Hiking My Way Retreat - 2022

I had the privilege of attending a retreat in 2019 hosted by Shanti Hodges and Mirna Valerio and it was transformative. I had spent almost all of my 30s juggling a long commute, being pregnant, and taking care of babies that I completely neglected my own physical, mental, and emotional health. The year I turned 40, I vowed to make my own health a higher priority and saving up money to attend this retreat was part of that.

I wrote about that specific retreat here and I find it funny how I really only documented the hikes we went on rather than the experience itself. Maybe I couldn’t find the words?

The following year, I saved up even more money and got some help from my mom and my brother-in-law so I could bring my sister with me. It was a wonderful experience to get to share this escape with her. We both needed the time to reconnect with ourselves as women and it was perfect timing too. That retreat took place the last week of February in 2020… literally weeks before everything shut down.

Shanti wasn’t able to host a retreat in 2021, but with the Covid vaccine finally available and the virus seeming to head down a path towards becoming endemic, a retreat happened again back in February. Shanti asked if I’d like to come and be a staff member. So long as I could make things work with my husband and the carpooling of kids to and from school, he made it happen for me.

There’s something magical about coming to the desert and spending time with complete strangers. We all came for a seemingly singular purpose: to move our bodies outside. But within a single day, it became a sacred space where we could be completely vulnerable and naked; both figuratively and literally in some cases. Even with this being my third time attending, with mostly different women each time (there have been a few repeat offenders), it became the same magical space of support and community.

We were all asked one night “why are you here?” For many, that was a loaded question, for others, not as much. Some of us had lost our selves in motherhood or careers and were trying to find us again. Some wanted to connect with women and be part of a new community. Others simple needed a retreat; in every sense of the word.

Tuesday is an Episcopalian rector and she attended the event this past month. She wrote a beautiful blog post about her experience and comparing it to why Jesus went into the desert.

“Being in the desert quickly calls your attention to what is essential. What do you take in your pack each day? Whatever you bring, you carry for many miles. Start with plenty of water and portable foods to sustain you on the trails. Temperatures rise quickly and drop quickly - layers are essential. Sunscreen, hats, gloves, first aid kits, phones to take pictures with, maybe a GPS device. Not much else. Too much and you risk carrying more than you need, wasting valuable energy. Too little and you risk dehydration, hunger, sunburns, and open wounds.”

I am probably one of the least-religious people I know, and I found her words really moving and spot-on with how curative and healing being in the desert has been for me; especially when I’m there with other women.

“We waited on one another. We accommodated one another. We showed each other what we knew. We were good company. At the end of the day, we knew deep down in the marrow of our bones that we were alive, that life is a gift, and that gift is a joy-filled good. What power does the tempter have over such as this?

In the desert, everything is stripped down to what is most essential: water; food; basic supplies; kinship; reverence. The rest just weighs you down.”

With the combined knowledge and skill throughout the group, we took care of each other. We had women who had never visited Utah before and some who were veterans at hiking in the desert. We had women who were ultra-runners and women who were hiking on trails for the very first time. We were all shapes and sizes, and ages that spanned more than a few decades.

Shanti has a magical talent for bringing people together and it was an honor to get to be a part of it; every time.

Backpacking: Coyote Gulch

Today is about backpacking. Although, I did paint en plein air during this trip, so there was some art as well. I have lots of photos too for future painting reference! There will be future paintings from this trip, promise! There are a bunch of affiliate links in this post in case you want to know what gear and food I used and I am always appreciative if you shop through these links.

Image by Michelle Craig

I don't have lots of experience backpacking. I did a couple of short trips when I was 18 and then nothing until I took my oldest son backpacking last August for the first time. If you'd asked me 10 years ago if I wanted to give backpacking a go again, I'm sure I would have said I'm too old. My 11yo asked me about backpacking last year after he watched YouTube videos of folks who backpacked to secluded fishing spots and I figured we could give it a try and see if he liked it. We did a one-night trip in American Fork Canyon and he had a blast. I've done a lot of reading about backpacking, and I plan to take my son a few times this summer, so I don't really feel unprepared; I'm just still a newbie.

