Hillwalking with Young Children

"Bagger" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
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Quoted message said:

My 5 year old son wants to come hill walking with me. I'm
keen to encourage him and plan to take him up Conic Hill
at Loch Lomond. Has anybody who's been through the process
of taking their kids hillwalking any advice - apart from
don't!!!!

My hillwalking blog is bagger.typepad.combagger.typepad.comOpen ↗

I have mixed feeling about this......if they want to go by
all means encourage them but in my own experience I don't
expect too much and expect a fair bit of moaning n'all. My
youngest wants to come along and then at some point in the
walk he will suddenly decide "that's enough". I therefore
tend to do smallish walks with him and only after he has
nagged me enough for him to really want to come.

My oldest is home for a few days but is recovering from a
football injury - torn ankle ligaments - so this morning the
three of us strolled up Skirrid - just enough for him to
exercise his ankle and also not long enough for youngest to
moan too much...well not much anyway.!!

Views on the little hill are really splendid - I just hope
my mate is up for some *real* exercise tomorrow.

My youngest this morning up Skirrid.

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"Bagger" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
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Quoted message said:

My 5 year old son wants to come hill walking with me. I'm
keen to encourage him and plan to take him up Conic Hill
at Loch Lomond. Has anybody who's been through the process
of taking their kids hillwalking any advice - apart from
don't!!!!

My hillwalking blog is bagger.typepad.combagger.typepad.comOpen ↗

My eldest son who is now 21, started walking with us when he
was 8. What we discovered was that even though he had always
been an active and reasonably fit child, he lacked stamina
and got tired. We found that he ran of energy quickly, so we
had frequent refuelling stops to eat something such as
sandwiches, cake, chocolate biscuits and the like.

This seemed to work with him, he and a mate are planning to
do the Pennine Way this summer.

Regards

Bernard

My two children started walking with me at ages five and
six. First time out was at their request and was Crib Goch
and down the Pyg Track. This took two weeks of planning
breaking the walk down into sections, making sure I knew
where all the exit routes were and ensuring that the right
equipment was carried. I enlisted the help of three other
adults as well. The Children were well equipped with good
walking boots, we have a shelf of kid's boots from tiny
upwards, and good clothing including waterproofs.

We waited for a couple of weeks to get a good forecast and
at the first one did the walk. All a bit of an anticlimax.
Both children did really well with no complaints and enjoyed
the day out. The only minor source of complaint was the cafe
wasn't open and couldn't we just continue round the rest of
the Horseshoe. Started the day at 8.00am and back at Pen y
Pass for 4.00pm. The kids really enjoyed the Pinnacles,
which were taken over using a rope on the steep bits.

Still have good memories of the day and the kids still talk
about it even now, aged 23 and 22. Son still comes out with
me when he can spare the time from his busy life in London.
Daughter is far too busy working as a teacher now to go out
too often but she does come out sometimes with us.

Mike Mason

"Bagger" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

My 5 year old son wants to come hill walking with me. I'm
keen to encourage him and plan to take him up Conic Hill
at Loch Lomond. Has anybody who's been through the process
of taking their kids hillwalking any advice - apart from
don't!!!!

My hillwalking blog is bagger.typepad.combagger.typepad.comOpen ↗

[email hidden] said...

Quoted message said:

My 5 year old son wants to come hill walking with me. I'm
keen to encourage him and plan to take him up Conic Hill
at Loch Lomond. Has anybody who's been through the process
of taking their kids hillwalking any advice - apart from
don't!!!!

Do take him! The only thing I'd say is that his expectations
probably don't match reality, so be prepared for some
complaining if the weather's not up to scratch or if he gets
tired. Don't forget the length of his little legs, relative
to yours. I don't know the Scottish hills at all, so I can't
give specific advice; what I can say though is that IME it's
definitely better to start them young. I waited for my two
oldest to be 'old enough' before dragging them out, and
neither are all that keen now; the youngest ones were taken
out from very young, and are still reasonably enthusiastic.
--
Fran If you need my email address please ask.

