Outdoorsy Shite - Big Adventures for Little Kids?

[madwomanintheattic]

What's the most adventurous outdoorsy thing you've done with bairns in tow?

dh and i had big dreams which were scuppered-ish when dd2 arrived with cerebral palsy. she's doing so well now though, that we're starting to get itchy feet and want our kids to experience a bit of adventure as well... we've camped, and done 1/2 day walks with the lot of them, and longer stuff with the older two, but don't like to exclude her too much (we had a rocking three wheeler that went up mountains and across sand, whic extended our options a bit)

sooooo, let me live vicariously, and ponder the art of the possible - what have you done with yours?

mine are 12, 10 and 8 (wobblyish kid) so they are pretty ripe for a bit of out of the ordinary....

Oooh good question. Have camped with my two (5 and 2.5) and done some walking (Lake district etc) and cycling. Have in mind more adventurous things next year when DD can walk a bit further and we don't have to cart loads of nappies round etc. Hoping to go to Alps or Norway. Would love to try hut to hut walk with kids, or a longer distance cycle ride.

Hope others answer so I get a few ideas too.

10 days cycling, camping and the odd night in chamber d'hote (nothing pre booked) in Brittany with a 14 month old in tow. That was fun, train to plymouth, cycled onto the car ferry towing the kiddy trailer.

DH and DS have been wild camping on Dartmoor, we regularly take DS walking on the moor, even in fog ( GPS is your friend, as is knowing the area quite well).

Last year we did a cycle tour with tandem and solo, stayed in yurts and a hotel with pool. One day it pissed it down and we ended up playing "trains" in a tunnel to have a break out of the wet & wind.

Have you had a chance to try out a co-pilot type tandem, the "co-pilot " rides in front of the captain, so its bit full on for them. I'm guessing a 10yr old is too big for a kangaroo bike. The duet looks useful for a wheelchair user and parent . Some bike hire places keep one, saw one on the Tarka trail last year.

i think she might manage with a regular tagalong, unis... we haven't tried. she's got a trailmate low rider but will fatigue really easily with any hills... we need to trial a tagalong really to see if it would work out. i'm just kind of worried about her grip and balance lol! we had a brill chariot carriers trailer for when she was little, but want her to be a bit more involved now!!

those links are great, though. haven't seen a co-pilot like that, but have seen the more typical wc user affairs. fab that some of the rental places are hiring them out now - i used to try and work out what we'd need at center parcs and get in a right dither.

yurts sound v cool, and am loving the idea of cycling onto the ferry. v brave!!

essie, we always found it was easier when they were babies, then difficult with toddlers, baffling to know what to do with them when they grow out of backpacks and you don't want to slow down.

quint was talking about running back country norway trips i think. it sounded idyllic.

Have a google of 'pino' its a tandem, but the pilot sits at the rear, and the stoker is in a recumbent seat at the front. Can come with harness etc, so great for wobbly people.

Ah, it's where to start though... and trying to judge whether dd2 would manage. Lengthy road trip with added hikes/ bikes probably is an ideal way. At the end of last summer we bought the mother of all bike racks to get them all on the car - notwithstanding the blooming low rider which is hugio enough to require it's own entire rack, and has to go on top of the car on it's tod, with the other 4 behind... Sure we can fit the tent etc inside!

Thanks for 'Pino' -will have a lookie.

Looks like loads of you have managed cycle tours... It's probably the one thing we haven't ever done, even as singlies... Excited that we got the racks sorted last year though.

bike tour with hire bike plus the rest of family on own bikes could be a good place to start. You don't HAVE to rough it, B&Bs. Youth Hostels, even motels/ hotels all work with bikes. The low rider looks like it maybe better suited to paved trails than off road.

Do you live near Canmore? or is it somewhere you are thinking of visiting? sounds great for cycling. I live close ( 20miles) from one end of the tarka trail

Yep, we live here.

The Tarka trail looks awesome... And FLAT! That's the other issue with where we are, we have to go elsewhere if dd2 wants to ride her own bike, lol. she's not strong enough to cope with the terrain round here.

I need to find a cycling site on this side of the pond that will give me some ideas for paved trails I think... We have the legacy trail just inside Banff national park, but the terrain is still quite challenging. I think if we head into the US there are probably loads of options! I might pop to the supermarket and try and find a cycling mag...

I rode some trails similar to the Tarka around Seattle www.kingcounty.gov/recreation/parks/trails/regionaltrailssystem/sammamishriver.aspx I think Seattle is pretty cool city for a holiday anyway, with the markets, ferry trip , space needle, Museum of flight and the like.

Oh, that would be very doable as well - we could drive to Vancouver....

Will have a lookie, thanks.

have you tried sea kayaking? If you went to Vancouver area, then plenty of opportunity. Double kayaks very stable and would be good for your DD. Vancouver island a good place for this or the San Juan islands. Would even be possible to do a kayak expedition - there are plenty of operators who would sort this type of thing. Brilliant adventure. Would love to do with kids one day but they do need to be bigger than mine!

that sounds grand! Not sure if I'm brave enough for that yet - the older two are strong swimmers but dd2 swims like a brick... I think I'd spend the entire time petrified, however stable it is! (I love kayaking, and dh used to do the long distance races in the uk, though, so def a possibility in a couple of years!) he wants to buy a Canadian canoe at the mo. we can potter around the lakes here, but I hate them in rivers. I suspect that might be on the horizon in the next year or two... What a great idea though, will have to have a lookie...