Our First Hike

This weekend, I had a huge proud mommy moment. I try to keep Alex active, and want him to enjoy outdoor activities. I want him to move as much as he can, and not think of exercise as a chore, but as an adventure. We spent the weekend in the Poconos and Tommy’s brother asked if I wanted to go on a hike with him and his friend on Sunday. I wanted to go, but I felt bad leaving Alex at home, so we decided to chose an easier trail and to bring him along for his first hike.

We decided on Big Pocono State Park, which has 8.5 miles of trails and is located just past Camelback Ski Resort. Since this was the little man’s first hike, we chose the shortest trail, the Indian Trail. The trail itself is a 2km loop, but we ended up doing more than that with our hike to and from the parking lot.

The trail started off pretty easy looking, but as we got deeper, the trail got a bit more difficult with steep slopes and lots of rocks to climb up.

Even though I was scared for him, Alex didn’t have a worry in the world. He kept moving forward, asking for a sip of water when he got thirsty, and not letting the rocks or scratchy branches intimidate him. About halfway, we stopped on a rock to rest for a few minutes. Check out that smile!

After some more walking, we came to an opening in the trees where we got to see take in a gorgeous view of the Poconos.

When we were done, Alex told me he had a lot of fun and wanted to come back soon. As soon as I got him clipped into his car seat, he was out cold.

I wasn’t sure if we would be able to complete the whole hike, but I went for it and was pleasantly surprised by my little guy’s strength. If you want to start hiking with children, I highly recommend it. It is a great way to get a workout in and spend time together.

Do you go hiking? Have you ever gone with children? Share your experiences!