Ask Me: First Backpacking Trip With a Toddler

Morning Mike,

I saw some of your pictures in High Country News attached to an article about getting kids out with you nice and early. I am really hoping to do some backpacking and camping with Luke this summer (he’s 15 months now) and thought you would be a perfect person to go to for advice on how to get started. For starters… what do you do about diapers, just pack them out? I am sure there are some tricks of the trade–or maybe I am just desperately hoping for ingenious tips from a veteran. I am thinking about a 4-day trip into the Bighorn Crags (in Idaho’s Frank Church–River of No Return Wilderness) in August and should probably do a few warm up trips before that. Any suggestions on places to start–any suggestions at all would be GREAT! Continue reading →

Ask Me: Tips For a First Backpacking Trip With Young Kids

Tips for our first family backpacking trip? We have a three year old and a 1.5 year old. Continue reading →

10 Tips For Raising Outdoors-Loving Kids

As we neared Gunsight Pass in Glacier National Park, on the middle day of a three-day family backpacking trip, a man and woman in their fifties stopped to talk with us. They sized up our kids and smiled; Nate was nine and Alex was seven. “We’re impressed!” they told us. “We never had any luck trying to get our kids to backpack when they were young.” We chatted a bit and then headed off in opposite directions on the trail.

After they were out of earshot, Alex turned to me, wanting to clarify a point: “You didn’t get us to do this,” she told me. “We wanted to do it.” Her words, of course, warmed my heart. But her comment also spotlighted the biggest lesson for parents hoping to raise their kids to love the outdoors: Create experiences that make them eager to go out again the next time. Continue reading →