One Night Wilderness: Portland. Becky Ohlsen

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СКАЧАТЬ much less than a new camera. A polarizing filter is good for taking outdoor pictures with lots of sky and water. Also consider a small tripod for low-light photography, binoculars, a Frisbee, and playing cards.

Reintroducing Yourself to Backpacking

      Maybe it’s been a while since you slept beneath the stars. If your last backpack was bright orange with an industrial-grade external frame and your sleeping bag weighed 25 pounds, you are in for a pleasant surprise. The synthetic clothing and high-tech gear described in previous sections deliver much higher performance at a much lower weight than in the old days, and more so every year. If you’re not sure how much backpacking you’ll want to do, try renting a pack for your first trip or two; most outdoors stores have rental models they can fit for you.

      One more thing to note if you haven’t backpacked recently: places that you previously visited on the spur of the moment may now require permits—to park at the trailhead, to spend the night, or even to hike the trail at all. Each hike profiled here lists any permits required; how much they cost, if anything; and where and how to get them.

      The first step for anyone contemplating a backpacking trip is to get into some kind of reasonable shape. Blisters while you hike and painfully sore muscles when you return are not badges of honor; they just hurt. Therefore, some simple, regular aerobic exercise and strengthening key muscle groups (such as the calves, thighs, and shoulders) are crucial to having a good time.

      Step two is to gather together all the gear you’ll need. You remember—it’s that pile of musty stuff in the basement that you haven’t looked at in years but haven’t had the heart to give away since you always told yourself you’d use it again. Pull it all out, clean it up, and check for and repair any damage, such as seams that have torn, places where mice have chewed through the shoulder straps, and tent seams that are no longer waterproof. Make sure things still fit properly (no offense, but that hip belt might need to be let out some). Finally, using the suggested gear list in the previous chapter, decide if you have everything you need and if newer versions of any of your old equipment might be significantly improved.

Introducing Your Kids to Backpacking

      Even though it requires considerably more work and planning, few things in life are more gratifying or enjoyable than taking a kid backpacking. One big reason for this is that children have the unique capacity to renew your appreciation of the outdoors. No matter how commonplace and mundane things may be to you, everything is new and interesting to a child. The list of wonders includes all kinds of “little” things—mushrooms, tadpoles, fern fronds, discarded feathers—that many adults no longer appreciate or even notice. In fact, it is downright humbling to see how much a child notices, and the feeling is only slightly reduced by the realization that children possess a natural height advantage when it comes to seeing things that are close to the ground.

      Although backpacking with a child may be fun for the adult, it is even better for the kid. A growing body of evidence suggests that regular contact with the outdoors is a natural antidote for attention deficit disorder, depression, and obesity and is crucial for a child’s overall mental and physical development. What better way to fill that need than to take them to a place where electronic screens simply aren’t an option, and where they can explore a world filled with newts and flowers, pine cones and toads, and countless other real-world wonders?

      To ensure that the backpacking experience is a great one (for both young and old), here are a few tips and guidelines to keep in mind:

      • When backpacking with young children, leave the teensy, ultralight, supposedly-for-two-people-but-only-if-they-are-on-their-honeymoon tent at home, and pack a nice roomy shelter.

      • Don’t forget that children, much more than adults, need a few comforts of home. Bringing along that favorite blankie, stuffed animal, or bedtime storybook may be essential to everyone getting a good night’s sleep.

      • Remember that young bodies are less tolerant of weather extremes than older ones. Precautions such as sun protection, drinking plenty of water, and bundling up for the cold, for example, are all much more important for children than adults.

      • Recognize that your kids will get dirty—probably downright filthy, in fact. Live with it. Don’t bother to scrub them clean every time you see them. Getting dirty usually means they are having fun.

      • If your kids are too young to recognize natural dangers (poison oak, steep drop-offs, anthills, and the like) then you will need to physically block these off or designate an adult to keep watch.

      • A little entertainment makes a big difference. In the evening, kids love the idea of having a headlamp, so bring along one for every member of the party. Bring simple games. Playing cards, pick-up sticks, and small board games all work well. Finally, don’t forget to brush up on your storytelling. It is still the best way to spend an evening with kids in the outdoors.

      • Don’t forget to bring snacks—lots of ’em.

      • Get the kids involved in the planning. Delegate to older kids tasks like planning the menu and checking the weather, and consider providing each kid with a printed map or a notebook for recording their impressions along the trip.

      • Be thoroughly familiar with child first aid, and recheck your first aid kit to ensure that it contains children’s aspirin, lots of bandages (often great for psychological comfort even when the child isn’t really hurt), and tweezers for removing splinters.

      • Consider bringing along the child’s best friend, or even that friend’s whole family. It may not fit with your idea of solitude in the wilderness, but kids usually love having a playmate while exploring the outdoors.

      • How much leeway and independence you give your children depends on their ages and ability to follow instructions. But even the most responsible youngsters may at times stray too far from camp when searching for huckleberries, chasing a squirrel, or engaging in some other equally distracting activity. To help combat this problem, all children should carry a whistle, preferably on a necklace, that they have been instructed to blow if (and only if) they become lost.

      Tadpole watching at Rush Creek, Indian Heaven Wilderness (Trip 23)

      photo by Douglas Lorain

      Your choice of backpacking location is especially crucial when traveling with young hikers. Unlike adults, children are rarely impressed by great views and invariably complain about steep climbs. (To be fair, adults often complain about steep climbs as well.) This book includes dozens of backpacking trips that are especially well suited to children. Identified both in the summary chart and by icons on the first page of each individual hike, these trips are relatively short, involve less elevation gain, and include plenty of the things that youngsters love—splashing creeks, wildlife, berries, lakes to explore, and the like.

      Elk Meadows (Trip 37) boasts a picture-postcard view of Mount Hood.

      photo by Paul Gerald

      An excellent time to schedule a backpacking trip with kids, especially into the Cascade Mountains, is late August. This is huckleberry season, when children (and adults) can stuff themselves with handfuls of the delicious berries. СКАЧАТЬ