Getting out there

Much to Allie's dismay, Hubs and I love to hike. Pre-kids we would go on three-day weekend adventures, camp in a tent and just enjoy being outdoors. When we were pregnant with Allie we got the best advice:

Children are born into your established world. They will adapt to whatever lifestyle you have already created

I was worried that the life we had would have to stop. That having a baby meant the end to us as a couple because we were "parents". And yes we adapted, we no longer tent camp instead we now have a pop-up camper. We camp as rustic as possible, with a bed. And we still hiked, not as intense or as long or as often, but we tried at least a couple of times a year to get out there. We don't do the Knife's Edge anymore for example, but easy 5-8 mile ones Allie can handle.

Then Boo happened. And yes, she was born into our established world and then re-wrote the rules!! With Boo, well she can't hike. So I had a great carrier that saw many miles in Maine, in Virginia (love, Shenandoah!) and most of New England state forests.

Our trouble was this year. Boo, while she is totally rocking the jump, does not have have the stamina or the ability to hike. Not yet anyway. Unfortunately she is now too big for the infant carrier that worked three years past when most kids outgrow them. I did some research and found this baby carrier from Kelty, inc. The Pathfinder 3.0 can hold a child from infant to 40 lbs.
 

Kelty Pathfinder 3.0

It was a tad a lot more than I ever imagined to pay for a backpack. But it arrived on Friday and we did a test run in the trails by our home. It rocked! It has an adjustable torso-adjustment (hey, I'm short!) that made this the best backpack for me. It actually fit along my hips rather than me having to hoist her majesty up onto my back. The only reason my hips hurt is Boo would shift around looking at different things, which kind of shifts the load.  We did not use the sunshade and only hiked for an hour or so. I don't imagine I could do the hike if we utilize the all the pockets (that will be when Hubs is carrying her!) because it would be just a little to heavy for me. On the plus side, it was super easy to get Boo in and out. She seemed beyond comfortable and secure. When I tripped she stayed put (always a good thing).  Both my husband and I shared the load and it was so easy to change the torso/waist adjustments on the fly.

I will say, hiking with a 30lb child is not as easy as hiking without her on our back. But to not have to give up our love of the mountains and waterfalls...worth a little hip pain.

By the way, I am not getting paid for Kelty for this post. I actually wrote about it because Hubs and I were talking about how there are not a lot of "outdoor" sites for parents who have children with disabilities. Figuring I am not the only parent out there who likes to be active but my Boo is growing, I should let you know about a way you can still do what you love (if you love hiking)!

And if you know of a site for those of us who like to hike and camp with our special kids, please let me know!