Hiking with My Son - My Story

My son, Ford was born premature. He was a skinny, tiny baby with a lot of spirit. By the time he was walking I knew he wasn't ever going to fit into a "normal" category. And that was just fine with me. He became my hiking partner early on, going where I went, from a backpack to a jogger stroller to walking alongside me. Hiking was something he has always been good at, it was never hard for him.

Was it because I started him young? Was it the Aspergers giving him something back? In ways I have felt it was both working together. I had a child that loved being outside and has strength that many kids do not have. Hiking was almost like a drug to him when he was very young. It calmed his mind down. The drives home were peaceful. Even as he gets older, hiking gives me the time to talk to him, and be close to him. That alone makes hiking with my son worth it.

He started hiking next to me when he was 3 years old. When he was 4 1/2 he started doing long hikes with me. He stood on many walk up mountain summits that year. We hiked farther every week, seeing what he could do. He learned to cross snowfields, to snowshoe, to cross water and understood the payoff of being at the top: that it was all downhill going home!

The day he started backpacking with me was an incredible feeling. His first trip was in alpine, when he was 5 years old. It was a long hike, that trip. He was happy though: there was a snowshoe hare in camp and a small creek running from the snow melt.

Often he is the only kid on trips. Most parents don't take kids with them. A combination of lack of experience or confidence on both the children and the parents, a lack of gear, the fear of being a pack donkey for the kids, and no desire on the kids side to walk. He has fun though. I try to make it so we camp at a lake, a creek or somewhere he can have fun. I may expect an adult's hike out of him, but I do realize he is only a kid. I try to avoid camps that are right on raging rivers though. Too tempting for him and too dangerous.

He has always carried gear. That is something that causes arguments with other parents; that I expect him to carry his own gear. When I bought him gear, I bought the best and lightest kid's gear I could find and afford. I saw no reason to load him up with heavy, dated gear.  I also knew that I couldn't carry both of our gear. Not if I wanted us to go further on the trails. Also, if he has a lighter load, he will be more comfortable, and able to do the long miles.

We have had some definite adventures over the years. There have been times when we have been standing there, with me barking orders to get off of a snow field or helping him cross a creek. In my mind I won't forget the first summit he made, the Western Summit of Goat Mt. in the North Cascade Mountains. He was 4 1/2 when he did that. In 2004 we had backpacked up to Colchuck Lake near Leavenworth, Washington. Water wasn't easy to get to, and I had to scramble down a good distance to the lake. I left Ford at the top to watch for anything. I was focused on getting water, and besides telling him to stay put, I didn't tell him anything else. A couple weeks later, another hiker emailed me and asked if this was my son in a climbing movie they had come across. I was thinking "huh?" and yet, there he was in the movie.....on a climber, Theron Welch's site. Turned out as we had gotten water, he had been chatting up above with a group of climbers who were going by. The guys had no idea who the kid was or why he was there.

As he nears 10 years old, I hope he never loses his love of being outside. It has been a good life being able to go walking with my son as he grows up.