Parents Help Kids' Nature Awareness Hiking With -- Babes In The Woods

On a 58-minute hike near Issaquah, the Walchenbach family inspected every slug along the one-mile route, peered into a "spaceship," took a rest stop for juice, spotted deer, mountain bike and "bear" tracks, experienced one bee sting and endured a summer sprinkle.

And Paul Walchenbach, 33, insists he'll be out on the trail again next week with Shauna, 7, Peter, 5, and Trevor, 2. A growing number of Northwesterners are trekking Washington's trails with tykes in tow.

Ann Marshall, executive editor of Signpost magazine, said the trend of taking babes to the woods can be an inexpensive adventure that helps parents pass on their appreciation of nature.

Walchenbach likes to get away from the city and spend time sharing the outdoors with his children, but such outings have drawbacks.

"The biggest challenge," said Walchenbach, an attorney who moonlights at REI to receive discounts on the equipment that feeds his outdoor appetite, "is that as a parent you have to prepare for four. You need to think of all the things that can go wrong."

Although he takes his clan out weekly on hiking or rock-climbing expeditions, Walchenbach didn't heed his own credo earlier this week on a day hike to Tradition Lake Plateau. Left in the van at the trail head to Lake Tradition were the first-aid kit, insect repellant and sunscreen.

But he did have other essentials: chocolate cookies and tuna sandwiches, thongs and towels for wading at a pond, and a quick imagination, one that conjures up a spacey tale about an overturned bus rusting away in the ferns.

While the Walchenbachs will head home to Seattle with a dozen mosquito bites and one swollen eye where Trevor was stung by a bee, they also will return with an appreciation for the outdoors.

"I like climbing and canoeing and all the hiking stuff," said Peter, wearing a pink juice mustache. He has learned many lessons, among them judging water depth.

The other lesson should stay with them the rest of their lives.

"They have to carry their own clothes and water bottle," Walchenbach said. "That way they learn if they bring too much they have to carry too much. They learned that really quick."

Experiencing nature is one reason many brave the woods with their children. Others consider it a cheap family getaway. But all parents realize the extra effort camping, hiking and backpacking with children entails.

"What's comfortable for one family might not be for another," said Goldie Silverman, a Seattle author of "Backpacking with Babies and Children."

One Seattle couple, Kim Beeson and Lynn Noel bravely celebrated New Year's by snow camping with their 1-year-old daughter, Brooke. However, Mom knew even camping in a tent with a wood stove wasn't the only safeguard to a successful trip. "We were maybe a football field from the car," she said.

Proximity to the car is perhaps the most important strategy. Silverman said hikes and overnights with her three children rarely take them more than a few miles from the parking lot.

In her book, a father is photographed wearing a backpack stacked with enough gear to tire a llama. From this parents can learn two things: how to travel as light as possible and how tiring having children can be.

"Men who carry a pack on the front and the back understand what it's like to be pregnant," Silverman said with a chuckle.

She tells of one family that found the only way it could manage an overnight was to treat the father like a sherpa. Mom carried the infant in its own backpack and walked along at the pace of the toddler; Dad walked at his preferred sweat-breaking pace, dumped off one load of gear at the campsite and doubled back to the car for more.

When it comes to selecting destinations, most parents who are veterans of hiking subscribe to the rule that correlates the length of the hike to the age of the children.

Referring to himself, he admitted short outings frequently are "frustrating to the oldest."

"If you have a wide range of kids, it helps to go with another family," said Marshall. "It also helps to go with both parents or at least two adults. Having one adult and a couple of kids is not a good idea. That places a lot of responsibility on the kids if something happens to you."

In Sunday's Parade magazine, teenagers offer tips on "how to travel with parents - happily."

HIKING WITH KIDS

Joan Burton, author of "Best Hikes with Children" will offers tips at free 7 p.m. clinics tonight at the Seattle REI and July 23 at the Lynnwood store. Other suggestions made by parents seasoned from hiking with children are listed below. -- Have them carry as much of their own gear as possible, particularly the "Ten Essentials" (extra clothing, extra food, sunglasses, knife, fire-starter candle, first-aid kit, matches, flashlight, map, compass). Develops sense of responsibility. -- Travel light and improvise. One cup and spoon per person. Cup can serve as bowl or plate. Use a jacket as a pillow and a stuff bag as a pillowcase. -- Study available equipment before buying new gear. An adult's fleece jacket can serve as a sleeping bag for an infant, simply by turning the sleeves inside out and using them as extra padding beneath the child. Tuck bottom of jacket under feet; put feet in a stuff sack. Put a hat on the baby. -- Dress children in bright clothing in case they stray from the trail or campsite. -- Don't worry about the kids' cleanliness. A T-shirt, one mother said, has four sides. If it gets dirty, turn it inside out or wear it backward. -- Parents' level of enthusiasm is contagious. Their attitude makes - or kills - an outing.