[email hidden] (Bagger) wrote in
:"]news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

My 5 year old son wants to come hill walking with me. I'm
keen to encourage him and plan to take him up Conic Hill
at Loch Lomond. Has anybody who's been through the process
of taking their kids hillwalking any advice - apart from
don't!!!!

Keep it simple - especially for a 5 year old. Mine
haven't got much further than the Pentlands (up to around
1700'😉 yet.

Lots of patience and the promise of chocolate at strategic
locations.
--
Adrian

In message <[email hidden]>,
Fran <[email hidden]> writes

Quoted message said:

[email hidden] said...

Quoted message said:

My 5 year old son wants to come hill walking with me. I'm
keen to encourage him and plan to take him up Conic Hill
at Loch Lomond. Has anybody who's been through the
process of taking their kids hillwalking any advice -
apart from don't!!!!

Do take him! The only thing I'd say is that his
expectations probably don't match reality, so be prepared
for some complaining if the weather's not up to scratch or
if he gets tired. Don't forget the length of his little
legs, relative to yours. I don't know the Scottish hills at
all, so I can't give specific advice; what I can say though
is that IME it's definitely better to start them young. I
waited for my two oldest to be 'old enough' before dragging
them out, and neither are all that keen now; the youngest
ones were taken out from very young, and are still
reasonably enthusiastic.

Mine started at 8 months. [Not on his own feet admittedly].

Someone on this newsgroup (Fran tells me it was her) offered
the advice of a mile for each year of age and her advice is
most sound. So I'd say stick an upper limit of 5 miles on
the walk and 2000ft ascent. As it sounds like a first
venture, I'd reduce this further. When Timothy was five he
had become a regular walker and I found the above formula a
top limit for an enjoyable day. Remember that as his legs
are half your size he would really be doing 10 miles and
4000 feet :-). Also remember that speed will be less. I
reckoned on Timothy doing a half Naismith (ie 1 1/2 miles
per hour plus 1 hour for each 1000 feet of ascent). This was
normally managed comfortably (sometimes we'd top a 2/3
Naismith) and allowed for a lot more stopping than normal:
funny shaped stones, playing in the burn etc etc.

I would stress advice given earlier about shoving food in.
Tim certainly didn't know when he was hungry and it came out
as moans about the walk. Enter food; exit moans. And stick
to decent weather (which may also mean rejecting days as too
hot, of course).

--
Michael Farthing cyclades Software House

"Bagger" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

My 5 year old son wants to come hill walking with me. I'm
keen to encourage him and plan to take him up Conic Hill
at Loch Lomond. Has anybody who's been through the process
of taking their kids hillwalking any advice - apart from
don't!!!!

My hillwalking blog is bagger.typepad.combagger.typepad.comOpen ↗

I started taking my sons when they were 7 & 5 (hillwalking
as opposed to walking in Surrey, which they had done
virtually since they could walk). My five year old loved it,
my seven year old hated it. Now two years later, the elder
one is getting better and certainly shows more interest in
navigating and map reading, although he is always too quick
to spot the short cuts. My younger son is a hillwalker.
There is nothing for else to call him. Take him walking on
the flat and he is tired and bored. Find a hill and the
energy level shoots up as he shortens his step and just
cruises up. We call him the Hill Rocket, which I think he
kind of likes.

I think the best advice is to find something that the
children like to do on walks and give them a few breaks
doing it. For my two, its food/drink breaks and a tree to
climb. Stopping for ten minutes of climbing trees or
boulders or whatever seems to give them a second, third and
fourth wind. I suspect it is boredom. They also like going
on woodland walks more than open walks, so I try to factor
that in (although I am the opposite - I avoid woods like
the plague as the views are short and navigation more
difficult, so I have to spend more time on it and less time
looking around).

Buying them a walking pole each also helped. They don't
really use it as a pole, but God help any Stinging Nettles
or Brambles or whatever that grows along our route and
threatens our way forward. Forward being a loose term when a
child has a stick in their hands and something they are
allowed to hit with it. On the footpaths of Surrey, beating
nettles with a stick is a Good Thing, thanks to a lot of
land owners who seem to use them to "do a Hoogstraten"
(spelling?)

