Backpacking with Baby

The hardest part of backpacking with an 8-month-old is getting him to stop eating dirt!

 

I  dreamt of taking Konnor backpacking since the day he was born, but life kept getting in the way. Last week we finally had the opportunity to live with him in the woods for a few days. It was a fantastic experience. I carried the baby while my husband carried most of our gear. Both of our packs ended up heavier than we anticipated, but we ended up using almost everything we brought with us. 

Day 1: The first part of our trip included an 6.5 hour drive to F.D. Roosevelt State Park in Pine Mountain, GA. We chose this location because of the variety of trail options. We could hike as little or as much as we wanted to on any given day. We knew we wanted to keep our days short since our Florida legs haven’t hiked in the hills in over a year and we also had never backpacked with our baby. We opted for the Big Poplar Loop on the Pine Mountain Trail. The Park does require hikers to register their campsites. We arrived late the first night, about 6:00pm, which meant we only had a couple of hours to hike to camp and get set up before dark. The Park ranger recommended we stay in the Turtle Bluff campsite the first night since it was less than 2 miles from the trailhead.

The trail itself is gorgeous. It’s nicely shaded and an easy hike with just a few hairy places. I’ll admit to getting nervous in the short sections of trail where there is a rock wall to the right and a rocky drop-off to the left with a narrow trail in the middle. Konnor likes to “dance” in his carrier, which makes my load uneven and my steps unsteady.

Day two was our biggest day of hiking. We hiked about 5.5 miles from Turtle Bluff to the Whiskey Still campsite. Whiskey Still is by far my favorite of the two sites. It is big (enough room for 3 tents), shaded, has a gorgeous stone firepit, and very private (we never saw or heard another soul while camping in this spot.) There is also a freshwater spring only 1/4 mile away. The water there was much tastier than the stream water we filtered at the Turtle Bluff site. Turtle Bluff is also less private. We, unfortunately, had a Boy Scout Troop as neighbors. They were respectful, but we could still see and hear them from Turtle Bluff.

Day three consisted of finishing the Poplar Loop and getting on the road again to part 2 of our adventure. The final part of the Poplar Loop is beautiful. The trail slopes up and down, across a beautiful stream that features a small waterfall. I spotted wildflowers and butterflies on my hike back to the car. It was the perfect ending to the “adventure” stage of our vacation.

What about the baby?
Konnor did great! I’m glad I never listened to all of the people who told me while I was pregnant, “Just you wait. Life will never be the same. You won’t be able to do that stuff once the baby arrives.” Lies! All lies! You can do anything with a baby that you can do without a baby, it just takes more work and becomes a different type of experience. For one, we had to carry more gear. In addition to our basic tent, sleeping bags, sleeping pads, food, cooking gear and clothing; we had to carry diapers, bottles, formula, baby clothes, bibs, and a baby first aid kit (because I would hate for something to happen to him and not be prepared.) The extra gear added extra strain on our bodies. Secondly, the danger factor becomes more severe. Before baby, if I got lost or fell it would’ve sucked but it probably wouldn’t have been the end of the world. I was incredibly nervous about slipping on the rocks or mud while carrying Konnor on my back. However, the biggest, and most important, thing that changed this trip is that baby takes a lot of the relaxation out of the vacation. Before baby, I’d look forward to arriving in camp and resting for a few minutes. Afterall, hiking the hills is hard work. I’d enjoy waking up in the morning and listening to the birds chirp while sipping tea. Instead, those moments are replaced with feedings, bottle cleanings, breast pumping and fussy time. This is no different than life at home. I really don’t know what I expected.

Konnor in his pajamas

At the end of the trip

This is how he napped during the day

Getting out of bed in the morning

Overall, the trip was successful. We had a lot of fun and grew stronger as a family. I fell in love with small moments, like when Konnor would reach his hand out to my shoulder. My heart melted each time I felt those little fingers touching my back on the trail. I love his fascination with everything in nature, the way he cooed and squealed when I pointed out different types of plants, colors and shapes along the trail; the way he stared at his daddy when we could hike side-by-side. He’s an amazing little boy and I can’t help but believe we are already instilling in him a love of nature.

I’m going to get into specifics of our gear and our hikes later on in another post, but this is a start. Stay tuned for more.