As we plan our vacation to South Dakota, we have included many, many hours of walking, particularly on trails through the Badlands and Black Hills. Hhhhmmm, hours and hours of walking with a 9 year-old and a 7 year-old. How fun, you might be thinking with much sarcasm. While Matthew has hiked a number of times at Ledges State Park and at Big Basin Redwood Forest, Gabriella has not enjoyed this particular activity with us.
So this vacation could turn into the most agonizing experience of our lives. Two children, whinning, complaining, asking "are we there yet" until our heads nearly explode. We could be nursing dehydration, exhaustion, and headaches as early as 11:00 am if we do not begin preparing them.
Hence, Memorial Day at Ledges State Park. We arrived at 10:00 am, quickly scouted out a relatively nice picnic area, and set off for the nearest trail. Unfortunately, while it was a different starting point, it was the same trail we have taken Matthew on a number of times. After this realization set in, we made for the water and headed upstream (the opposite of our normal route).
We had arrived early enough that we were some of the first people out and about, and for nearly 2 hours we slowly made our way upstream. We (or more accurately, Matthew) stopped to examine life under rocks, create hiding places for the fish, and attempt to catch minnows. Our time also included lessons in using the forest as your restroom (not much success there yet), followed with a lesson on rinsing your clothes in the stream and another lesson on why we always back an extra pair of undies and shorts.
Walking through a stream for 2 hours also meant that our Keens filled with sand, requiring many stops to empty shoes and rinse off our feet. It also resulted in Matthew receiving two painful blisters on his ankles (which later required piggy-back rides and very careful showering so the soap would not sting his "hurt spots").
After 2 hours, we came to a fork in the stream and neither option looked to appealing, as both would require us to eventually head up through the woods on a very steep incline with two children refueled by sweet and salty granola bars and their Camelbaks but still quite concerned about how much more we had to go. Sebastian and I have been notorius for losing our way at Ledges, so we quickly agreed that the safest and easiest choice was to head back the way we came. Amazingly enough, it only took us 30 minutes to get back from the 2 hour walk.
We brought out the cooler once we were back to the picnic site and grabbed the first aid kit to bandage up Matthew. Sadly, my first aid kit is full of dried up antiseptic wipes and 11 year old band-aids. Glad we disovered this before we headed to South Dakota. We cleaned up Matthew's blisters as best we could, scarfed down our sandwiches, watermelon, and Dutch cookies and then headed for Lost Lake to track down the not so elusive American Toad tadpole. This is when the piggy-back rides took place (and I willl be the first to admit I am completely out of practice).
All in all, the kids very successfully survived nearly 3 hours of hiking, with a 30 minute lunch break. What we learned?
So this vacation could turn into the most agonizing experience of our lives. Two children, whinning, complaining, asking "are we there yet" until our heads nearly explode. We could be nursing dehydration, exhaustion, and headaches as early as 11:00 am if we do not begin preparing them.
Hence, Memorial Day at Ledges State Park. We arrived at 10:00 am, quickly scouted out a relatively nice picnic area, and set off for the nearest trail. Unfortunately, while it was a different starting point, it was the same trail we have taken Matthew on a number of times. After this realization set in, we made for the water and headed upstream (the opposite of our normal route).
We had arrived early enough that we were some of the first people out and about, and for nearly 2 hours we slowly made our way upstream. We (or more accurately, Matthew) stopped to examine life under rocks, create hiding places for the fish, and attempt to catch minnows. Our time also included lessons in using the forest as your restroom (not much success there yet), followed with a lesson on rinsing your clothes in the stream and another lesson on why we always back an extra pair of undies and shorts.
Walking through a stream for 2 hours also meant that our Keens filled with sand, requiring many stops to empty shoes and rinse off our feet. It also resulted in Matthew receiving two painful blisters on his ankles (which later required piggy-back rides and very careful showering so the soap would not sting his "hurt spots").
After 2 hours, we came to a fork in the stream and neither option looked to appealing, as both would require us to eventually head up through the woods on a very steep incline with two children refueled by sweet and salty granola bars and their Camelbaks but still quite concerned about how much more we had to go. Sebastian and I have been notorius for losing our way at Ledges, so we quickly agreed that the safest and easiest choice was to head back the way we came. Amazingly enough, it only took us 30 minutes to get back from the 2 hour walk.
We brought out the cooler once we were back to the picnic site and grabbed the first aid kit to bandage up Matthew. Sadly, my first aid kit is full of dried up antiseptic wipes and 11 year old band-aids. Glad we disovered this before we headed to South Dakota. We cleaned up Matthew's blisters as best we could, scarfed down our sandwiches, watermelon, and Dutch cookies and then headed for Lost Lake to track down the not so elusive American Toad tadpole. This is when the piggy-back rides took place (and I willl be the first to admit I am completely out of practice).
All in all, the kids very successfully survived nearly 3 hours of hiking, with a 30 minute lunch break. What we learned?
- make sure you know where you are going
- Camelbaks are essential
- break in your shoes before hiking
- make sure shoes fit properly
- more lessons in peeing outdoors in needed (seriously, did any parent ever think about practicing this one before heading off for a hiking/camping trip)
- check your first-aid kit before departure
- and last but not least, Matthew cannot keep up as exploring every aspect of nature is essential to his mental and emotional well-being.
More practice runs will occur as we continue our preparations. Next stop Neal Smith Wildlife Refuge and Prairie Learning Center.
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