We’ve all heard the stories…a can of beans exploding in the campfire, an unexplained injury involving a slingshot, mini marshmallows stuck up the nose. Scouting is not for the faint of heart and requires fearless leaders.
Meet Cyril and Lapriel Welch. They are some of the bravest souls I know, for every Wednesday they meet with a large group of 10-year-old boys, including my son.
I’m impressed with the work and commitment they put into the scouting program, especially because it’s all on a volunteer basis. I believe they truly have the boys best interest at heart and I’m so grateful that they take the time to get to know these boys and teach them. Last week they learned to build a campfire and cooked a meal outside. This week they went on a hike. And before that they learned to tie knots, did some woodworking and a service project.
Kids can start the scouting program at age 7 as a Cub Scout, then go on to Boy Scouts at age 11. And at age 14 they become a Venturer where they have the opportunity to do some more intense outdoor recreation.
Dispite all those funny crazy stories i think the boys ultimately walk away with some positive character development and outdoor skills. What do you think?
This summer we decided it was time to take the entire family on a backpacking trip. With four kids and two of them under 5-years-old we had to get creative with the packing and the transportation if their little legs gave out.
We decided to pick a familiar trail that we knew our jogging stroller could go on so #1 the stroller could help hold gear and #2 if the little ones got tired they could hitch a ride for a bit. The trail we chose has moderate elevation gain, low mileage (only 5 miles round-trip), and bonus hot springs at the end. It’s called Fifth Water Hot Springs.
I carried Hiccup in our Kelty Child Carrier along with water, sleeping bag, diapers, clothes and the cooking gear. Damon took care of the rest between his pack and the jogging stroller.
Favorite Food Of The Trip: Idahoan Instant Mashed Potatoes
The entire family gave them 5 STARS (they were so warm and yummy and all we had to do was add 2 cups of boiling water and stir)
what we also ate:
Couscous – this is warm too and doesn’t take long to prepare, unlike noodles or rice. Just pour boiling water over it and cover for 5 minutes. We added some sun dried tomatoes to it. Yummers! (they pack tight too)
Spam – I don’t like eating this at home but on the trail it’s delicious fried up. It now comes packaged in foil packets rather than just cans so it’s backpacker friendly.
Tuna – Like the spam it comes in foil packaging now too. We made it tasty using little mayonnaise, mustard and relish packets from the deli. We ate it on flat bread.
Trailmix – We like to mix cashews, almonds, dried fruit and yogurt raisins together.
Oatmeal - You can never go wrong with this. Plus it’s easy to beef up with a little bit of dried fruit.
We also brought the GoGirl along for this trip. Scout always has to go, shall we say tinkle, when we’re outdoors. No joke, at least three times while on a short hike. And part of it always ends up on the cuff of her pants. So we thought we’d give it a try. It allows girls to stand up while going pee. It was effective but awkward…I think it’s going to take some practice.
Doober also used his Deuter Fox 30 youth backpack. Which is proving to not disappoint with each outing we go on. The pack is meant to grow with him. It’s compact enough now to hold smaller loads and as he grows it has the ability to hold a lot more and adjust to fit his torso. I didn’t hear Doober complain about the pack at all during our trip so I’m guessing the fit must have been right. You’ll be seeing this more in the future at Nature For Kids I’m sure.
So overall what are my thoughts on our first family backpacking trip? Well we all managed to survive and had some fun along the way so that’s a SUCESS in my book.
Damon took the boys on their first backpacking trip last weekend. They went to the Wellsville Mountains beginning at Rattle Snake Canyon near Logan, Utah.
Kronk is 7-years-old and carried 14 lbs. in his pack. Doober is 9 and he carried 24lbs in his new Deuter Fox 30 backpack. Once they set out on the trail they lasted a good mile before the grunts and groans began, then some of their gear got transferred to Damon’s pack.
They eventually set up camp and continued on with just a daypack to get some more mileage in and to get a great view of the Cache Valley.
Damon admits he was a little too zealous and picked a trail that had too much elevation gain for the kiddos, at least for the weight they were carrying. But for a first time backpacking trip they had a lot of fun and learned a lot…
reduce weight of packs
pick a trail with less elevation gain
get rain gear that fits the kids
get Dad a pack goat for Fathers Day
Here’s a video recap of their experience…p.s. keep an eye out for the tusken raiders. And also Doober will be using his Deuter Fox 30 backpack throughout the summer. A full review on it will be coming soon.
Yes, it’s nature calling you to the backyard this weekend! The National Wildlife Federation is holding it’s yearly Great American Backyard Campout in your backyard on June 25th. Don’t worry, no need to run to the store, the only visitors will be the owls and crickets.
