BACKYARD
Elise and Indy Kelly, the misty mountain hop.
Suffering Builds Character A guide to hiking with children words :: Feet Banks photos :: Todd Lawson
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times… To a rational person, hiking with your children makes sense for a lot of reasons—to share and instill a love of nature and adventure, to
promote physical activity, and to enjoy some quality and undistracted time together away from screens and devices…it’s a healthy list. To a child, however (perhaps not all children, but most…and certainly mine), that’s crazy talk. “Why would we spend all day walking up a mountain to look at more mountains I can see from right here?” Stay calm! It’s important to recognize that these heart-piercing arrows of juvenile perspective come from a place of innocence—to a seven-year-old, the entire world is fresh and new. Watching a van lifer urinating on a dumpster behind the 7-Eleven holds just as much visual stimuli and impact as a slowly receding glacier or a partially revitalized ocean fjord with a fresh, new government-subsidized liquified natural gas export facility tumour-ing itself into existence on the far shore. Try as you might to explain that “Life is a journey, not a destination” (or whatever other lifestyle influencer platitudes you had to scroll through that morning on the toilet), the truth is, kids don’t think about the future, they aren’t interested in building character, and they can be a real pain in the ass on hikes—both day or overnight. Fear not, we’re here to help. So, in what looks like a headline ripped from those crapfest clickbait internet content amalgamation sites, Mountain Life is proud to present our first ever:
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