Why hike w/ kids No. 8: Maintain your sanity

Family discovering nature.
Photo courtesy of Olympic NPS.

If you are a hiker, you don’t have to give up your pastime just because of children. You may not be able to go as far or as high as you would like for some time, but you still can hit the trails and do something that is just as satisfying: teaching a young child to love the wilds as well.

If you’ve never really hiked before, getting outside and discovering new sights with the kids marks a great way to break the indoors doldrums and stifling routines of everyday life.

Regardless if a hiker or not, we can learn from our children by rediscovering nature through their eyes. They see the world from a different perspective – not just with the innocent eyes of youth but by being so much smaller than we are. They literally look at the world from different angles than we do.

Read more about day hiking with children in my guidebook Hikes with Tykes.