Tramping with young'un

I was personally taken tramping with my parents when I was young and I hated it. I can recall the change, it was when I was about high school age when I was strong enough to carry a pack. I remember the moment, it was at the top o the zig zag above lake Mackenzie hut. We were only doing a there and back trip from the Divide so that was the furthest we went. I remember looking at the track heading along to Harris Saddle and wondering where that went and felt a strong desire to come back and finish the trip. Because I disliked tramping as a child I did not actively pursuade my kids to come tramping. It was always MY recreation and they were welcome to come if they wished. They did come with me form time to time but usually the persuasion came from their mother. I think trips with kids younger than about 13 can be successful but the emphasis needs to be on the fun things, water, huts, sunshine. Don't try to walk very far and you will have to carry virtually everything for them. A formula I have found successful is don't try to take siblings together. Take one child at a time with a friend. I remember happy times tramping with my Dad and a friend. I have also done the same with my son and a friend. Compare that when I took my daughter and son together and a fight developed over some small slight. Daughter insisted on walking so close behind son that she would tread on his heels all the time. To say the least everyone got very grumpy and lots of tears

I started tramping when I was about 7, and so did my father. My father started with homemade packs with tow ropes for straps and hes still tramping today. He mostly went with his brothers and our adopted cousins and another family and the odd other person. They once did a 2 week trip with 16 people and about half were children. One was not much older than five. My first tramp was to Tongario Crossing like a 4 day trip I think it ended up as and I hardly knew what tramping was all about. First day I got dehydrated in the Waihono Desert walking from the chalteau, the next day to Otuere I had a little accident then I did okay for the last two days. It was only my parents and my cousin plus here friend and me of course. Then I did a couple parents with some family but mostly only with my Dad. Learn things as it went along. The next tramp I did a overnighter into the Hutt River up to Eastern Hut with my father and his uncle, don't think anything went wrong there. Then after that a couple attempts at the Holdsworth Jumbo in the weekends, after eight goes we finally completed it due to the appalling weather. A couple times on the decent back to carpark from Powell I needed my pack carried. Tryed some rugby shoulder pads to try stop the straps digging in which worked for a while. Then a overnighter to Totara Flats. Round the mountain (Egmont) A night tramp to Mitre Flats arriving at midnight then waking up at 6 to climb over Mitre the highest peak in Tararuas in gale force winds only to do it again the next day. At about the age of 13 I think I had already bagged nearly 100 huts which is not bad going since we only went out when the weather was good and sometimes repeated our trips. Now we bag upwards of 100 huts a year! I think I have been lucky to survive a couple times as we did not have the best gear looking back on it and we took a few risks here and there. Once nearly got swept down a side creek in Nelson Lakes. Then when I got to my teenage years I started to plan my own trips and now at 17 I'm pretty confident to go for a solo. From all my experience I have learnt alot about how to survive and making the right decisions and knowing when enough is enough. 'Only those who risk walking too far will know how far they can walk' Actually now I want to bag all the huts in the country before I get too old! It probably would of helped if my parents guided me along instead of me laerning from my mistakes after each tramp but I guess it makes me more independent these days.

I have heard of people taking Babies tramping, it would have been 1-3 months old if I remember correctly. They stayed the night in a hut.

Wow, that's pushing it (I think). I don't think I'd want to take babies tramping. If nothing unexpected happened it'd be okay, but in a case of any accidents or unanticipated medical issues, there's basically no emergency help.

Apparently my dad used to take me into Smiths creek overnight when I was a baby. Nothing bad ever happened...well at least until i was about 7 and walked off the top bunk of smiths creek shelter one night.

Here's a bloke in Rotorua who takes the baby everywhere. Not sure how legal this is, the baby isn't wearing a helmet http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v424/pmcke/Occasions/critical%20mass%20cycle%20ride/DSC00033_th.jpg Sorry about the poor photo, colour balance was wrong. My mother always used to tell me that my first trip had been to Gertrude Saddle in the Darrens. I guess I was reasonably safe then, it was before I was born.

I guess my concern is that very young babies are more prone to being unpredictable than adults, especially as they haven't lived long enough to know for sure about any inherent medical conditions. I'd be frightened that if something went wrong with a baby that young, they might need expert help immediately on short notice and for no clear preconceived reason. In a populated area it's a phone call and an ambulance away, but not so much in the back-country. Add a year or two and yeah, I'd feel much more comfortable in principle.

The other weekend we went in to New Atiwhakatu hut. In the hut with us was a "family" group, comprising the Dads and Kids from two families (the Mums were having a weekend off). The group involved 5 kids ranging in age from about 3 to about 7, and they loved it. The aim was definitely to enjoy the outdoors, and have some fun. The plan was to walk in Saturday and spend two nights at the hut (its only 3 hours at kid pace), and walk up to the snow line on Sunday. Another weekend and we had a 6 year old with us on a tramping club trip. It was great that we had good weather because things were MUCH slower than normal because of it! And he was a lot of fun to have around as well! Tramping with kids can definitely be done. If they are younger and smaller, you have the advantage that they may not be so able to get away on you, but there is also the disadvantage of having to deal with nappies and the like in the bush. I personally would never force the kids to go if they didnt want to, and would gradually increase how much of their own stuff they carried. From age three, they can carry a small waterbottle, snack and hat / gloves / scarf, gradually increasing to carrying all their own stuff (within reason) from about age 13. Try talking to your local tramping club, they will usually have ideas of places that are good for overnight trips with kids, and you and your kids may even be able to join them on occassion - means you have other people there to help out if anything were to go wrong...

If I ever had kids, I would be expecting them to carry all of their stuff plus mine by the time they are 13!