“It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to.” J.R.R. Tolkien
The Kepler track is a 5 day 60km circuit that features exquisite ancient forests, 360 degree mountain views, a small cave to explore, an easy summit of 'Key Mountain' (1472m) and a spectacular ridge walk. It departs a few kilometres from the lakeside tourist town of Te Anau on the South Island of New Zealand.
Highlights for us were:
Incredible views as you emerge from the forest at the end of the climb from Brod Bay
Staying at Luxemore Hut
The Cave walk at Luxmore Hut
Key Summit Side Trip is an easy summit for kids
The ridge walk above the tree line
Jumping in the river at Iris Burn Hut at the end of a long day
What we found tough:
The 800m climb from Brod bay
Exposure to the weather along the ridge
The steep decent to Iris Burn Hut
Sand Flys at Iris Burn Hut and Lake Manapuri Hut
Things to be prepared for:
The weather in the mountains in NZ can change at any moment so you need to be prepared for hot sun, freezing cold, heavy rain and even snow
The ridge walk is quite dangerous in extreme weather, as a parent you need to be prepared to turn back if things get bad
Must Take:
Wet weather gear including rain jacket and rain pants
Water Proof Pack liner or pack covers
Warm clothes for the evening in case of wet weather or if the temperature drops below freezing
Change of clothes
Hat, suncream and bug spray
Sleeping bag
Food for 3 nights and 4 nights
Leave Behind
Sleeping mat, tent and stove as the Hut system on the NZ Great Walks have kitchens, gas stoves and bunk beds
How much can kids carry in a backpack on an overnight hike?
Get this right, and you’re going to have a fantastic trip. Get it wrong….
The key to fun overnight hike with kids is ensuring they can comfortably carry the weight in their packs. Kids will always complain at different times, but how much is a reasonable amount to expect them to carry?
Before we answer that question, it’s important to remember why we do it.
Our goal for overnight hiking is to give the kids a sense of self-reliance - we really want them to learn to survive and know they can carry a pack with everything they need, cook a meal on a camp stove and set up a tent and sleep outdoors.
When hiking, this means carrying a pack that includes:
a sleeping bag
sleeping mat
a few spare clothes
jacket
a rain coat
a water bottle
And eventually:
part or all of a light weight tent
a small stove
snack food and an evening meal
But put that together, and it can all add up. So how do you do it?
1. Start small and add in gear as they get older
We start at the age of about 6 years with a very a small pack and then slowly add in pieces as they get older, once they are 12 or 13, they can carry a full pack of between 10 and 12 kgs easily, even without much training.
Of course it depends on the individual child and how fit they are, but from experience, this means:
Under 6 years: leave it up the them, sometimes a soft animal toy needs to come for a ride
At 6 years: under 2kgs
At 8 years: about 5kgs
At 10 year: about 8kgs
At 12 years: about 10kgs
On one two day hike our 13 year old daughter and a friend snuck in a full toiletry bag with makeup, shampoo, deodorant and an iPad and camera, her pack as about 14 kgs, but no complaints as it was her choice to bring these things.
2. Make sure you chose the right pack
It’s really important to make sure you choose a proper adjustable hiking pack with a waist harness that fits their backs and their waists. The pack will need to be around 30 or 40 litres in size, and ideally be light weight nylon, but still tough enough to survive a bit of rough treatment. A few gear manufactures make specialty kids packs and we would highly recommend supporting the companies that support kids in the outdoors, but you can also chose a small size light weight adult over night pack.
3. Always buy light or ultralight gear
It’s really important to make sure you always choose the light gear you can afford, and teach the kids to look after it. A sleeping bag should be 1kg or under, a sleeping mat should be under 500 grams, spare clothes should be light synthetic sports gear and light weight fleeces and puffer jackets, not bulky heavy cotton clothes. It means as a parent you have to shop hard to keep the price down, but with last season clearances and careful shopping, it’s very possible.
4. Stay positive, have fun and keep a little space in your pack
We have found that by keeping positive about our packs about the outdoors and are always encouraging the kids at every moment we can achieve some pretty awesome stuff. When it gets really tough and after you’ve tried all the distraction techniques and run out if ‘I Spy’ ideas, you just need to pull a sleeping bag out of their bags and put it in yours.
Sometimes you need to carry their whole bag. And them.
It’s worth adding a note to finish - We love to keep things simple and are pretty minimal with our personal gear. If it was just us we’d never carry over 10 or 11kgs, but with the kids, it is very rare that our packs are under 20kgs. On a big hike, they’ve been as heavy as 30kgs which is tough, but after the first few kms it’s always been worthwhile!
