How young is too young to start hiking

I guess it was high school when I started getting into hiking.  Growing up in Western Maine there were plenty of options. I spent countless days hitting the peaks of Bald and Tumbledown, Mt. Blue, the Bigelow range and Sugarloaf. Grafton Notch and a few out through Rangeley were also favs of mine. I’m no Aislinn Sarnacki but I move along at a pretty good clip when I hike too.

So it was a natural fit for me to want to take the boy out hiking. With the three-day holiday last weekend  it seemed like the perfect time to give it a try. I weighed the options and found something easy on Cape Rosier in Brooksville.

It’s a short hike through the woods with no real incline and it has nice views of the water at the end.

I did my best but It is important to remember a few things about three-month old. Mostly that they are in fact, three months old. Moving forward I will have to remember the following:

1: I will need to plan shorter car rides. It took about 75 minutes to get there from my house and that trip there and back is a lot of windshield time for a little one.

2: I should also probably consult a map to make sure I know where I’m going. Otherwise I’m going to make a few ( ok 3) wrong turns.

3. Bug Spray. I know I can’t dip the boy in DEET but I will have to investigate into some safe alternatives to keep the mosquitoes away. If you know of any good ones please let me know. Some of the bugs are big enough to carry the poor boy away.

4. Even thought I thought I was smart by strapping the boy to my chest in his hippie sling, I didn’t consider the vomit factor. It seems his stomach does not take kindly to all the jostling that goes on while I’m stomping through the woods. It was gross.

5. If I’m going to attempt something like this I best do it in the morning. By afternoon my son starts to get grumpy and by late afternoon he is usually on the edge of a major meltdown (which he had).

Needless to say that the trip was a huge failure. My poor son cried for the majority of the afternoon for one reason or another. It was just too long of a trip for the little guy. I will have to hold off on taking him again for a little while. But you live and learn and we will try again. I will have a little hiking buddy soon.

My little boy may not have had fun, but my big girl sure did.

This is her pretending she’s a crocodile.

 

 

Pat Lemieux

About Pat Lemieux

Pat has it all, family, big old house, dogs, a young son and a quarter-life crisis. He blogs about trying to be who he has always been and be who he now needs to be. He enjoys 90's grunge metal, tasty local brews and the outdoors.