Let’s go on an adventure!
I think it’s time I posted one of our favorite annual traditions: The 5-Year-Old Backpacking Trip. When our first child turned five, my husband took him on a backpacking trip. The next year, he invited our 5-year old niece.
Every year since, we’ve organized a family overnight backpacking trip for anyone who wants to go. However, only the kids who are five years old or older are invited. This has become a kind of “coming of age” event for children in our family. They can hardly wait to turn five and be included in the adventure. After 17 years, our trip includes nearly thirty people!
Destinations
My husband chooses destinations that can be reached by an easy 1-2 mile hike. We live in Utah, so we have lots of hiking options nearby. Most of our trips have been in the Uintah Mountains, but we’ve also backpacked canyons closer to Salt Lake City. You can find lots of trails that are family friendly on websites and hiking apps like All Trails.
Food
The menu for the trip is always the same. (This adds to the feeling of tradition.) The group eats the fish they catch, Uncle Ben’s rice, steamed broccoli, and either s’mores or berry cobbler. For breakfast, we eat oatmeal hot chocolate, and bagels. It’s the same every year and the kids all love it. In fact, they all love to eat fish and we think it’s because of this annual trip. (No self-respecting five-year-old is going to let the older kids mock them for not eating fish.)
As our group has grown, we haven’t been able to catch enough fish to feed everyone. No problem! We pack in seasoned frozen salmon fillets wrapped in tin foil and cook them in the fire to supplement our meal.
Packing List
Here’s a packing list if you need a little help planning your own 1-night backpacking trip: Backpacking List for Overnight Camp
We live near many mountains so this trip is very inexpensive and a highlight of the year. There’s a lot of power (and a whole lot of fun) in family traditions!
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