We have searched high and low for good trekking pants for boys and the Kathmandu Zoner Zip-Off Pants were the best we could find in Australia.
They're light weight with is important when you are carrying gear. They're functional for travel through different climate zones – the boys love to be able to zip off the legs when it's hot. And they have elastic waists to keep them up, and wearable for two seasons. We've travelled and trekked with these in the Himalayas in Nepal, Malaysia, Australia and will be heading to NZ later in the year.
Elijah (11) looking back down the valley he’s just trekked up.
The only downside is that because they are light weight, they aren't as hard wearing as they could be, so you need to make sure they aren't too rough on them.
We bought both our boys two pairs each for our Nepal trekking trip which ment we could carry a dry, clean pair and wear a pair. They were great for the hot days at lower altitude and when coupled with thermals, were good for the high altitude too (over 4000m).
There are also good options available from Macpac when they have them in stock and plenty of options for our American friends from REI
I have scaring memories about camping on cold hard ground in the Australian bush as a kid.
For more school camps than I could count, I have an icey memory of putting a sleeping bag down directly on the tent floor on the cold ground. So when I was introduced to a friends thermarest in my last year of school, I knew that sleeping in the bush would never be the same again.
Elijah sound asleep and very comfortable on a bunk bed in an older hut on the Overland Track in Tasmania, Australia
It was a condition of Sara camping overnight that she have a quality mattress, so we have super comfortable, light weight, Thermarest Neo Mattresses – they weigh just over 500gms, are warm in cold weather and pack down really small.
But is this the sort of thing your kids need to go trekking? It can get pretty expensive when you have three or four kinds.
Here’s a few thoughts from our experience with buying and using sleeping mats for adventures with our kids:
1. Ultralight and ultra compact is ultra essential
This is the most important thing, you really want to empower kids from 8 years up to be able to carry their own gear including their sleeping bag, sleeping mat and change of clothes. In order for them to enjoy walking and camping they have to able to carry their gear easily which means light weight and small size are really important. Try and find something around the 500gm mark that is as thick as possible for the weight.
2. Cost is an important factor
Kids are rough on gear, so it's probably a good idea to hold off on buying a premium mat for young kids – you also want them to be able to use to for sleep overs and school camp. If money isn't a factor and if you only have one child then go for it, but we have four kids and are on a relatively tight budget, so we worked hard to find the cheapest, lightest, highest quality mat we could. Check out end of year clearance sales from the big brands and outdoor department stores, not the speciality sleeping mat brands. It’s also a good idea to buy an extra mat or two so you can bring the kids friends. And don't forget to get a repair kit.
3. Is insulation and self inflation really important?
If you want to keep weight and cost right down, consider whether an insulated, self inflating mat is really important. We use simple air mattresses from the Australian Brand Mountain Designs – we bought them on special for around $40, they're really light at about 400 gms and super compact, which makes for less complaining when carrying and ease of packing. An insulated mat is only important if you are regularly camping in the cold below about 5°C / 40°F. In Australia on our local trails it rarely gets below zero, and when it does, the kids just wear more clothes inside their sleeping bag. On the self inflation side, it sounds crazy, but getting the kids to blow up their mats is a great distraction for when they get into camp at night while you set up the camp site.
4. How long – short, regular or long?
While kids are little you can get away with short and regular length mattresses – and it saves weight and bulk, but as they get older and taller we have found that the kids sleep better on a full length mat.
5. What about foam mats?
We have found that they are just too bulky. You have to strap them onto the outside of a pack and in the Australian bush, they get ruined by the rough foliage on the side of the path.
Sleeping mats we recommend checking out:
Mountain Designs Light Weight Air Mattress for warmer climates).
Sea to Summit Ultra Light Mattress are awesome, but a little expensive
When we started out trekking we had no idea how far was reasonable, so we started doing day walks and simple over night walks close to home to see what was possible.
Note: Every child is different, these comments are based on experiences with our kids from the ages of 5 to about 12 for both boys and girls.
We have found from experience that a 10km or 6mile walk in a day over easy terrain while carrying packs is very achievable. You can push it further to 13km or 8 miles, and keep that up for a few days in a row, but it's essential that you plan carefully and employ a few key strategies.
Ari (13) at the end of the Overland track in Tasmania, Australia. It’s 70km long and we did it over 6 days with the kids carrying most of their gear.
The furtherest we've walked in a day is 17 kms, with our 5 year old, but that took a huge amount of planning, training and effort to achieve safely.
