I recently decided to go hiking with my 17month old baby girl and my dog solo for the first time since having her. As a family, we have done multiple hikes yet I have not gone alone with my little one and dog.
Hiking has always been a massive part of my life, a passion I developed as a child. I love being outdoors. For awhile after my baby I attempted to do everything that I was doing before having her; honestly it was really hard. I got pretty burnout with it. I took a major step back started focusing on getting through each day overall it made my life a lot easier and we developed some really good routines for her. The flip side of this was that we were not doing a lot of what we loved, a lot of what brought us joy. Recently I have been trying to get back to doing things with her. Yes it is harder to take a little one with you. Yes it takes more time but the alternative to not doing it is worse in the long run. I do believe that having children does not stop your life it changes the way you do things. This is something that is learned, it does not always come naturally or easily, other times it does. Being outside with her comes more naturally than other aspects of our lives. So I love the outdoors and need to spend time in nature I decided that I needed to learn to take her and dog by myself. Waiting for someone else to be able to come means I would get out a lot less and likely would have more stress in my life. This lead to me to come the decision of taking her myself for us both to enjoy the mountains and nature. Share my passion with her, is that not the point of having kids in the first place? Luckily it appears my little one also has the outdoor bug, always asking to go outside and play, and loves being in nature.
Once the idea of going hiking solo with her the decision to just do it was a no-brainer. It was probably the easiest and least stressful decision I have made as a parent yet. The confidence that I have being outdoors trumps all my worries about making the ‘right’ decision for my baby.
So how did the hike go and how did I manage it? It did take more forethought, and I did have to bring more things than I normally would on a day hike. It reminded me a little of my camp counsellor days; organizing kids to take on overnight trips; thinking about all possible scenarios. I generally do anyways however I am usually prepared to take more risk when it is just me or my husband/friend and then I would be with my girl.
After I got my little one to bed the night before; I organized the basics: raincoat, bear spray, hiking backpack and some snacks/lunch. Additionally, I added a change of clothing, extra snacks, water, a sunhat, sunscreen, a blanket and her soother (she loves it). I also made sure I had water for the dog. Getting everything as organized as possible the night before without a little one hanging on you makes the morning much quicker and smoother. I am sure all parents can attend to this.
The next morning, we got up, had breakfast and got dressed as normal. This part always takes a little longer than you think it will. I dressed her in lightweight bamboo onesies. It wouldn’t be too hot for her and it would protect her skin from UV rays. I usually put her in these onesies when we go hiking and they have worked well for her in the past. Of course, I made coffee, an essential part of my existence and headed out the door without too much stress. A key aspect, that is hugely helpful in getting out the door was having my husband home (it was a weekday and he works from home) so he was able to watch the little one while I loaded the car with a hiking pack, water and the dog, then put our little one in her car seat when I got in the car.
I picked a hike that I have done multiple times before. It is a hike that I used to take children on when I was a camp counsellor. Picking hike that you know is extremly helpful, it allows to know what to expect, to have general idea how it long it will take as well to know points in which are good for turnaround points if needed. The hike also is relatively close to our house about 45 minute drive. We got to the parking lot with no issues, it already seemed busy for a random weekday. There was a few group hiking parties that appeared to be in the parking lot. Hiking as become much popular over the last couple years; making trail safety and trail respect important. However that can be a whole post within itself, so I will not get into that this time.
My dog is not the most patient dog around, she gets very excited when she realizes she gets to run around in nature. My dog honestly can be more of handful than my baby most days. She listens way better off-leash than on-leash and is always really well behaved on hiking trails. To avoid a complete meltdown in the parking lot (mostly by my dog) I got my hiking boots on, my hiking pack out first (The Osprey Poco child carrier), did a quick diaper change in the back of the car with my little and got her settled in the pack. It is much easier to manage her excitement when I am all ready then to wrangle the puppy while trying to get ready. I only had listen her be excited in the car- she was contained at least. I then got my dog out of the car with all her excitement. I lifted my pack on with my little one in it and headed out on the trail.
The beginning of the hike is the hardest part of the hike, it is a very steady incline for first quarter. It is much harder when carrying a small child. The hike was going smoothly, the dog was well-behaved and listened when we ran into other hikers. I had to stop a few times to give my girl a drink of water and a little snack as we hiked. At one point I let her out of her backpack and let her walk about 300 meters (which as you imagine also toke 20-plus minutes). She loves exploring all the trees and flowers.
This hike also happened to be the hike that my husband and I got engaged on 7 years ago. So naturally we had to stop at that viewpoint and take photos. It was cool to take them back to this place and explain this where it all started. Our adventure family began here. This hike is a special one for me in many ways and it was a pleasure to share it with my little nugget.
We got to the top of the hike. I found a nice couple of rocks to set up on for lunch. I tied our dog up with her leash to log and we had lunch. It was a very nice little picnic lunch. It let allowed to her play for a bit and for me to get a break in carrying her. We had a slightly longer lunch than I would also take if it was only me, however, there was no real rush to get back to the car it was still early, only around mid-day at this point. My little is a bit of risk taker too, climbs on everything. It is really fun but need to keep an eye on her the whole time. I love watching her explore and climb everything on trail. It is cool watching her foster love for nature.
After lunch, I got her back in the pack and headed down. Going down was much quicker than going up and easier. My little one also fell asleep about 15 minutes into the trip down. I do find that it is a little harder for her to find a comfortable way to sleep in her pack verse when I used to take her in the simple front carrier as a baby. It was a later nap than usual for her, which previously would have caused me a lot of stress and anxiety about how the rest of the day, night would go. I am getting better at letting this go, knowing that she will sleep and some days do not have to go just so. We both have gotten better to the slight changes in the routine, as she has gotten older she can cope with it better as can I. I also know that she was too excited looking at all the trees and flowers to nap when she normally would. I know that if she is tired enough she will sleep in the pack as she had multiple times before. This also is encouraging thought when I began to stress that she had not slept yet.
We made it back to the car without any trouble. I did another diaper change back at the car before getting her settled in her car seat once more. Overall the hike was about 3 hours total including all breaks and lunch.
Being outside is a beautifully refreshing experience. I love going to the mountain I enjoy that peace. It was a great experience taking them out by myself and I truly need to do it more often. Yet as completely predictable the summer is already getting away from us and I have not been out again since this first time. I am sure we get out a few more times before the end of summer. It was great first experience though and really encouraging to keep going on hikes with my little one. It is something we can continue doing throughout her whole life if she enjoys it.
