The Outdoor Adventure Giving you tips, tricks & recommendations to help make adventuring in the Outdoors fun, safe & exciting for you and your kids.
I guess the nights wouldn’t have been so cold if I wasn’t using my son’s sleeping bag. Don’t get me wrong, it was rated for 40 degrees F, but it wasn’t rated for someone that is 5′ 10″. My head and shoulders stuck out and I ended up assuming the fetal position most of the night. My daughter did well. Her 20 degree F Kelty Kitimat more than did its job for her.
The temperature dipped a few degrees below freezing judging by a pack of baby wipes that was frozen solid well after the sun had risen. Most people were cool in their tents and suffered somewhat, but we all pulled through.
The next day when the other group went off for a long day of hiking we aimed for Big Peter’s lake. I say aimed because after an hour and a bit the previous day’s hike caught up with my daughter and no amount of snack breaks or markers could coax her to continue. We came back for more cheese and crackers and a pleasant afternoon of chatting as we sat in our tent or on our chairs.
When the sky threatened rain, I brought the Golite tarp down to the ground and brought the front down to give us a warmer, drier night. We again pulled through after a nice dinner of freeze dried curried rice with shrimp and green thai rice with fish (both very tasty) followed by more hot cocoa.
We packed up the following morning and made a leisurely trek past the downed aircraft remnants, small snow fields and down the steep hill back to the truck. While my daughter slept in the front seat (and we waited for the crew to come back after some more hiking) I re-attached the canopy to the pickup (the road in had completely detached it from the bed) as best I could and took a look for wildlife and wild edibles.
We celebrated on the way out by stopping in Revelstoke for Subway and by late evening we were back at home, ready for hot showers and a good night sleep.
If you ask my daughter she’ll say she had a good time and that her favorite part was, “all of it”. Hopefully she’s caught the backpacking bug and is ready for even more adventures next summer!
