3 year old's first night out...

[Dirt4dinner]

Something I've been wanting to do since way before he was even in the plans!! I want to take my son backpacking. He is 3, and backpacking may look a lot like walking a couple hundred yards from the car but I want him to live out of my backpack for a night. I personally am a hammock guy, but I think we will tent this first time out. I will bring my hammock for him to nap in also he can try it.

I'm thinking about this trail .... Anybody have a better one in mind? Water is critical so he has something to play around with and so I don't have to haul water.


http://hikearizona.com/decoder.php?ZTN=17805

[nonot]

Walking the road down to the Aspen meadow and spring is probably as easy as it can get. I'm not sure what you mean about playing in the water as it isn't a swimming spot, at least not usually - the spring is too cold to play in, and the creek nearby is fairly steep and muddy. There is a good meadow to play catch, throw a frisbee or other ideas?

[Dirt4dinner]

That's good to know about the water. I wasn't thinking swimming exactly, but at least throwing some rocks in or exploring the creek. I think it still sounds like a good spot for sure. Thanks!

[nonot]

It's a nice area to do that, from the campsite go upstream a bit and you will find the study area and the field of ferns.

[JoelHazelton]

My girlfriend has young children and we have taken them on several backpacking trips. Everything from 1/4 mile from the car to probably 1.5 miles from the car. Youngest started when he was 3 y/o. Water is a huge plus if you want them to be truly entertained the entire time. Keeping it very short (~1/2 mi) is incredibly helpful, as they are technically living out of the backpack, but you have the option of returning to the car a couple times if needed.

Some of our more successful trip locations below...

http://hikearizona.com/decoder.php?ZTN=16699 Hike 1/2 - 3/4 mile from the parking lot. Basically around the lake, down the dam, into the canyon. Plenty of grassy banks to set up camp. More than enough water to splash around in, and a few spots to take a real dip. Woods Canyon (downstream of Woods Canyon Lake) is very similar to this hike, except the hike around the lake is quite a bit farther when you're considering a 3 y/o, so I'd go with Willow Springs.

http://hikearizona.com/decoder.php?ZTN=16283 More of an April trip, but we've done it with the kids at least twice now. It's so perfect during late spring. Only 3/4 mi through the wash to the river, where there is a perfect pool and more than enough places to set up camp. Really good swimming and plenty of boulders to climb on. Can't recommend it enough for kids of all ages, honestly.

http://hikearizona.com/decoder.php?ZTN=48 Basically did maybe half mile through Houston Draw to a nice campsite and pool to splash around in. Though, you're considering Aspen Spring, so probably pretty much the same thing.

http://hikearizona.com/decoder.php?ZTN=613 This one was amazing. Hiked half mile to a huge meadow across the creek from the trail, set up camp, kids spent almost 2 full days swimming, then when they'd get tired of swimming we'd play baseball in the huge meadow with a foam ball and foam bats. Then go back to swimming again. Across the creek was key so we didn't get in the way of the actual hikers. Only problem was lack of tree-cover near camp. Combine that with being 6,000 feet closer to the sun than we are in Phx, and it didn't matter how much sunscreen we piled on them - everyone came home burnt to a crisp. Still an awesomely successful trip, and if there's typical monsoon overcast forecasted, you're probably in better shape than we were (except the whole lightning thing).

http://hikearizona.com/decoder.php?ZTN=15791 Another half mile hike down to awesome campsites and beautiful swimming holes. There is a way to get back there with jeeps though, so you won't be completely alone. But when we went we would only hear people nearby - otherwise we were all along at our creekside campsite.

If you really do your research, it's amazing how many places you can walk a half mile and set up camp next to a great swimming hole with nobody around. And it really teaches the kids to respect wilderness. Unlike a car camping site, when you reach a backpacking site it looks completely pristine. They watch us set up a home for a couple days, tear it down, and then leave the place looking equally as pristine. Not like a car camping site where you're already wading through the last group's trash as soon as you get there.

[Dirt4dinner]

Joel, thanks for taking the time to post that much! Those links are awesome. I'll dig through all of them carefully and probably end up with our first few trips planned. Thanks.

[Sredfield]

You've done the tent-in-the-back-yard as a prelude?

[Dirt4dinner]

I would love to do backyard camping....but it's to dang hot out! We have a boat at Canyon Lake that we sleep on frequently, so thankfully he has many nights in his sleeping bag on the boat. I am pretty confident he will be just fine. If not, it will be a long sleepless night. I'll make sure to bring plenty of coffee

[te_wa]

dang, dood... where have you been?

my boy's first overnight (while carrying his own gear and water) was Horton creek, about 3/4 mile. he was 4.

his second overnight (with a better pack) was 6.5 miles, reavis from roger's trough. in the rain. and mud. it was great.

start him young, you'll have a thru-hiker of an 11 year old.

[Dirt4dinner]

Te-wa!!! I've been to busy to even come up for air. Good news is, I recently sold my business and Crue, my little man, is getting old enough to go do stuff! So hopefully I'll be showing up in the woods a little more often. I'm so glad you're still roaming around the forums, I've got a lot of catching up to do!

I just dig out all of our gear (Topo and I). We have some stuff that needs replacing but all in all we are in good shape. I'm even going to string up my Te-wa bridge hammock for Crue to nap in. We will be tenting it for the night...like animals, makes me sick. I will get him into a hammock sooner than later. I've been eye balling the Vertex by Jungle Hammock, looks like an awesome 2 person hammock. I also might try to stack the bridge under my warbonnet...we will see. One trip at a time!

Let's catch up! Lots of memories as I was dusting off all my gear.

[Dirt4dinner]

I figured I would swing back by for a quick update!

Our trip to Aspen Spring was awesome! It poured the whole drive up and I was freaking out. Thankfully the rain let up as pulled onto the dirt roads and it never rained again! Amazing luck. My son didn't love hiking with a pack, but we managed to make it both ways without me carrying him. A couple times he would just say " I sit" and plop down...so we sat and played with rocks for a couple minutes and hit the trail. The meadow was AWESOME! He loved the stone bridge over the creek and the cabin "horsey house" as he called it. Only saw a couple people pass on the main trail across the creek and no wildlife in the meadow...which doesn't surprise me with Crue making endless noise.

Thanks for the trail tip, it was seriously a PERFECT spot! I will update the directions with a photo of the closed road. I missed it and ended up on a bit of a panicked mission looking for the trail.