1. It helps to be relatively fit
If we're planning a multi-day trek, we start training at least 3 months ahead. The training is very simple and involves walking at least 3kms two or three times during the week and one longer walk up to 6 or 8kms on the weekend, some times pushing it to 10kms. We always make sure these walks are fun, take lots of water, and sometimes carry day packs if we want the kids to get used to carrying weight
2. Keep hydrated
You need to take lots of water, at least 1 litre each, more on hot days, and know where it is available on the trail. You sometimes need to remind them to drink. It's amazing how much energy it gives them when they stop, have a drink and a 2 min break.
3. Plan your breakfast, snacks and lunch
Walking takes lots of energy so it's important that you start the day with a good breakfast and plan your snack food and lunch carefully. We like to keep things healthy so avoid lollies and chocolate, but muesli bars, nuts and dried fruit, wholemeal crackers and cheese, or seasonal fresh fruit is good. It's important that kids are familiar with walking snack food and lunch, so keeping it similar to their snacks at school and at home is a good idea.
4. Break up the walk
This is the most important thing. We have found that our kids easily walk at about 3kms per hour, we try and walk in 20 min blocks, stopping for a short 2 min break for a drink, and then a longer 15 min break at the 1 hour mark. After 2 hours we stop for a decent break and proper snack. Sometimes it helps if the kids have watches so they can time themselves and know when they can stop next. Give them goals to work towards, 'next break we can stop and eat' or '5 more mins and we can stop for a quick rest.'
Isaac (8) on the Overland Track in Tasmania, Australia. During the 6 day walk he did an average of 10km per day carrying an 8kg pack.
5. Small kids need light weight shoes
Avoid heavy shoes and boots, we have found that smaller kids bounce along the trail in light weight sneakers, when we put them in heavy boots or heavy shoes we don't get far.
6. Try walking poles
They don’t work for everyone, but at different times our kids love to use a walking pole. They can be distracting, and you do get the occasional sword fight, but they can help to keep everyone moving.
7. Set off early and try and finish before lunch
We always try and set off by 8:00 am and get most of our walking done before lunch, that way we can get to camp, eat lunch and rest. If we can't get the walk done before lunch, we try and make sure the afternoon sessions is only an hour or two. At a push you can walk for 8 hours, but be prepared to be the most motivating, positive, happy parents ever. Remember that you're doing this for fun, get the walking done by lunch and then chill out at the camp site
8. Bring a friend
It's surprising at how much more motivated the kids are when they bring a friend, they always love to show off they camping and hiking skills, and it adds to the gun if the experience. We own a bit of extra camping gear so that we always have an extra sleeping mat, sleeping bag and backpack.
When can you start overnight hiking with kids, and how far can they walk?
I woke up one day 5 years ago and thought, you know what...it's time to try an overnight bush walk with the kids.
We hadn't trekked or hiked for about 6 years and the last time was in Nepal with two kids in baby backpacks. Trekking in Nepal is easy (read 'actually really hard') because you don't need to take food or carry a tent, and you can hire a porter to carry your gear. Now we had 4 kids and an overnight walk in Australia is a different story - you need to carry everything - tent, food, lots of water as well.
At the time, our oldest daughter was 8, and our boys were 6 and 4. Our youngest daughter was 2 and Sara quickly told me I wasn't allowed to even think of taking her into the bush. I convinced my brother to join us with his daughter (4) which made two adults and 4 kids in total.
Lots of sticks and mud to play with along the way. Note that Teddy is getting a free ride.
We already owned a bit of older gear including a massive 90 litre Macpac Torre Expedition Backpack, an Macpac 4 person tent at and a few sleeping mats and sleeping bags, as well as an old Wisperlite stove and 2 MSR cooking pots and a sleeping bag each. At a clearance sale at Kathmandu I picked up a small self inflating sleeping mat each.
The Mapleton National Park is about 10 minutes from our house so this seemed most logical choice - in an emergency we could get access to help or home pretty easily. There is also a bush camp part of a longer trail just 3km in from one of the car parks. It had a composting toilet, so given we had no idea how far the kids could walk and how much gear we could all carry, we thought it would be a good test run to see if it was possible.
The plan was to set off after lunch, walk three kms, set up camp for the night, and the walk back the next day to be home by lunch.
At least that was the plan.
I would carry the tent, food, stove and cooking gear and my sleeping gear. I would carry all our youngest son's gear, and the older two would carry their sleeping mats, sleeping bags, a change of clothes, jumper and water bottle, or about 4 or 5 kgs each. We had some small day packs with waist straps which the kids could use and everything else was piled into my massive expedition pack.
Now there is a moment in time, just as you set off on any adventure with kids that you think, 'what on earth am I doing, this is the stupidest thing ever, I'm going to be arrested four gross misconduct and neglect.'