My friend, Michelle shared her desire to backpack in the Escalante region of Utah last month and asked if I wanted to join. I jumped at the chance. I already had 99% of the gear I would need, so I just needed to commit and go for it. Michelle’s friend, Sumitra decided to join at the last minute and flew to SLC from Indianapolis and we all drove down to Escalante together.

Coyote Gulch is a meandering, zig-zaggy canyon, carved by the Escalante River, that has massive arches, towering caverns, and waterfalls. There's usually water flowing year-round so it's ideal for backpacking because it has reliable water. It resides inside Glen Canyon National Recreation Area where the Escalante River flows into Lake Powell. There are a handful of access points that can make your trip shorter or longer depending on how long you plan to be there. A few routes can easily make it a day hike, but I HIGHLY recommend backpacking to explore more.

We opted to hike into the Gulch via Hurricane Wash. It's one of the longer routes, but it's also very easy to follow, which is what we were going for. Also, to get to the other access points, we would've needed a vehicle with 4WD and possibly some climbing rope; which we didn't have this trip.

In all honesty, one of the hardest parts of this trip for me was driving on Hole in the Rock Road. It's a dirt and gravel road that's grated like a washboard and it's painfully slow going in a car like my Toyota minivan; like between 10 and 15 MPH most of the way. There are lots of wonderful places to visit along this road, but driving 35 miles one-way took almost 2.5 hours the first day and just over 3 hours the last day. When we do this trip again, I really, really want to have a vehicle that will allow us to get there faster.

Hiking with a heavy pack isn't all that different from hiking with a toddler on my back, so while it's been a while since I hiked carrying a kid, my body remembered how pretty quickly.

We hiked into the canyon late in the afternoon on Tuesday and made good time reaching the confluence of Hurricane Wash and the Escalante River right around headlamp-o-clock. There were at least half a dozen tents camped at the confluence, so we hiked on for another mile before stopping for the night at an empty, sandy beach that stuck out from a bend in the river. As the full moon rose, it cast bright light on the sandstone cliffs and made it look like there was a spotlight. There was no way our cameras could capture it, but it was pretty amazing. It was beautiful watching the stars and bats come out.

In writing this post and sorting through the photos that all three of us took, one thing that stands out to me is that photos really don’t do this canyon justice; especially when it comes to the sheer size of the sandstone cliffs. There are a few shots that have people in them and you can barely see them because the cliffs are so huge. I’ll try to point them out in the captions.

They are so tiny compared to the cliffs!

The next morning we packed up and headed further into the Gulch intending to explore Jacob Hamblin Arch and to get closer to Coyote Natural Bridge or Cliff Arch, depending on how we were feeling. There was some cloud cover that morning, so we were spared having the hot sun beating down on us.

Image by Michelle Craig

Jacob Hamblin Arch was freaking epic!! Cameras really can’t capture the scale. My iPhone struggled with the light, but Michelle’s Galaxy did a great job. I had brought a few stickers with me and made sure to get a photo of my sticker at Jacob Hamblin Arch.

Click on this photo if you’d like to buy one of these stickers.

We hiked further into the canyon and physically in the creek for a little bit, and then set up camp. For lunch I had the vegetarian Pad Thai from Backpacker's Pantry and it was delicious, but it was also a really massive portion; even for two people. I felt bad that I was barely able to eat half of it. Michelle and Sumitra shared the vegan Thai Curry from Good To-Go and it was delicious too… almost shockingly so. I need to find more food options that are just one serving.