Have fun, Paul

(Bagger) said:

My 5 year old son wants to come hill walking with me. I'm
keen to encourage him and plan to take him up Conic Hill at
Loch Lomond. Has anybody who's been through the process of
taking their kids hillwalking any advice - apart from
don't!!!!

On Thursday 27th May I got all 21 children from my Year 6
class (11 year olds) to the top of Cadair Idris. No moaning,
no complaining. The secret was preparation. For five weeks
before our trip from Lewisham to North Wales I had been
telling the children about the challenge of "Our Expedition"
to the summit of Cadair and how tough the walk would be.

We walked slowly but steadily up the Pony Path, stopping
regularly to allow everyone to catch up. About halfway up I
insisted that each child eat something from their packed
lunch. The ascent took 3 hours, due to one girl with nasty
blisters the descent took almost as long.

Bagger said:

My 5 year old son wants to come hill walking with me. I'm
keen to encourage him and plan to take him up Conic Hill
at Loch Lomond. Has anybody who's been through the process
of taking their kids hillwalking any advice - apart from
don't!!!!

My hillwalking blog is bagger.typepad.combagger.typepad.comOpen ↗

I regularly walk with my two girls aged 7 and 3 and have
taken them both since they were about 2 years old. You'll
find that they are much slower than you would be - I reckon
on an average speed of 1 mph and a maximum distance of about
2 miles. A five year old might be a bit better in terms of
stamina but probably more likely to get bored. To counter
this it's good to try include some 'discovery' to the trip
e.g. our local walks around the Goyt Valley in Derbyshire
include a lot of history around a ruined former hall. The
kids get to discover the ruins of former cottages, a
graveyard containing the graves of former family members and
a shrine that is still used today.

--
Andrew Whaley, author of :-

Trailgauge - Shareware 3D GPS Mapping Software
Free Download from trailgauge.comtrailgauge.comOpen ↗

Andrew Whaley <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

I regularly walk with my two girls aged 7 and 3 and have
taken them both since they were about 2 years old. You'll
find that they are much slower than you would be - I reckon
on an average speed of 1 mph and a maximum distance of
about 2 miles. A five year old might be a bit better in
terms of stamina but probably more likely to get bored. To
counter this it's good to try include some 'discovery' to
the trip e.g. our local walks around the Goyt Valley in
Derbyshire include a lot of history around a ruined former
hall. The kids get to discover the ruins of former
cottages, a graveyard containing the graves of former
family members and a shrine that is still used today.

I've been promising to take my 70 year old blond for a
look at the rhododendrons near the hall for a week or
two. Do you have any idea what they are like? Have they
already flowered?
--
Gordon

In article <[email hidden]>,

(Bagger) said:

My 5 year old son wants to come hill walking with me. I'm
keen to encourage him and plan to take him up Conic Hill
at Loch Lomond. Has anybody who's been through the process
of taking their kids hillwalking any advice - apart from
don't!!!!

My hillwalking blog is bagger.typepad.combagger.typepad.comOpen ↗

I have a nearly 5 and nearly 7 year old starting to walk
with me. Echoing other comments aim to be realistic in your
choice of route. Both mine recently climbed Plynlymon Fach
from Nant-y-Moch 3.5 miles and 1100ft ascent but it was at
the limit of the youngest. He slept all the way home.

For "rules" I would add just these

Get them used to carrying things (even if it is only a drink
or spare top)

Make the walk interesting and that means views so

Make sure the weather is set well.

Encourage I-spy as soon as you can it can easily fill in
half an hour on the descent. Variants on bingo list of 20
things to find are also a good one

Walk slower about half your usual pace

Start small and work up in ascent terms better to reach a
small summit than have to turn round because said toddlers
are too tired. And ascent is relative not actual.

If you have a digital take photos at the summit to "show x
you actually got there"

Finally always leave them wanting more and be prepared to
carry them for shore distances.

Pete

Andrew Whaley <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I've been promising to take my 70 year old blond for a
look at the rhododendrons near the hall for a week or
two. Do you have any idea what they are like? Have they
already flowered?

