*Guest Blogger* Taking Young Kids into the Wilderness + Gear Up Day 3

Welcome to Day 3 of "Gearing Up Families to go Screen Free"!  If this is your first time hearing about the event, please check out our updated tab here.  Make sure you check out the giveaways at the end of this post (they are ONLY open for 24 hours - midnight to midnight EST!)


I am so honored to be a part of Michael Lanza's blog tour introducing his new book: "Before They're Gone." I have admired his writing and lifestyle for a while now and his stories are some of my favorites.  


"Before They're Gone" is a gripping book that will inspire you to get out with your own family just a little bit more.  Even this mama (who can hardly stay awake at night to read ANY books) couldn't put it down.  Lanza will make you think a little more about our National Parks, the future of our children and why the little things just don't matter.


He agreed to join us in this Screen Free event so today we celebrate him, his book AND gearing up families!  As usual when we have guests, check out his bio at the end of his post and feel free to leave him some love.  Also, please note that we are giving away a copy of "Before They're Gone" today too (among a pile of other great gear to help you get outside and hiking with your family)!

I paused and stared at the trail ahead of us. Barely more than a foot wide and plastered in hard-packed snow and ice, it clung to the face of a cliff with a sheer drop-off to one side of hundreds of feet.

Then I looked down at my seven-year-old daughter, Alex, four feet tall and 50 pounds and exuding an innocent faith that her dad, holding her hand tightly, would guide her safely across that scary traverse—and the next, and the next, and so on for more than a mile and nearly a thousand vertical feet on our descent of the Grandview Trail, which zigzags across wildly exposed ledges on its steep drop into the Grand Canyon.

That was in the last week of March 2010, a bit premature for backpacking into the world’s most famous canyon precisely because of the likelihood of encountering ice on trails at the rim. But it was also our kids’ spring break from school, and we didn’t want to wait until they were out of school, in June, when the inner canyon would be too broiling hot for this 29-mile, four-day trek from Grandview Point to the South Kaibab Trailhead. 

Despite our concerns—heightened after a ranger at the park’s backcountry desk told us that the Grandview Trail was “treacherous” with ice and snow—my wife, Penny, and I decided we could do this hike safely with our kids. I had microspikes—mini-crampons with small metal points that slip over backpacking boots—for myself, Penny, and our nine-year-old son, Nate (whom I nonetheless guided across every narrow, icy section). But I didn’t have spikes small enough for Alex’s boots. 

So I led Alex by hand, and she walked that icy traverse with slow, cautious steps, and supreme calm and confidence. I’m sure it helped her that I projected calm, although my heart was in my throat. I wondered: Do parents whose kids spend seven hours a day in front of electronic screens ever grapple with the existential question haunting me now—is this really a good idea?

People sometimes ask me whether I ever worry about my children’s safety when we go on wilderness adventures. My answer is, yes, of course. Worrying too much is the unavoidable curse upon every parent. But I worry much more that they will not spend enough time outdoors. 

We’ve all heard and read about the growing epidemic of childhood obesity and statistics suggesting that the generation of children growing up today may be the first in U.S. history with a shorter life expectancy than their parents. The term “nature-deficit disorder,” coined by the writer Richard Louv in his seminal book Last Child In the Woods, has entered into our national lexicon. American children are suffering from inactivity and insufficient exposure to the outdoors, and if we let this trend continue, they and our society will be worse off for it.

My kids are like most kids—they like playing computer games. I work at home, and my wife occasionally works from home, so Nate and Alex see us on a computer for hours a day; why wouldn’t it seem normal to them? We push them outside to play as much as possible, but frankly, the daily lives of today’s children are so heavily scheduled and managed by their parents that our kids’ friends are often not available to play with them. Plus, in summer and during school breaks, especially, many families travel—we plead guilty—so when we’re in town, our children’s friends may be out of town.

So I feel there are numerous reasons that we must take Nate and Alex on outdoor adventures.

