Modify your goals when day hiking with kids

Not only do children walk "slower" than
adults, they prefer to wander and explore
their surroundings.

To enjoy hiking with kids, you'll probably have to modify your hiking goals.

Compared to adults, kids can't walk as far, they can't walk as fast, and they will grow bored more quickly. Every step we take requires three for them. In addition, early walkers, up to 2 years of age, prefer to wander than to "hike." Pre-school kids will start to walk the trail, but at a rate of only about a mile per hour. With stops, that can turn a three-mile hike into a four-hour journey. Kids also won't be able to hike as steep of trails as you or handle as inclement of weather as you might.

This all may sound limiting, especially to long-time backpackers used to racking up miles or bagging peaks on their hikes, but it's really not. While you may have to put off some backcountry and mountain climbing trips for a while, it also opens up to you a number of great short trails and nature hikes with spectacular sights that you may have otherwise skipped because they weren't challenging enough.

So sure, you'll have to make some compromises... but the payout is high. You're not personally on the hike to get a workout but to spend quality time with your children. And they'll always get older and be able to go farther.

Be careful, though, what you wish for. With older teenagers, the problem becomes quite the opposite of toddlers - keeping up with their high metabolism.

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

Maintain child’s pace by walking to poem’s rhythm

Sing a song to slow your pace for children. Image
courtesy of chrisroll/FreeDigitalPhotos.net.

When hiking with children, their slow pace may soon drive you crazy. As kids have shorter legs than adults, they can’t keep up with you unless they’re running, and they’ll quickly tire of that and sour on the hike. The solution then is for you, as the adult, to slow your pace.

One way to keep a “slow” pace, recite the lines of the Robert W. Service poem “The Cremation of Sam McGee” as stepping in rhythm to it. The opening verse of the poem is:

There are strange things done in the midnight sun
By the men who moil for gold,
And the arctic trails have their secret tales
That would make your blood run cold.
The northern lights have seen queer sights,
But the queerest they ever did see
Was the night on the marge of Lake LaBarge
I cremated Sam McGee.

You’ll find after walking to that rhythm for a while that it becomes natural. Or just recite the lines again in your head and quickly fall back into the pace.

How to deal with kids who hike at a snail’s pace

"Um, hey bud, this way..."

A hike with children won’t be done at a steady pace from one point to another, so don’t get upset if kids aren’t moving as quickly as you’d like. Instead, adopt this philosophy: Always let children set the pace on the trail.

You simply can’t force them to go as fast as you. They have smaller legs and can’t take as large of steps. Because of that, inclines will be steeper to them than they are to you. Difficult to cross terrain, like rocks or small streams, will be formidable challenges and even barriers to them while you can handle it with a couple of long steps.

In addition, they will stop a lot just to explore and have fun. When kids see a fallen tree, they’re more than happy to climb all over it, meaning you are going to have to either pause or tell them to keep going. If what they wish to explore is dangerous, by all means make them keep going, but if it’s perfectly safe, then stop and relax. After all, among the reasons for the hike is for your kids to enjoy the great outdoors.

And if that’s not enough to slow you down, you’ll also need to take frequent rest stops. A 10-15 minute break every half-hour for kids through third grade is about right.

At the same time, watch for the dawdler, or the child who lags behind the rest of the crew even though keeping up shouldn’t be a problem. As you can’t leave the dawdler behind and don’t want to discourage the other kids from having fun, you need to figure out why the child is lagging.

Their daypack could be too heavy, or their feet may hurt because shoes don’t fit right. They might feel left out and need a little invitation or attention to regain their spirits. Maybe something is bothering them, and they just need you to talk with them a little about it. A hike sounds like the perfect time to lend your child an ear.

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

How to avoid, treat altitude sickness in kids

Since air pressure is lower at higher elevations, you will inhale less oxygen in mountainous areas. For most hikers, the problem begins when reaching 8,000 feet above sea level, in which acute mountain sickness can affect both child and adult. More serious and deadlier problems can occur at higher than 12,000 feet, and parents shouldn’t take their children above that level.

Fortunately, few points in North America are that high, so you’ll rarely encounter this issue, unless you’re trying to peakbag the United States’ or Canada’s highest mountains. Children will suffer from altitude sickness more readily than adults. As their bodies are still developing, they simply don’t have the ability to adjust as quickly to changes in oxygen levels as do adults.

To avoid altitude sickness, go at a slow pace that allows time for acclimatization. Limit altitude changes to no more than 2000-3000 feet so long as you’re returning to your starting point.

Signs of altitude sickness include shortness of breath, dehydration, headache, nausea and dizziness. If the child becomes confused, clumsy, vomits and has a dry cough, the condition is serious. Treating altitude sickness requires descending to a lower elevation where there’s more oxygen. In addition, drink extra water to avoid dehydration, and eat light, high-carbohydrate meals. If the condition is serious, get medical attention immediately.

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

How to walk with slow-walking children

Slow your pace when day hiking with children.

Perhaps one aspect of childhood we adults tend to forget about is that kids have shorter legs than us. Because of that, they can’t easily keep pace with us. Indeed, for every step we take, they may need to make two or three. The result is they often have to run just to keep up with our walk. Regardless of children’s boundless energy, they’ll quickly tire if forced to run a mile or more. That means whining, you carrying them if they’re young, and probably that they’ll come to dislike hiking.

The solution is for you to slow your pace. That sounds easy, but if you’re long legged like me, it quickly becomes tiring to force oneself to go slow!

The solution is to use the rest step. It’s usually reserved for climbing steep slopes, but you can use it on level surfaces just as well to slow your pace.

In the rest step, you take a half-step, then bring the other foot up to it, lightly planting it and then moving that planted foot forward again it. The rest step ensures that you can keep moving forward without getting worn out.

Give it a try – your kids will appreciate it!

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