First Family Backpacking Trip

[Salty]

Great trip report and glad to see you are introducing your kids to nature. We need a lot more of that. They sure look happy.

You probably already know this, but for others that may be reading this and thinking of a backpacking trip with kids, it is recommended to keep the pack weight to a maximum of 20% of body weight, and for smaller kids, many recommend 10 to 15% of body weight. My youngest son just turned 9 not too long, and I try my best to keep his pack at 15% or less. For my son, I'm shooting for around 10 lbs.

Thumbs up for being a great Dad and Mom!

Salty

[Ashman]

We topped of the ridge and headed down towards Rhododendron Gap. Mountain Goat was excited to show off the campsite she stayed at on her first trip when I went with NCPatrick and his daughter. We took out the map to show our progress and talk about what was coming up. In the back of my mind I was a little bummed because I really hoped to see some ponies by now. I am not an expert when it comes to hiking with kids but I do know the value of a "payoff destination" you know a pretty view, waterfall, something unique and I felt like our "pony window" was closing. We packed up and headed down the trail where it intersects with a horse trail and another trail and we saw a good sized herd with several babies! It was great:


You aren't supposed to feed the ponies but they way some were coming up to our packs it is clear than many aren't abiding by that rule:


Here is a shot with mom and baby, this little guy was a trip, prancing, and nickering at others, we stayed and watched them for a long time:


There is a great rock outcropping at the beginning of the Pine Mountain Trail, very easy to get to but fantastic views:


Here is a wider shot to show scale:


After enjoying this site for quite a while, we headed back down the trail headed towards Thomas Knob Shelter. This is a great section of trail, easy hiking not too rocky, lots of great little campsites along the way. We got to Thomas Knob shelter and ran into a small group of five doing a section hike down to Damascus. I head off to get water and come back to discover that they are fellow hammockers! He said his HF name was Jack something, I am sad to say I forgot. The shelter is a double decker but the loft was very stuffy. Here is a shot:


It was around 4:30 and I asked the troops if they wanted to fix supper before heading out. No one wanted to so we hit the trail.

[piponss]

very nice!!!! looks like you had a great time,, thanks for the pics,,,

[GvilleDave]

Looking forward to hearing more! I am also interested in a trip like this this summer w/ my son & my brother & his son. Can you share some specific route info, mileage, change in altitude, and or a link to your map you used? Thanks!

[Wisereader]

Nice job! Keep it coming!

[SkyPainter]

What a nice trip report, AND trip! The kids will NEVER forget that you took them on it!

[Ashman]

Looking forward to hearing more! I am also interested in a trip like this this summer w/ my son & my brother & his son. Can you share some specific route info, mileage, change in altitude, and or a link to your map you used? Thanks!

I'll be happy to, if if I don't give enough enough by the time I finish the trip report, let me know and I will be glad to give you what I can.

[Ashman]

We left the shelter and continued to hike south on the AT towards Deep Gap, the trail here skirts the base of Mount Rogers and is very easy. Little elevation change and a nice all around stroll. We pass the spur trail to Mount Rogers which leads to the top of the mountain. Mount Rogers is the highest peak in Virginia. I have not climbed to the top but I have been told by several people that when you get to the top, there is no view, just a plaque that says "You are at the top of Mount Rogers, the highest peak in Virginia". Needless to say we moved on!

Our plan was to get off the AT at Deep Gap and follow the Mount Rogers trail along the northern base of the mountain. I remembered the AT splitting left and the Mount Rogers Trail bearing right. We were still on the AT but it seemed like we were heading in the wrong direction. At our next rest stop, I pulled out the handy dandy map to get a better feel for our bearings:


I saw from the map we were on a switchback and were heading in the right direction. I was about 80% sure but with the kids I wanted to avoid as much backtracking as possible! After a while we came to the split. When I did this hike a few years ago, the Mount Rogers trail was not marked or blazed too well. They have since done a better job on both counts. The Mount Rogers Trail is a decent trail. Again it is skirting the mountain and is level to down hill most of the way walking west to east. It isn't as well traveled as the AT so it seems a more narrow trail than the AT.

Now came the fun part of being the guide. I remembered that the trail flattened out and there was a nice campsite near the intersection of the Mount Rogers Trail and the Lewis Fork Spur Trail. The problem is we were losing daylight and I didn't want to set up camp in the dark with the kids. They were starting to get a bit gassed so do we stop for dinner or keep going? My watch was broken so I had to get time from my cell phone, I pulled it out and it was 6:11. My wife and I figured it would be better to press on and set up camp first. We pressed on and found a pretty decent site, so the kids relaxed and I set up camp:


We connected all four hammocks with me in the center so if the kids moved, I would feel it in my hammock:


It was a pretty nice site. We sat down and ate dinner, pepperoni pizza cous cous in a freezer bag! Yum. Got dinner cleared away, I hung the bear bag and the kids were ready for bed.

River Otter says good night:


Mountain Goat turns in:


This would be a interesting test. My wife has never slept in a hammock before, my girls have never slept by themselves so it would be interesting to see how everyone did. Around midnight, Mountain Goat calls out to me, she is a little scared, I tell her to climb in with me. Shortly after 3 it starts to rain. I check on River Otter and she says she wants mom, I get her moved over and I double check everyone's tarp to make sure they are okay. I am in an HH Explorer with a MacCat Deluxe tarp so I have no worries there. I took the Explorer tarp and put it on my wife's HH Expedition to give her a bit more coverage. Everyone is tucked in, all secure in sector seven, time for bed a good first day.

[Hogg Tyed]

Great report! Thanks for sharing.

[Poppabear]

You've got a mighty fine family there. Looks like everyone had a great time. Thanks for sharing your trip with us.