Backpacking allows kids to bloom.
Packing and planning crucial keys to good hiking trip
“What do parents owe their young that is more important than a warm and trusting connection to the Earth …?” (Theodore Roszak, The Voice of the Earth)
I love this quote from the Alpine Club of Canada’s hut brochure. It’s similar to my own code for instilling natural wonder in my two kids — Ben, 10, and Julie, 6. It’s not that I need to instill this wonder, because I believe we’re born with it. It’s more that I want to protect it from the blare of television, lure of video games, and thrum of our busy lives and give it room to grow.
While there’s nothing wrong with indoor life, there is something wonderful about seeing them spend an hour skipping flat rocks across an alpine lake or powering up a steep pitch to touch the toe of a glacier.
This summer my husband Mike and I split the kids up and took them on two backcountry trips suited to their ages. Berg Lake Trail, Mount Robson Provincial Park, B.C.
This overnight trip offers loads of kid-friendly options. There are seven campgrounds along the way so it’s never too far to the next rest stop.
First-timers can hike the gentle 6.8 kilometres alongside the Robson River to Kinney Lake Campground. Massive cedars with breaking bark and fern fields set a mystic tone for young imaginations.
Our first stop was Emperor Falls Campground at 15.4 km. We broke up this long first day by bringing Ben’s bike. At Kinney Lake the park provides bike racks; we stashed his ride and we continued up a long, steep slog to majestic Emperor Falls.
We dropped our packs, ran towards the mist, and were soaked within seconds. The mighty falls showed us whose boss.
We warmed up on the final stretch to the campground, ate dinner, then collapsed into our tents, falling asleep to the rush of Robson River before its suicide mission over the falls below.
Next day was short and sweet, just 4.8 km to Berg Lake Campground.
Entering the valley is like peeking back eons. Glaciers creep down Mount Robson’s shaggy shale flanks to Berg Lake. The lake is a strange blue, like icing sugar and sky mixed together.
Berg Glacier is a creaking, groaning thing. Every time Ben heard its protestations he’d race to watch it calve chunks into the water.
We hiked with Ben’s uncle, aunt, and their good friend. This lightened the work and was great fun — there were always people to filter water, wash dishes and hang tarps. Ben seemed extra motivated and loved sitting around camp while we fiddled with tricky stoves, measured water for freeze-dried meals, and shared stories.
Berg Lake has an enclosed shelter with a wood stove— great for cold kids to get warmed up in and to dry gear. A.O. Wheeler Hut, operated by the Alpine Club of Canada; Rogers Pass, B.C.
The Alpine Club of Canada makes backcountry life ohso-easy. They operate several family-friendly huts complete with dishes, propane stoves, lighting, and mattresses. Instead of turning into a parent mule (especially when little ones aren’t ready to lug gear), try a hut for refuge.
We took Julie to Wheeler, a charming log cabin with an unmistakably Canadian Rockies feel.
The best part: it’s a short walk from the parking lot so it’s easy to bring along some homey comforts and kidfriendly food.
Hikes from the hut are steep, and chocolate’s a great motivator. Parents who aren’t into bribes can skip this part of the article.
After steep stretches on the Glacier Crest Trail (about 10 km round trip and almost 900 metres of elevation gain) we’d break off a piece of dark chocolate for Julie. Not only was she rewarded with treats (at least it was organic), she also got a taste of unabashed, quiver-inducing alpine environs.
We paid our dues on unrelenting switchbacks through cedar and hemlock and fern-carpet forest, then broke above the trees for vistas of the Illecillewaet and Asulkan Glaciers.
The fissures and spans of the primordial amalgamations rekindled our exhausted little girl, as did praise from other tired adult hikers. She rock-hopped on an ancient glacier bed now gone dry and enjoyed the natural chaos created by something un-human. Kids know this nature — maybe even better than adults. And when given the chance, they bloom in it.