Of course, most families do not take a four-year-old cross-country skiing through a snowstorm to a backcountry yurt, or six-year-old kids rock climbing up a 150-foot granite cliff, or nine- and seven-year-old children sea kayaking in Alaska, paddling among alligators in the Everglades, and backpacking in the grizzly country of Glacier National Park. We all have to pursue the activities that are within our physical abilities, skill level, and emotional comfort zone—which is fine, exciting, and always rewarding. Just taking a walk along a creek is a magical journey for a young kid and profoundly relaxing and reinvigorating for an adult. That feeling is the real destination, and you can get there on any kind of outdoor “adventure.” 

Now 11 and nine years old, Nate and Alex have seen more adventure than most Americans do in a lifetime. They have some sense that our family is a little unusual in what we do. But to them, getting out backpacking, skiing, climbing, or rafting down a whitewater river just feels normal.

And that’s exactly how I want them to see it.

Michael Lanza is the Northwest Editor of Backpacker magazine and the creator of TheBigOutside.com, where he shares his stories and images from his outdoor adventures, many of them with his family, in the U.S. and around the world. His book Before They’re Gone—A Family’s Year-Long Quest to Explore America’s Most Endangered National Parks, traces his journey to show his kids iconic national parks that could be altered forever by climate change.

Daily Link-Ups (please be patient if their links aren't quite live yet - they're coming!):

Lindsey of Outsidemom.com - Motivating Kids on the Trail

Debi of Go Explore Nature - “Book Review - Hikes with Tykes: A Practical Guide to Day Hiking with Kids” (*plus a giveaway of the book!*)

We would like to thank Hi-Tec, Boba, Piggyback Rider, Action Baby Carriers , Kelty and Beacon Press profusely for their generous contributions to this week and mission.  Please visit their Facebook pages (linked to their names in the sentence above) and give them some love!

Today there is an opportunity to win the following prizes to help you get out on the trail with your entire family:

- Hi-Tec hiking boots for an entire family - we're big fans! (3 winners in the same family.) **our review of one of our favorites here**

- Boba Wrap - great for new babies (1 winner) *Open to Canada also!*

- Piggyback Rider - great for kids 2.5+ who can't quite keep up.... (1 winner) **our full review coming soon!**

- Action Baby Carrier - Camper Print - great for kids aged newborn to toddler (1 winner) **our review is posted here** *Open to Canada too!*

- Before They’re Gone: A Family’s Year-Long Quest to Explore America’s Most Endangered National Parks by Michael Lanza (1 winner) *Open to Canada also!*
- Kelty Kid's Carrier FC 1.0 Backpack (green color) - great for kids 6 mo+ (we have not used this backpack in particular, but are big fans of the 2012 Kelty Pathfinder 3.0)

To enter, please use the Rafflecopter Widgets below.  If you DON'T see them, simply refresh your page.  I know this is a bit more confusing, but is SUPER helpful during a big event! Note: When it says to leave a blog post comment, you do that at the END of this post (past the Rafflecopter widgets) and then on the Rafflecopter just click to say you did it! (see it as your "check box" for entries!)  

In an effort to make entering these giveaways a bit easier without having to do a zillion things to gain extra entries, I am only asking that you like our Facebook page (and check here for extra giveaways!) and follow us on Twitter (if you are into that!) now.  Thanks so much for reading and your support!

The Fine Print (in bold...):

Winners will be drawn randomly and announced on this post Thursday.  It is your responsibility to check-in and email me at mountainmamatales(at)gmail(dot)com within 24 hours to claim your prize. We're working hard to truly get winners their gear in time for Screen Free Week!

CONGRATULATIONS to the winners!  Email me within 24 hours to claim your prize!
Hi-Tec boots for your family: Lori Paup
Boba Wrap: Carrie S.
Piggyback Rider: Amy Schenck
Action Baby Carrier: Brianna Laughman
Before They're Gone book: Paul O.
Kelty FC 1.0: Tiffany Leimback

If you have ANY questions about using Rafflecopter or entering, please feel free to email me! mountainmamatales(at)gmail(dot)com  Good luck and happy adventuring!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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