THE ART OF HIKING WITH LITTLE KIDS

By Elsa,When our daughter was 20 months old, we went to the Pyrenees and did one of our favorite hikes: the Ayons lakes. We packed our tent, sleeping bags, food and baby on our backs, and off we went. Very quickly we've found ourselves surrounded by an incredibly calming nature, herds of cows on the left and horses on the right; water streams here and there. Each step takes us closer to the mountain tops and their gorgeous lakes. When we arrive at the summit, we are tired, happy and proud.Hiking with the kids enables you to open little ones' eyes to nature's beauty, get away from constant stimulation and disconnect from screens to anchor yourself in the present moment. Discovering the pleasure of setting up a tent by a lake, eating charcuterie looking at an ocean of clouds at your feet, spending the night all together alternating between sleeping, and laughing with our girl so excited to be sleeping with mom and dad; to the sounds of the nearby river and cows. In the morning, we give your daughter her bottle and cereals outside of the tent, and go play in the lake, visit some sheets, hike a bit further up and pack our tent. We grab a quick lunch a the local refuge and start going down, totally enamored with our first family hike.Unsurprisingly, we renewed our experience when our second daughter turned 5 months old. This time, we did not take a tent but planned 5 to 6 hours day hikes. Our oldest daughter in the hiking back pack, the little one in the baby carrier and a back pack for water, food, change and sunscreen.[supsystic-gallery id=125]When you explore the mountains with kids, you need to pay  an extreme attention to the environment to avoid falling and be able to sing, talk the mountain's fauna and flora, and play with dolls was walking! Hiking for days is tiring and we mixed hard core hikes with casual walks. Our daughters got used to the rhythm and napped in the carriers. These amazing memories gave us a taste of our upcoming world tour...Little Voyageurs' tips:

Plan your hike.

  • When hiking with the kids, I recommend doing a hike you know or already marked out.
  • Check the weather and the level of the hike by calling the mountain refuge if there is one.
  • Plan to have a mountain refuge on your way in case an unexpected storm occurs.
  • If you are planning several days of hiking, alternate hard, long with easy short ones to save some energy (for you and the kids as well). It is also good to have a full day of rest in the middle of several hiking days.
  • Don't have set goals, we decided not to finish a hike to stay by a lake to play, rest and eat. We will go back!
  • Everything takes more time with the kids, so choose hikes of 3-4 hours max.

Pack your bag.

  • Be well equipped: good shoes, cap, strong sunscreen, lots of water (even if it is heavy at the beginning), a emergency kit with (antiseptic, band-aids, pain killer), a change of clothes for kids, warm clothes for the night. It is REALLY cold at night in the mountains even if it is the summer and it is really warn during the day.
  • Be confortable with the honking back pack.
  • Don't take too much, 2 kids are heavy enough.

? Follow Elsa's family adventures on her amazing Instagram 

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