM Bikes Are the BEST:

1. Ease of Assembly 

I do have some experience adjusting and maintaining bikes, but none was necessary. The bike arrived packaged carefully, and nearly fully assembled. The included instructions were easy to follow, and there were only a few steps. Mostly, putting it together involves tightening screws with an allen wrench. No allen wrenches? No problem. Included in the package with the bike was the allen wrenches needed, along with a pedal wrench needed for attaching the pedals.

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All in, it took only 30 to 45 minutes start to finish to assemble the bike and Cara was pretty excited when we pulled the bike out from behind the Airstream:

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2. Handbrakes designed for small hands

Neither of us felt comfortable taking Cara mountain biking with just a pedal coaster brake. After talking to a generic bike shop about putting a handbrake on a kid’s bike, he mentioned that most kids’ hands are too small to reach and lack the pulling power to actually stop themselves with a handbrake. WOOM has totally solved this problem with brakes specifically designed for little hands. Cara has no problems using the handbrakes to come to a standstill even from pretty fast speeds.

3. Steering dampener

There’s a small rubber ring that attaches the front wheel to a boss on the frame. This keeps the front wheel from turning all the way around, or a child from turning the wheel too far too fast and eating hard on the pavement. This might sound like a small thing, but really helps a child worry less and feel confidant learning to ride.

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4. Freewheel design

 USA laws are different in that we require a coaster brake for young kid bikes. This makes it incredibly difficult to get started on a bike because they can’t pedal backwards to line up the pedals for a good take off. Woom has figured a way to design the Woom so that it can have a freewheel and skip the whole coaster brake problem. It is awesome. We just had to make sure she could fully rely on the handbrakes, but since she hadn’t ever ridden a bike with any brakes, there were no bad habits to unlearn.

5. Lighter is Better

Have you ever hefted a generic bike from Wal-Mart or Target? They are HEAVY. Just think of your small child having to pedal that sucker up a hill. Its all work and no fun! The lighter the bike, the easier it is to ride, and the more fun your child will have! WOOM easily takes the prize for the lightest child’s bike I have ever lifted.

6. Great seat

This sounds petty, but when you want your child to stay on their bike for long periods of time, the seat just has to be comfortable. WOOM has done a great job with this, as the seat is comfy but not overly plush.

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In addition to the bikes, WOOM also sells accessories you can add on:

Water Bottle 

Definitely an essential for kids. Plus, its fun. Be warned that in order to install the water bottle holder onto at least the WOOM3, you have to remove the chain guard. This is not a big deal on a bike with no gears and the chain guard is useless anyway. It is just another USA law they have to comply with.

Gloves

They may not seem that important at first, but after watching Cara ride 5 miles on her strider bike and end with her hands all torn up and red they became essential. Longer distances = more stress on hands, and having your child wear gloves is an easy fix. WOOM’s gloves are great. They are full fingered, but have air vents up the sides of each finger so their little hands don’t get too hot. Plus, they are super cute and Cara loves the ice cream cones!

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**We had JUST bought Cara a pair of gloves before the bike arrived (wasn’t aware they were sending us gloves to review as well!!) so that’s what the pink ones are. She loves them equally and will wear them interchangeably depending on her mood.

In Conclusion

We absolutely love the WOOM3! Cara loves riding her bike, and for a family of people on bikes that is really important to us. Since our very first riding session on this bike (pictured here) we have had the bike out many more times in the weeks to follow, and Cara continues to grow in her strength and confidence. After the review period, we have the option to buy the review bike (with a discount) and we will be doing so. I only wish WOOM had been created a few years earlier,so we could’ve started our older kids on them!

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For those of you that are more visual here is our YouTube review of the WOOM3:

Categories
Arizona Rock Climbing

Rock Climbing in Prescott, AZ With Friends

It’s no joke we fell in love with Prescott, AZ (really, we did a pretty awesome April’s Fool Joke) and one of the reasons was the plentiful outdoor recreation opportunities. We were only going to drop into Prescott Valley, spend a night with college friends and then leave, until another full time Airstreamer (whom we met at Organ Pipe National Monument a few months earlier) started posting photos of Point of Rocks Campground and the Granite Dells. Although we were slightly nervous about a private RV park (they are never our favorites) we couldn’t resist coming into town and seeing what the hype was all about. We warned Rich & Jodi we were coming to crash their space, and Rich even visited their storage unit and pulled out his climbing gear in anticipation of our visit.

When We Visited: March 27 – April 2, 2015

Ages of Kids: 9, 7, 4

Where We Stayed: Point of Rocks Campground is not your typical RV Park. The park has lots of shade, dirt roads, and huge granite boulders everywhere. Definitely more of a campground than an RV Park. We loved it. We were given a smaller site on the end (the best spots are in the back loop up against the boulders – note to self for next time) and settled in. And then we kept extending our stay again, and again, and again. By the time we left we had spent a week in this awesome town rock climbing, exploring, visiting nearby Watson Lake, and mountain biking.

Sam and I climbed quite a bit in college, so rock climbing isn’t new to us, but our kids had never been outside on “real” rocks. Andrew especially was pretty excited as we try to have regular rock climbing gym dates.We lined up an afternoon and a small group of us (including the awesome Ty, Sarah, Luna & Aki from mywifesadventure who we met the day before) walked out the back of the campground and into the Granite Dells.

Rich & Jodi frequent this area as a sort of “home base” of operations so Rich has been climbing all over the Dells and took us to a spot with a pretty easy 5.5/5.6 to start. Sam and Rich walked to the top of the crag to set up a top rope and the rest of us made our way to the bottom. After getting set up we took turns climbing the relatively easy first route and then Sam went up and switched the chains over to the next one for a little harder of a climb.

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We had a great afternoon! We encouraged each other, talked, the kids made forts, scrambled over the rocks, and ate snacks.  The littlest ones didn’t climb, so we took turns entertaining them. I also couldn’t resist pulling out my camera and doing a little impromptu lifestyle session of the Bennett family:

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Sarah’s first time rock climbing – doesn’t she look like a natural??

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How did it go with the kids that did climb? Andrew spider-manned his way to the top, but had trouble coming down. Jodi eventually went around to the top and pulled him over that way so they could walk down. Rachel struggles with heights and didn’t make it very far at all before she decided she was done, but had no trouble coming down. Sam, Jodi & I all climbed twice, Ty & Sarah both got in one climb (they had the youngest baby to juggle) and since Rich scraped up his leg mountain biking, he designated himself as belayer. After everyone had climbed we had Andrew practice climbing a bit, leaning back on the rope and coming back down. He was much more confident after that!

Rock Climbing Prescott_17I’ve warned Sam that if we really end up back here for a month or so next winter I’m so buying a rope and we are going climbing at least three times a week. We had such a fantastic time, that we did it again a few days later – only this time we brought livinginthemomentum with us as well! We are so grateful to Rich & Jodi for the use of their gear and expertise. You really can’t beat a rock climbing location with a view like this!

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