After lunch we stocked up on water and snacks with our day packs and headed further into the canyon to see if we could get to the confluence of the Escalante River and one of the northern arms of Lake Powell and also find Stevens Arch; another massive arch in the area. We were also on the lookout for a spot called the Black Lagoon. It's a somewhat-hidden swimming hole that was supposedly easy to find, but also easy to miss if you didn't know where to look. We used satellite and topographic maps that Michelle had downloaded from AllTrails to see if they could help, but alas, we couldn't find it. No hikers we passed seemed to know either.

Coyote Natural Bridge

We didn't see another soul for the hours we were there, soaking up the last of the day's sunlight and watching the bats come out. It was pretty magical.

We headed back to camp and called it a night and fell asleep to a much noisier section of the canyon. The trickle of the river was drowned out by crickets and another creature we assumed was like a cicada, but it sounded like a monkey. I think we ended up hiking about 10 miles total that day.

Cliff Arch. You can see a tiny tent at the bottom of the frame. Helps with scale a little bit.

The next morning we headed out with daypacks on the hunt for the Black Lagoon again. After looking at the maps again, we thought we had a better idea where it might be. We explored for a little bit and "thought" we might have found it, but the water was quite low and didn't look great for swimming. Utah is in a severe drought this year too. We snapped some photos with plans to look online again to see if we had been in the right spot. I have looked at a few blog posts and I still don't think we were in the right spot.

We headed back to our camp, packed everything up, and started heading back toward Jacob Hamblin Arch with plans to camp and then head back to my car the following morning. We stopped for a couple of hours at Swiss Cheese Falls to have lunch and play in the water. Michelle took some photos of the Lily Trotters compression socks she had and we enjoyed the water and the shade. We didn’t see any other hikers for the time we were there either.

We only hiked a little bit further before stopping in what I've seen others call the Great Alcove just before Jacob Hamblin Arch and we decided to set up camp. It was quite an epic place to camp and we chilled for the rest of the afternoon.

We’re so tiny!

Seriously one of the best campsites ever!

I broke out my Art Toolkit and I did a quick painting of the Great Alcove while Sumitra and Michelle went on short, solo hikes. I’ve painted a lot of desert landscapes and I’m used to painting the muted, silvery-greens of sagebrush and yucca. But in this lush canyon, the cottonwood trees are a bright and surreal shade of green that contrasts incredibly with the oranges and red of the sandstone. It almost looks artificial!

Images by Michelle Craig

For dinner I had Peak Refuel's Chicken Pesto Pasta. It was tasty, but a little rough on my stomach. Michelle and Sumitra had the Forever Young Mac n Cheese from AlpineAire. It was really delicious too and we all agreed that it would be great with some tuna thrown in.

We chilled that evening watching the stars come out. It was a pretty perfect evening after a short amount of hiking that let us rest up for what would be a tough hike back out to the trailhead the following day.

The last morning we set out before 8am for the last slog back to the trailhead. We knew we would be pushing 7.5 miles on what was supposed to be the hottest day of the week, and in the middle of the day. We stocked up on water, energy drinks, salt tablets, and hit the trail. The first half was really pleasant with lots of shade.

Once it was all exposed, I really struggled and the last 2 miles were really hard for me. I ran out of water close to the end, but the others were happy to share. It was hot, I was really, really tired, and I was feeling a little nauseated because I should have eaten more at breakfast. But I knew there was a 6-pack of Cokes waiting for me in the cooler of my car and it helped push me to the end.

Overall, we hiked about 27 miles between 4 days. A lot of it was in loose sand.

Would I do it again?? YES!

I know that my 11yo would have a blast, but I don’t know if my 7yo would be up for it quite yet; especially hiking in so much sand. He’d need some seriously motivating factors. Michelle, Sumitra, and I agreed that it would be really fun to bring our kids and I think we’ll talk again and consider trying next spring. They would likely have the most fun if we set up a basecamp in one spot and just explored the canyon with day hikes rather than pack up every day. We also want to learn more info on the alternate routes into Coyote Gulch. Hurricane Wash is the flattest and easiest to navigate, but it’s also the longest with a stretch of about 5 miles with no water. The Sneaker Route is one we’re going to see about because it’s only about 2 miles and places you really close to Jacob Hamblin Arch.

