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Posted by Bill S on November 21, 2007 at 1:15:00 pm EST
In reply to Hiking with Children posted by billock on November 20, 2007 at 12:21:16 pm EST

tbastress said

Quote:

For being "tired" earlier that day, he sure had a lot of energy once we hit camp.

LOL! This reminded me of the first 50 mile bike ride I took Young Son on (actually 55 miles from Fishermans Wharf in San Francisco along Skyline to Palo Alto). He was about 7 at the time. Don't worry (too much), he was on the back of the tandem, riding stoker with the child-back conversion (first generation of Santana tandems). We had driven up to SF with the tandem in the back of our VW camper (and my Masi, in case he got too tired). On the riding part back south, Barb drove the Kampwagen as a sag wagon, just in case. At our rest stop at the south end of Crystal Springs Reservoir, a bit over half-way, I asked if he wanted to get in the car, and I would ride the Masi with my two friends the rest of the way. No, he was feeling great. Well, somewhere about the 40 mile mark (getting into Woodside), he laid his head on my back and said, "I should have ridden with my mother." Barb had gone ahead to the house to get her bike to ride back to join us. She met us on Sand Hill, just behind Stanford Univ, and rode the last 5 or so miles with us. When we got back to the house, Dad (not yet a complete OGBO), collapsed on the floor for a couple hours of nap. Young Son laid down on his bed for all of 10 minutes, then was up running around, and trying to get me up for some more bike riding.

The recovery time for kids is astounding! Recovery time for adults is orders of magnitude longer.

Like Alicia and Dave, we took Young Son on hikes (and in a bike trailer, on very long bike rides, including century rides) starting from when he was just a few months old. His first "backpack" was at age 3. Barb had dropped me off at the trailhead in the Bugaboos for a week of climbing, while they went to Lake O'Hara (Canadian Rockies). You get to the trailhead at the Lake O'Hara Lodge by taking the shuttle bus from the parking area at the pass. It was only a short hike to the campground (a mile? or less?). It turned out to be his first snow camp as well (it snows in the Canadian Rockies in August sometimes, so, ok, it was only 3 or 4 inches and melted quickly). For the first backpack, his pack had only a water bottle, snacks, and some warm layers. From that point, we slowly moved his distance and load up, as well as the challenge of new places, more elevation gain, and into winter. As Alicia notes, if you keep it fun and increase the level of effort and challenge gradually over the years, it will become a life-long activity. Most recently, Young Son and I spent a week climbing in the Dolomites.

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