Can you actually go hiking with kids?

You might laugh if you have a hiking kid(s), but this is a question phrased often on hiking forums. 20 years ago few blinked over taking kids into nature. But slowly it has changed, to where it is seen as unusual for children to be outside. And hiking? Quite often many kids have never done it.

For many parents, having kids equals the death of hiking. They either never go again, find it a pain and quit going, or leave the kids at home and go alone. Yet, with a little preparation, taking the kids isn't hard. It may try your patience, you may go slower, you may not have wild adventures but you will get lifetime memories.

You can.....No, it isn't easy at first but one day you will realize how far they have come. Start them as young as you feel confident with taking them outside. Start slow, start light and slowly build the hikes up. Try to make the hikes fun, with something aimed at them~be it a lake, a pond, a stream or tadpoles to count.

Give lots of encouragement, break times and snacks. Have them carry their share of gear, yet don't cause them distress with ill fitting backpacks or outdated clunker gear. Expect to load their packs till they are teenagers so that it fits well.

Ford and Sarah in the Olympic Mountains, June 2003.