They've been out for a week or so, they're still
resplendant but on the turn so you'd best hurry. They are a
fantastic display, apparently the Grimshawe's planted
40,000 of them on the estate.

Thanks for that, I have only ever seen them in bud, but
guessed they would be impressive in their prime. :-)
--
Gordon

Adrian Tupper <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

[email hidden] (Bagger) wrote in
:"]news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

My 5 year old son wants to come hill walking with me.
I'm keen to encourage him and plan to take him up Conic
Hill at Loch Lomond. Has anybody who's been through the
process of taking their kids hillwalking any advice -
apart from don't!!!!

Keep it simple - especially for a 5 year old. Mine
haven't got much further than the Pentlands (up to around
1700'😉 yet.

Lots of patience and the promise of chocolate at strategic
locations.

Thanks for the advice everybody. Lots of interesting ideas
and food for thought. We 're giving it a go tomorrow!

My hillwalking blog is bagger.typepad.combagger.typepad.comOpen ↗

"Adrian Tupper" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

[email hidden] (Bagger) wrote in
:"]news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

My 5 year old son wants to come hill walking with me.
I'm keen to encourage him and plan to take him up Conic
Hill at Loch Lomond. Has anybody who's been through the
process of taking their kids hillwalking any advice -
apart from don't!!!!

Keep it simple - especially for a 5 year old. Mine
haven't got much further than the Pentlands (up to around
1700'😉 yet.

Lots of patience and the promise of chocolate at strategic
locations.

I threatened my one I'd leave them up there if they didn't
stop being so lazy. It worked - he hasn't asked to come
with me since!

KRO

[email hidden] said...

Quoted message said:

Mine started at 8 months. [Not on his own feet
admittedly].

Someone on this newsgroup (Fran tells me it was her)

Eh? Did I?

Quoted message said:

offered the advice of a mile for each year of age and her
advice is most sound. So I'd say stick an upper limit of 5
miles on the walk and 2000ft ascent.

It's certainly a good idea, but I don't think it was mine
originally.
--
Fran If you need my email address please ask.

"Gordon" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

I've been promising to take my 70 year old blond for a
look at the rhododendrons near the hall for a week or two.
Do you have any idea what they are like? Have they already
flowered?

Dunno about the ones you're talking about but I noticed some
very fetchingly coloured ones close to Bristol on Friday.
Looked to be in full bloom from the quick sideways glance I
managed whilst trying to avoid the worst of the loose rocks
on my bike. Must go back for a more civilised stroll one
evening this week.

Quoted message said:

I've been promising to take my 70 year old blond for a
look at the rhododendrons near the hall for a week or two.
Do you have any idea what they are like? Have they already
flowered?

They've been out for a week or so, they're still resplendant
but on the turn so you'd best hurry. They are a fantastic
display, apparently the Grimshawe's planted 40,000 of them
on the estate.

--
Andrew Whaley, author of :-

Trailgauge - Shareware 3D GPS Mapping Software
Free Download from trailgauge.comtrailgauge.comOpen ↗

KRO <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

I threatened my one I'd leave them up there if they didn't
stop being so lazy. It worked - he hasn't asked to come
with me since!

I took them up Kinder on a wet dismal day and made 'em eat
their sandwiches in the rain. Good result - I was able to go
off anytime so long as I didn't make them come with me.

I had a couple of walks with one pal whose wife and sons
wanted to go with him walking, so we only had two days out
together. :-(
--
Gordon

Nick Pedley <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

"Andrew Whaley" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
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Quoted message said:

local walks around the Goyt Valley in Derbyshire include
a lot of history around a ruined former hall. The kids
get to discover the ruins of former cottages, a graveyard
containing the graves of former family members and a
shrine that is still used today.

Sounds like my sort of thing, where is it near?

Nick

From the north I go to Whaley Bridge, take the Macclesfield
road, and there's a small lane on the left after climbing
out of Whaley.

If you come north out of Buxton on the Whaley Bridge road
you will find a lane off to the left near a RH bend. This
lane drops you down into the Goyt valley, and you will pass
a small shrine at the roadside on the right before you start
the steep part of the descent.
--
Gordon