But suppressing feelings of impending doom, I put on my most motivated smile 'come on kids, let's get going, this is going to be awesome.'
And it was.
So awesome we were there in under an hour.
And like any hour long period with small children, we laughed, we cried, we got ouchies, we used band aids, we drank water from our water bottles and we used lots of diversionary tactics to distract from what we were actually doing.
There is something so incredibly energising about a small group of kids bouncing running and tumbling along a trail that before we knew it, we'd covered 3kms, carried a decent backpack each and best of all, survived with a group of 4 kids 8 years and younger.
It's worth noting too, that much to Sara's disappointment, the kids woke up the next morning at 5:30 am and we were home by about 8:30am, so a quiet day at home with one child never eventuated.
Attempting to make a mid term escape before the soccer season starts, Ari (14), Ari's friend Sjkina (15) and Olivia (6) and I pile into the jeep with the Canoe strapped to the top.
We drive 60 mins north on the highway and the turn off towards the Cooloola National Park. After about 30 mins of rough dirt roads we arrive at Harry's hut.
The trip up the upper Noosa river, through the Noosa Everglades, is broken up by 9 remote bush camps between 20 mins and 1 hour apart.
It's 3pm and our plan is to paddle slowly up the Noosa River to 'camp 3'. It's late in the day to be setting off but we still have a few hours of daylight left and the guide book says it's about a 1.5 to 2 hour paddle This far up the river there is very little current, the water is almost fresh and there is almost no wind. Basically It's perfect.
The sun is strong as we load the canoe with three 35 litre dry bags and a 65 litre duffel bag lined with a heavy duty pack liner. It's our first overnight canoe trip and a bit of an experiment to see if we can do it. We only have two paddles (what was I thinking) so Ari and Sjkina share the front at the front and I paddle at the back.
As we set off a French group in three canoes are just ahead of us, and already the girls are enjoying hearing the different accents - that's one of the best things about trekking and travelling with kids - they get exposed to lots of like minded people from different cultures.
We quickly fall into a paddling rhythm with the girls swapping very 10 mins or so and zig zag our way up the river - I need to work on a technique for keeping us straight. Olivia lazes on her seat in front of me and smiles when the paddle splashes water on her as I swap paddling sides to straighten us up.
The bush here is beautiful in that course Australian coastal style - the undergrowth is banksia with melaleuca and silly oak trees with white trucked eucalyptus and tea tree which stains the water tea brown. Reeds, ferns and grasses spill out over the bank and into the water.
After 45 mins the first campsite - campsite 1 is on us - we get out to explore and stretch our legs. We pull into the small jetty, the sites are small and sandy with a bush toilet and an incredible sense if peace. We're making good time so we push on (no we can't stay here, we haven't paddled far enough yet).
Although we do pass a few paddlers, we have the river to ourselves most of the time. Campsite 2 and 3 are another 20 and 30 mins further up and we enjoy paddling around the bends. The girls spot the jetty and camp site first and we see the French group swimming in the late afternoon sun.
Pulling up, (very ungracefully), to the small jetty we unload the gear and set up camp. There is space for larger groups and a few picnic tables and a toilet with a rain water tank which all make this site very easy with the girls. We set up the tents and sleeping gear and start the prep for dinner: hot dogs with onion, cheese and whole grain mustard. And maybe a few toasted marshmallows for desert. And chocolate. And a milo.
What was it
1 night, summer canoe trip, 6km paddle each way up the Noosa River from Harry's Hut
What we brought with us
Shelter and bedding:
2 x 2 person Macpac tents
4 x light weight mountain designs summer sleeping bags
4 x Therm-A-Rest NeoAir matresses
Cooking, eating and water:
1 x MSR WhisperLite Stove
1 x MSR 2 Pot Set with Blacklite Fry Pan
1 x MSR MiniWorks Ceramic Water Filter
1 x Sea to Summit 'Kitchen Sink'
4 x Light My Fire Cup / Bowls
4 x Light My Fire Sporks
1 x Light My Fire Outdoor Meal Kit for food preparation
1 x Scanpan Knife, salt and pepper shaker
1 x Light My Fire Collapsible Cup
1 x MSR Coffee filter
Other Important Stuff:
First Aid Kit
Fire Lighter
Emergency Kit
Rope
Canoe + Paddles
Clothes we carried:
1 set of evening cloths each inc: fleece pants, t-shirt, fleece jumper, warm socks, light weight sneakers, rain jacket
Clothes we wore:
Swimming shorts, sports t-shirt, hat, sunglasses, flip flops, life jacket
