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Topic: TR:Hidden Cove Park, Camping with a 10yr old boy

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Post Number: 1

OldGuyWalkin

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Joined: Nov. 2012

Posted on: Dec. 09 2012, 11:27 am

My son and I have been camping for about 7 years. Since he was 3. Car camping. We did some RV with all the comforts of home including hot water. We did some tents with restrooms within walking distance and all the food was fresh.

This weekend was our first foray into more minimalist to give him a tastes of what we might do for a spring break trip. We have been working on bushcraft, knife safety, what to do if you are lost, water purification, so this weekend we put a lot of that into action.

Hidden Cove Park is a city run park with primitive trails and hiking area. It doesn't take very long at all to get primitive. Weather was good.

The lady at the check-in kept trying to get me to rent a heater for $20 a night and get a shelter\cabin. They are concrete floors on the ground. The REI Sub-Alpine tent heats up quickly once all the zippers are closed.

We could have a fire, but she didn't have wood to sell. We brought our own.

We packed in about half a mile to a camp site that sat on the edge of the lake. We had some things on our agenda and set out to accomplish some of them.

We walked a couple miles of lakeshore skipping rocks, looking at wildlife. We did a couple miles of hiking trails looking at bugs and picking up trash. After the sun went down we did another mile or so, the flashlights reflecting off of spiders was the highlight of the night walk.

We discovered that he won't eat freeze dried food. Not the chili mac. Not the beef stew. Not the eggs and bacon. Personally, I thought the chili mac was the best. He sustained himself on granola and Clif bars.

Our big win was the Jiffy Pop and the Country Time Lemonade singles.

We cut the trip short because late Saturday, he managed to step ankle deep into water and mud and we were without a second pair of shoes for him.

We got through Sunday morning by having dry socks with some grocery bags over them. Even if the shoes were damp and cold, at least his feet weren't wet.

Big things for him were carrying his own first aid box, his own flashlight and his own knife.

What surprised me was the amount of water we went through.

The "leave no trace" thing was backwards for us. We packed out several shopping bags of other people's trash that we found along the way. The only real drawback to the park is that the primitive area doesn't get maintained as well as the rest of the park.

Overall, it was a good trip. Our next trip planned is a 2 day on the Greenbelt Corridor north of Lake Lewisville. If weather stays mild, it will be a January trip.

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Post Number: 2

VAN

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Posted on: Dec. 09 2012, 12:10 pm

Skip to the previous post in this topic.

A lot of food can be made from store bought stuff, and just add hot water. Think "easy mac", cup of soup or instant mashed potatoes. Add summer sausage or pepperoni/shelf stable bacon, and lots of shelf stable cheese and it is way better then freeze dried. Or check out Freezer Bag Cooking Style. He might like to learn how to dehydrate his own food

Extra shoes are a bummer to carry, but I always bring water proof sandals (like crocs) so at least we have a back up. And yes, dry socks.

I've got a 3 yr old and I can't wait to get her out on an over night backpacking trip. She's been car camping many times. 1/2 mi - 1 mi seems like the perfect distance!

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"Long you live and high you fly. And smiles you'll give and tears you'll cry. And all you touch and all you see, is all your life will ever be." -Pink Floyd

Post Number: 3

OldGuyWalkin

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Posted on: Dec. 09 2012, 12:36 pm

I will look for the shelf stable bacon and cheeses. Thanks

We walk these trails a lot. I set the idea in his mind a month or so ago when we walked it the last time. I made certain we stopped at some of the empty camp sites. I made sure the hike lasted longer by stopping more so he could see more. While we were on the trail, I asked him if he would like to try camping it.

I let him know we would have to pack everything in to set the expectation and asked him several times over the course of a month if he still wanted to do it, so when we left, he was pretty excited. Very positive attitude almost the entire time.

Post Number: 4

tarol

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Posted on: Dec. 09 2012, 1:02 pm

Nice

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3 replies since Dec. 09 2012, 11:27 am

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