We also would want to have a vehicle that’s an SUV or a truck that can handle going a little faster than 10MPH on Hole in the Rock Road. Hell, we will rent a damned truck if we have to next time!

Image by Michelle Craig

Lessons to Myself for Future Trips:

• Double check that my sunscreen is functioning! Literally right when we got started at the trailhead, I noticed that the nozzle on my sunscreen bottle was broken, rendering it useless. I had sunscreen for my face, but not enough to also use on my arms and shoulders. Thankfully, I had a lightweight, long-sleeved shirt from Columbia that worked for when I needed it. My shoulders still got a little burnt and that shirt was sooooo smelly!

• Get some supportive water sandals like Chacos or Keens. I really would have liked to be able to hike through the water without worrying about my socks getting wet. My hiking boots did amazing, but some sturdy and supportive sandals would have been nice too.

• When the weather is warm, rely more on snacks and less on meals. At mealtimes, if I was tired or really hot, I didn’t feel like making and eating a full meal. I ended up eating all of my snacks, but only a couple of the meals.

• Research more about food options. Michelle taught me about bringing vacuumed-sealed packs of tuna or salmon to add to dehydrated food like Mac n Cheese or to mix with preprepared mayo and spices for a quick sandwich. Payday candy bars don’t melt like chocolate would and are great for when you’re tired of granola bars or energy bars. Tortillas are kinda heavy, but awesome for nut butter sandwiches. They’re also handy for making a breakfast burrito with a breakfast skillet like the one from Mountain House.

• Add arch supports to my hiking boots to keep my feet from pronating when I hike (or consider getting custom insoles). I ended up with blisters inside my heels because of this misalignment. It wasn’t the boots but rather my ankles.

• Bring a swimsuit or quick-drying clothes so I can swim when there’s a place to swim.

Swiss Cheese Falls, my kids would LOVE to play in the water here.

My Gear: (lots of affiliate links here!)

• Deuter Aircontact 60+10 SL Pack (loved it, really comfortable and easy to pack and cram as much into as possible)

• Nemo Disco Men’s Down Sleeping Bag (I’m a side sleeper, a size 16, and I hate mummy bags. Women’s sleeping bags are usually too tight in the shoulders for me and I love the spoon shape of Nemo’s bags)

• Klymit Insulated Pad XL (I debated bringing my son’s Klymit pad that’s a little smaller, would have been nice to have a smidge more space, but not sure I would have rolled off of it. Gonna think about it for future trips.)

• Kelty Dirt Motel 2 Backpacking Tent

• L.L. Bean Stowaway Packpack

• Thermarest Compressible Pillow

• Packing Cubes (mine are from The North Face, bought super cheap at Sierra. Lightweight packing cubes are worth using to keep shit organized and the one that holds my clothes doubles as a pillow)

• Cascade Mountain Tech High Back Chair

• MSR Pocket Rocket backpacking stove & fuel

• Katadyn BeFree 1.0L Water Filter

• Sawyer Mini Water Filter (for backup, the Katadyn has a much faster flow and is easier to fill)

• Nalgene Water Bottle

• Camelbak 3L Water Bladder

• Kelty Origami Trekking Poles (I have Black Diamond poles that I love and are a little lighter than these, but I could NOT find them before this trip. So I grabbed these on clearance at Sierra and they did a great job. I think I prefer cork handles over synthetic, but they served me well and I was very happy to have them.)

• Sunday Afternoons Trucker Hat

• Goal Zero Crush Light

• ENO Moonbeam Headlamp (I have a brighter headlamp from Black Diamond, but the battery needs replacing)

• Kula Cloth, PStyle, and Wag Bags… for nature’s calls.

