I have been planning on this trip for a while, but of course, everything changed at the last minute. My second son turned 4 last fall, and it is my imposed tradition to take them on their first backpacking trip the summer after their 4th birthday. The reason for this age is that I have a bunch of kids, and I can only carry so much. When they are 4, they can pretty much walk on their own for a long distance without me carrying them. My other son is 8 and the tradition started with him.
My original plan was to hike from the parking lot near Bald Mountain in the Uintas and hike two miles to Notch Lake. The trail is at 10000 ft and is very flat, perfect for a 4 year old, and his dad carrying all his stuff. However, snow is still deep at that elevation, so I found another trail at 8000 ft at a trail head called Christmas Meadows. The trail is still pretty flat, and it follows a tributary to the Bear River. Also, I was planning to only take my two sons. But, my in-laws decided to come visit for 2 weeks, and wanted to tag along. That meant that my father-in-law, along with my 9 year old brother-in-law came with. It also meant I had to outfit them. Good thing I had two extra packs and an extra tent I just finished sewing.
So, we left my office Thursday night around 4:30 and drove the hour and a half to the trail head. Then we hiked a good 1/2 mile and set up camp for the night. Here is a picture of my first camp site.
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It shows the tent for my boys set up under my hammock. I have found that they like being close to me, and I can vent the tent better by leaving the vestibule fully open with out the chance of rain getting in.
The next day we decided to day hike to the river and maybe find a flatter spot to camp. Here are the three boys on the hike.
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After walking a good 1/4 mile, we stumbled upon the perfect spot. It was nice and flat, and close to the river. Here is the view.
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Of course, with a river and boys, you get boys wanting to play in the river. I had brought their water shoes, so that they didn't get their hiking shoes too wet.
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The last picture is my two boys sitting on a log. When they walked off, my 4 yr old fell into the water over his head. Snow runoff is very cold. I pulled him out, stripped him of all his clothes, then wrapped him in a fleece jacket and stuck him in the sun. None of his clothes were cotton, and in an hour, they were dry, and he was back to running around. Of course, he wouldn't walk out on the logs without me holding his hand or carrying him.
We also tried some fishing in the river. I had no luck, but my brother-in-law was able to catch a small brookie.
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The rest of the day was filled with some exploring, fishing and messing around. We also had a campfire and cooked dinner.
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Here is our camp the second night.
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Here is the view the next morning.
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Saturday morning we packed up and walked out the 3/4 of a mile. We then met our wives at a spot called Provo River Falls. It is a tourist viewing area for see the falls, and having picnics. Anyways, here some pictures of us crossing a creek that was overflowing with the high snow melt.
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It was a great weekend with the boys. Lots of rocks were thrown in the water, lots of sticks were sharpened. lots of sticks were partially burned in the fire, and lots of marshmallows were burned in the making of this trip.
Here is a picture of my pack. I had to carry all my stuff, plus all my 4 yr old's stuff, plus the tent for the boys, plus the fishing gear. Luckily the dog carried most of the food in her pack.
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The pack is an interesting one. I bought a MOLLE frame and suspension. Then I ditched the frame and put the suspension on an old aluminum frame from a pack that I had bought when I was 11 at a garage sale. The aluminum frame is lighter than the plastic MOLLE frame. I then strapped two large stuff sacks along with a tent, a day pack, and a small pack with fishing gear onto the frame. I am guessing it was in the 50 lb range. I didn't want to weigh it. But, the suspension was very comfortable, I was pleasantly surprised.
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