young hikers?

Gee guys, without Ed, Hillbilly or myself askin questions, yall don't talk much. Guess maybe the invalid explorers and the trail stumpers, aka wannabe tail stompers, was all out rackin up miles.

So... any experience with the younger crowds? Wondering how far I should plan for a hike with a 10 year old.

Ultimately, a versatile trip where we have no set distance we HAVE to cover would be good. We do 2-3 miles often so I am thinking up to a 5 miler in a day would be good. If the soon to be 5 year old comes.. not so far. I want to do a few easing up the distance. Will prolly get up on the Buffy...Buffalo river... and do some of those trials.

Clif,

I took a 13 year old hiking over Thanksgiving. We had planned a approx. 22 mile section in 2.5 days. I picked a section with lots of bailout options in case he had a rough go of it. He held up fine until he got his feet wet in the last couple of miles. The biggest thing I have found about hiking with youngsters is that they do not mention feet problems until they have blisters and then it is no fun. Next time I will have them remove their boots every few miles and look for hotspots and chafing myself.

I would start with relatively flat trails with lots of scenery to get them hooked.

Other than that have a good time and be safe.

HBH

Clif, I have a 12 yr old daughter that goes hiking with me from time to time.
She loves it as long as I keep it simple and interesting. I get complaint on the steeper trails but on flatter trails I can't keep up with her.
I would recomend taking both sons on an established trail in a creek drainage area. Let the younger son set the pace and maybe let the older son explore ahead as long as he agrees to stay on the trail and in shouting distance. I think that you will find that both will explore,skip rocks,collect rocks and break sticks but at a different rate. As I said go on an established trail with a map, print it out and take it with you. I also would recommend keeping up with hours of the day more than the miles. Hike until half of your daylight hours are gone then turn around and hike out.

Standard OP is to get in, base camp and branch out.. no worries about how far. When I recognize the signs we turn back. The younger gets to cadillac when he poops out but often that never happens, or for only a bit. He rides thru areas he can't handle, rocky, creek hopping, climbing....

Just curious about this before I get into a trail hike. Don't wanna push too much. I always make one of them lead so they set the pace.

And I think my 10 year old has the bug.

My 5 year old son goes with me a lot in the spring and fall. He sets the pace, and on flat spots I cannot keep up with him because he runs. When he was 4 he did 8 miles in 2 days no problem, now that he is 5, we will do about 6 miles per day. We take a lot of breaks, and I carry extra snacks for him. I make him carry his own water, sleeping bag and hammock. He sleeps under my tarp right next to me so he is not scarred, and he has his own Leki poles already.

My neighbor boy started hiking with me when he was 13, and now does a lot of hiking. He did 15 miles with me last Monday before 2pm. The key is to find their pace and not push them, let them have fun.

Clif,

The main thing is to find a place the interests the child. My ,at the time, 7 yr. old grandson. Hiked with us years ago on section 6 of the OHT.
Was a mite far for him but he enjoyed it. But he hiked a lot with us in the past. A place like the Caney Creek Wilderness. About 4 miles in with a waterfall and plenty of scenery is just the ticket. Just ask ED!

OH

Cliff... let me know when you want to high tail it up on the Buffalo. I will go up there about any time. lol. Hell I may try to take off this weekend an go... hmmmm

TM
You may have some problems getting there this weekend. They're in the middle of an ice storm right now and shouldn't let up till Wednesday.
UL

eh.. should be gone from the roads by then.. if not I may try for Big Hill Pond