• Hoka One One Koa Women’s Hiking Boots

• Hoka One One Recovery Sandals

I am sure there are plenty of lighter-weight options for most of my gear. I’m never going to be a UL backpacker, and I’m perfectly alright with that.

Image by Michelle Craig

Worth Bringing: (even when it adds weight)

• A CHAIR! On a whim, I bought the lightweight chair that Costco was selling this year. It’s from Cascade Mountain Tech and it’s about 3.5 pounds and has a 250 pound weight limit. It was SO nice to be able to rest my legs and back every afternoon and evening. I almost didn’t bring the chair because my pack was full, but I was able to strap it to the outside of my pack and it was super easy to bring. I will never NOT bring a chair with me from now on and I’m looking at investing in one that’s lighter weight like the ones from Klymit or Helinox.

• A pillow. To make backpacking and camping more enjoyable on my body, I have been working hard on figuring out the best way to get a good night’s sleep. I learned years ago that I can’t sleep on an inflatable pillow. Then I found that Thermarest makes collapsible pillows filled with memory foam. They come in a bunch of sizes and roll down to less than half their size. They truly feel like I’m sleeping on a real pillow at night and have been really amazing. I actually have two in Small and Large and they come with us on every camping trip and every road trip. The best part: they are machine washable and can go in the dryer.

• Wet wipes. Having some simple wet wipes to scrub down my face, neck, hands, and feet every night really helps me feel cleaner and refreshed. I may or may not use them for a quick PTA bath too. Totally worth bringing.

• A measuring cup. When rehydrating backpacking meals, it’s important to use exactly the right amount of water. Too little and you end up with crunchy chunks of meat or noodles. Too much water and you have mush. A few makers of backpacking food are starting to give us a fill line rather than a measured amount, but a few still list 2/3 of a cup or whatever measured amount. Having a small, plastic measuring cup is really helpful to have; especially if you can store it somewhere out of the way. Mine fits in my cooking pot along with some soap, matches, and my MSR stove.

Image by Michelle Craig

To end, this trip was a truly memorable experience and it has really lit a fire in me that makes me want to delve into backpacking more. While it was physically exhausting and really pushed me outside of my comfort zone, I would totally do it again and it makes me really appreciate how stunningly beautiful Utah is and just how little of it’s gems we’ve seen. And I feel like we’ve seen a lot!

What are some other amazing places to backpack in Utah? Got any suggestions?

Stickers For Sale!

Stickers are here! I have created a handful of watercolor paintings of some beautiful places on Utah’s public and BLM lands and I’ve have them made into stickers. Check them out here!

Alex’s Sticker Store

Here’s a rundown on them:

Two arches from Coyote Gulch in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, near Escalante, UT. I so want to go backpacking there next year!

Pioneer Arch at Pioneer Park and part of the Red Cliffs National Conservation Area. This park is right in St. George, UT and so much fun to play in. Loads of rocks to climb, a slot canyon for kids and thinner adults to shimmy through, and a pioneer cabin to explore.

Fisher Towers near Moab, UT is really stunning. I’ve heard it’s popular among rock climbers too.

This little waterfall lives on the Red Reef Trail inside Red Cliffs National Conservation Area close to Leeds, UT. It’s a fantastic trail any time of the year, but it’s really special when there’s water in the creek. I will probably paint a couple of other spots on this trail too, it’s so beautiful.

Corona Arch near Moab, UT. This arch lives on BLM land right outside the entrance to Arches National Park. I’ve been to Arches twice and haven’t been able to make it to this massive arch. I hope to next year!

Babylon Arch is the most recent sticker that is currently being printed right now. This is easily one of my favorite trails through gorgeous sandstone cliffs and little canyons. And then when you get to the arch, you’re greeted by lovely views of the Virgin River. It’s pretty awesome.

