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Hiking with kids – How to select?

Hiking with kids – How to select?

By Kajal Shah

Hello all…

“You’re off to great places; today is your day. Your mountain is waiting, so get on your way.” – Dr. Seuss.

Dr.Seuss is our favorite author. We love his quotes, and this one is my favorite. Hiking or trailing, or just walking in the wild, is becoming a habit with us. It may be a stroll in a park, a walk along the river bank, or a dedicated mountain trail. We love them all equally.

The main question in our mind every Thursday is what’s in store for next Sunday morning? And another one before every major holiday is which trek or place for the next vacation?

So many Himalayas and other trails and treks are there in our country; selecting from them is a significant task. There are many resources to find for the Himalayas or any other main expeditions all over the country. But it becomes a little tricky when we want to select near our home.

For hikes or trails near Vadodara, we open Google Maps and Google Earth and see some isolated places or peaks. We see if any Google reviews are there for the same, and we look for YouTube videos. Generally, it is challenging to get blogs for local sightseeing places.

While for popular and significant treks in India, we usually follow guidelines from a few well-known trekking companies. We see lots and lots of vlogs and read many blogs like ours about those treks. Usually, for the last four treks, we gave two –three options to Shaurya Satva. They watched videos and selected from them. But we miss parental input on such treks…and that was one of the reasons to start this blog.

Because it is always an area of concern about which trek, which guide or which company, when we are doing hiking with kids.

1) Which trek? Start with easy well, known treks.

We now have a general idea about how our kids will take a trek. Shaurya is always fascinated with the snow, while for Satva, its all about serenity during the trek. Why not? He was 7 when we completed Triund !

We have also started with gradual elevation in our treks. From appx 9350 ft of Triund to 12,780 ft of Dayara Bugyal (Bakaria top ) …Now we look for a height of 12,000 onwards. Kids do better with high altitude as compared to adults, and they enjoy climbing hills rather than walk on a plain.

How do you know which hike will be the best for your kids? And it is a hit and a miss. You have to judge according to your kids’ stamina and temperament.

Sheel usually keeps a log of the total distance and elevation of all treks and uses it in planning our next expedition. And that way, we can always judge their progress and make improvements later.

One thing for sure is to start with an easy, kid’s friendly trail. And we think for the first time to select a popular trail. That way, you will have many people on the track, and kids can interact with fellow trekkers if they want to. They become energetic if they get motivation from strangers, which we have witnessed during our Triund and Dzukou treks. And these treks will be safer for you and your kids.

So the lesson we learned is, to stick to well-known trails in the beginning, and it is always trial and error about selection. For kids, the summit might be insignificant, and it is all about connecting with nature and enjoying nature. You might miss a few initially, but it is always a journey… A beautiful journey of your kids with you. It is a lifelong gift you are giving to your children. They might not realize it now, but I am sure they will in the future. At least, I am hoping ours will do. And as they say, ‘It is not about how many miles you walk. It is about how many smiles you share.’

2) Go as local as possible.

We prefer to stay in local homestays, and we ask about a guide to them only. We book our stay as a package where they manage everything from a guide to a porter to our tents. This gives us the freedom to trek at our pace. We can take breaks as and when required. We can give time to kids when they are bored or tired during the trek or time to explore a little more on the trail to do whatever they want.

So the main idea is, we want to go as local as possible. That way, we feel more connected to the locality and the people. We learn about their culture and their eating habits, and we eat the same food as them. In Nagaland, we had food from the homestay owner’s organic garden.

You can always book via trekking companies near you. There are many well-known companies which provide excellent treks and we are learning from them only. Till now we are choosing from the vicinity of our trekking destination and we are very much satisfied with our approach at this moment. In the future, when we plan some challenging treks, we we will decide how to approach. Nobody understands mountains better than local people. And down to our 5th trek, I must say you can believe them Blindly. They won’t let you down. We are amazed by their simplicity and kindness every time we are in the mountains.

3)Personal vs Group tour.

For our first trek, I contacted one of the trekking companies in McleodGanj. He was prompt with his replies, and just a day before the trek, he sent me the guide’s number and the route we would choose. But our resort’s staff had told us to take another way. When I asked our trek person about it, he was very adamant about not changing the route, and at that moment, I came to know that we were going with another 20 people. I immediately dropped going ahead with him and was forced to contact others, and he sent a personal guide for us.

So the lesson we learned that day was to always ask for a Personal guide before you proceed when you are hiking with kids.

4) How much to pack?

This is not for kids, and it is for us. As Earl Shaffer has said, “Carry as little as possible but choose that little with care.”

It is possible that sometimes you have to carry your kid on the way. Sheel still picks up Shaurya for a few steps against my will. He does this only hardly for 5-10 steps, but those 5-10 steps are Shaurya’s motivation for the next 1-2 hours. So be prepared for this. Make sure Your stamina is 150 %. And prepare your backpack according to that. You don’t want to reach the destination panting and gasping heavily.

Now how to decide that? It is also a skill we can get with practice. After 3-4 times, we realized that protein bars are a big no-no for our family. We like Bhakhri better than Thepla, and our kids prefer peanuts and Chana more than Cashews and almonds.

5) When to trek?

It is the most important thing. Kids are fresh in the morning and more energetic, and they also get tired and bored quickly. So usually, we avoid any strenuous activity after 11:00 am. We go early in the morning or in later in the afternoon/evening. But for the evening also we keep it light walk only. If you are going to climb a hill, start your day early.

Another important thing is to check the weather at a particular time. We experienced it during our Dzukou trek. Usually, May in Dzukou valley is a good time with clear blue sky and lush green valley opening her arms for you. But not for us. Due to the cyclone in Odisha we had to face constant thunderstorms during the night, and we did our trek in continuous rain and drizzle. It was a unique experience, and we enjoyed it thoroughly, but you can always check it beforehand.

Similarly, in Nag Tibba trek, there was no snow till the day we arrived at the base camp. But our driver was so sure that don’t worry, there will be rain tonight, and at the summit, you will get your snow. And Boom! We got it on the entire trail!!

So, if you are not planning much ahead (like we do), check the weather. We usually plan our treks 4-6 months in advance, so it is not an option. We have to follow Mother nature’s command and go with the flow.

6) What to do before hiking?

Start some form of exercise with kids before hiking. Our kids play badminton regularly. So we make them play it two times before our trek. We also make our Sunday trips more lengthy and strenuous to improve their stamina and to prepare them mentally. Because one thing is for sure, you should be mentally strong before doing any trek, which also applies to kids. If they are confident from the beginning, then the sky is the limit for them.

These were some points we consider before planning any hike. Don’t let the fear of an incomplete hike or the fear of a difficult hike overpower the possibility of sharing this wonderful experience with your kiddos…