I’m really proud of how well these turned out and I plan to do at least two more to finish the series at eight stickers… or maybe 10. I haven’t decided yet. There is so much public land in Utah, I think I read that almost 40% of the state is public land; mostly in the south and western parts of the state. I’ve lived here nine years and I’ve only seen a fraction of what’s here.

Once I’m done with public lands paintings, I think I’ll move on to my favorite spots within National Parks. Or maybe I’ll do some of Utah’s state parks? I also have been thinking about making a coloring book that showcases my favorite hikes. Any suggestions?

Backpacking: American Fork Canyon, Silver Lake

I backpacked for the first time when I was about 18 in northern California and I didn’t go backpacking again until last month; so 24 years later. My oldest son was quite literally hooked on fishing a few years ago thanks to YouTube and he wanted to add backpacking to his repertoire and try some fishing in more remote lakes. He really wanted to hit up the Uinta Mountain Wilderness, but I didn’t want to go quite that far from home for his first trip. There are a few affiliate links in this post. Shopping through them earns me a few cents and it helps me pay for this outdoor stuff with my kids, thanks!

If you would have asked me to go backpacking about 10 years ago, I would have told you I was too old for it… seriously. Why is it different in my 40s? Maybe because I have a kid who shows enthusiasm for it and I want to share it with him? Maybe because I’m in better shape physically now than I was in my 30s? I dunno yet. I’ll go on a few more trips and see if I can figure it out.

I did a little research on fun places to backpack along the Wasatch Front and reached out to a few friends who are frequent backpackers and got a good list of recommendations. We settled on a one-night trek up to Silver Lake in American Fork Canyon, which was a little less than an hour from home.

On the off chance that we did this one trip and we both HATED backpacking, I tried to buy gear as cheaply as possible. I bought a used REI Tarn 65L kid’s pack from a friend and I bought myself a Kelty Redwing 50L pack on clearance. My mom gifted me a 2-person backpacking tent for my birthday and we started to figure out what else we were going to need.

My son watched a bunch of backpacking videos on YouTube and declared that we needed a $180 backpacking stove, so I bought the MSR Pocket Rocket for $45 from Scheels. He wanted $200 trekking poles too, so he got a broken pair from Cascade Mountain Tech that we got at Costco a few years ago. They are duct taped to his perfect length. Through a discount from a friend, I ordered two Klymit insulated sleeping pads because I’m an utter wimp if I have to sleep in cold weather. Through that same discount, I splurged on a men’s Nemo down sleeping bag for myself because I’m a side-sleeper and larger then your average hiker. I hate mummy bags and most women’s sleeping bags are too small for me. I found a kid’s backpacking sleeping bag for my son from the REI Garage. We already had good hiking boots and trekking poles for me. We did some research on a recommended water filter and settled on the Sawyer Mini along with a couple of Camelbak Chute water bottles that we already had.

We went midweek to avoids crowds and wanted to leave in the morning, but we didn’t get there until lunchtime. It was hot too. AllTrails said it was 4.7 miles roundtrip, but my Apple Watch clocked us at a smidge under 3 miles one-way. The first half of the hike was in the shade in a beautiful aspen forest. Then the trail opened up to a few switchbacks and panoramic views of the canyon and Mt Timpanogos in the distance. Thankfully, we were warned that the last half-mile to the lake would very steep and rocky; kinda like a stair climber. That was definitely the hardest part, but overall, it was a really beautiful hike.

Hiking with a heavy pack isn’t all that different than hiking with a toddler on my back, so for me, it wasn’t a difficult thing for my body to remember. My son had never hiked with a heavy pack before, and with my pack only holding 50L, it was a challenge to fit everything we wanted to bring and not have his pack be too heavy for his skinny frame. I knew the “rule” was to make sure your pack wasn’t more than 20% of your body weight. That was only about 15 pounds for my son. UGH!

We made it up there and it was beautiful. We found a campsite right away and my son immediately broke out his fly rod and went fishing while I set up our tent.

Our campsite. We were under a fire ban at the time, so we dismantled the rock fire ring that some previous visitors created. Those trees would’ve easily held a hammock, gotta consider bringing one next time.

We had Heather’s Choice Sockeye Salmon Chowder for dinner. We followed the instructions exactly and it was terrible. The flavor was good, but it had a gritty texture that was awful and neither of us could manage more than a few bites. Instead we cooked the lasagne from Mountain House and it was delicious.

After dinner my kiddo did some more fishing, but the wind picked up a little bit and there were no bites. The sun set on the high mountains and there was a gentle breeze. We packed away all of our food and toiletries that have a smell and put them in a waterproof bag and strung them high up in a tree. It only took us like six or seven tries to get it up there, hahahahah!

I never sleep well on the first night of a camping trip, so I tossed and turned, even though I was physically tired. We were close enough to the creek to hear it’s trickling, but I end up wide awake any time I hear what might be an animal. I do really well in a noisy forest with great ambient noise. My son crashed hard and slept through the night. I wonder if it would be worth it to bring a battery-powered white noise machine for me?

In the morning it was a little chilly, but not freezing. My son cooked our breakfast on his own; I was so proud of him wanting to learn how to use the backpacking stove by himself. We had the Breakfast Skillet from Mountain House; which we’ve had before. It’s fantastic.

He fished for a little while and I packed up our tent. We hit the trail just before lunchtime and started to make our way back down the mountain.

I was booking it pretty well, but my son really struggled heading downhill. His pack rubbed on his bony hips and he took a lot more breaks than I expected.

We stopped at a McDonald’s in Lehi for some lunch (his choice) and discussed backpacking overall and whether he wanted to do it again. I was happy to hear him excited to go on more trips.

Lessons Learned:

• I need a larger pack, at least 60 or 70 liters. Maybe I’ll sell my Kelty and get something else, but to be able to fit everything we wanted to bring, I needed more space. I will never be a UL backpacker, and I’m okay with that.

• The Sawyer Mini water filter worked well, but the flow was pretty slow. The pouch was also tough to fill up unless we filled it at some kind of waterfall or fast creek. It would have been really tough to fill if we’d only had the lake. Research other options.

• Research different options for keeping our site bear-safe. Maybe a bear canister instead of hanging our food? It was kind of a pain in the butt.

• I brought a little 3-legged stool and I’m SO glad I did. I really loved being able to sit down on something that wasn’t the ground. Research more lightweight chair options.

• Bring a larger portable battery so I can keep my iPhone and watch charged. I liked being able to clock our distance on my watch. The little battery pack I had didn’t last long enough.

• Figure out some padding or something to help prevent rubbing on my son’s hips with his backpack.

• Pack more snacks and get different ones that we usually bring camping. We had a whole bag of snacks that neither of us felt like eating.

• Pack Ibuprofen. I had a headache at bedtime, blech!

Our Gear:

• REI Tarn 65 Kids Backpacking Pack (an older model)

• Kelty Redwing 50L Backpacking Pack

• Kelty Dirt Motel 2 Tent

• Klymit Insulated Sleeping Mats (mine is XL, his is regular)

• Nemo Men’s Disco Down Sleeping Bag

• Eureka Cypress Kid’s Mummy Bag (an old model found on REI Garage)

• Cascade Mountain Tech Trekking Poles

• Black Diamond Trekking Poles

• Merrell Moab Kid’s Waterproof Hiking Boots

• Ahnu Montara Hiking Boots

• MSR Pocket Rocket Backpacking Stove & Fuel

• Sawyer Mini Water Filter

• String Lights (for inside the tent)

• Sunday Afternoons Trucker Hats

• Shred Dog Insulator Jacket

• L.L. Bean Stowaway Women’s Puffy Jacket

• Piscifun Graphic Fly Fishing Rod