Shi-Shi Beach, WA w/Grandkids, 7/2009

A rather belated report, sorry!

Posted on PortlandHikers.

Great report. I can't wait until my grandkids get old enough to do stuff like this. The beach is perfect for kids and hiking. There is enough stuff to keep them entertained.

What about just using day-packs for the kids? Or have you tried kid's external frame packs? I do sew and am planning on making or altering some packs in a few years when my grandkids get old enough. Thanks for the heads-up on the narrow shoulder issue. In the next year or so I am going to sew each a sleeping bag (there are 6 grandkids under the age of 3 so far!) My goal is to give each a sleeping bag on thier 3rd or 4th birthday.

This weekend I watched Isaac, 20 months old, and we did a 1-mile hike down at the river. He did great! I only had to carry him up the last few hundred feet of hill. Keeping him going down the trail and not getting into the brush was the main problem (we have poison oak here). He is really into birds right now and was thrilled with the ducks, hawks and shore birds.

What my grandkids need to be comfortable is a good hipbelt (remember that little kids don't have much hips) and load lifters to keep the pack weight from pulling on the tops of the shoulders. My older grandson is especially sensitive to shoulder pressure--more so than his younger sister. I can sympathize because I have the same problem!

My own experiences with external frame packs were unhappy enough that I'd rather not inflict one on the kids. When I was using an external frame pack, it seemed to have a life of its own, zigging when I zagged, and I had several falls as a result. The internal frame pack moves with me instead of against me.

For kids younger than 7, a day pack with hipbelt is fine, since they shouldn't be carrying much weight (maybe 4-5 lbs. total)--just their wraps and rain gear, water bottle and a snack is usually enough. Unfortunately, such a pack for little kids is hard to find. Granite Gear used to put out a little kid's daypack called the Sidekick, which had a nice stiff foam back plus a hipbelt. Unfortunately they discontinued it a couple of years ago. I was able to get one on closeout, and it's waiting for "Bear" (who just turned 5 this week) to go on his first backpack trip next summer!

LL Bean makes packs for preschool/kindergarten age kids. If you're a sewer (I'm not), you could add a hip belt to help the shoulder issue.

For school-age kids old enough to carry 7-10 lbs., if you can find a used kids' backpack with the support system (stays, shoulder straps, load lifters, hipbelt) in good shape, just cut off the bomber nylon pack bag with its zillion gewgaws and sew a simple bag out of Dyneema to replace it. With smaller children very limited in the amount of weight they can carry, I hate to have half the allowable weight be the pack itself! For one thing, I have to carry the difference!

Unfortunately, I'm not a sewer, so that solution isn't feasible for me. I wish it were!

I'm glad you're already taking your grandkids out! It's so much fun to watch them discover the outdoors!

If you lived closer I'd help you out with sewing!

My sewing problem is not so much lack of skills (although they are pretty rusty) but lack of close-up depth perception, thanks to scarring from detached retina surgery 10 years ago. Any vision closer than about 3-4 feet is out of one eye only.

If you need a good laugh, watch me try to thread a needle! Even with a needle threader, it's difficult. Without a needle threader, it's impossible.

Looks like a great trip. Olympic Peninsula is one of my favorite places in the world.

Looks like a great time was had by all.

I think my son(10 yr old), and i will try to make that trip this summer. He will have a great time crawling around on the rocks, and discovering the sea life.

Thank you for sharing it with us.

Check the tide tables and try to pick a time with a low tide in the daytime. If you can find a minus tide, so much the better! Last summer when we were there the minus tide was close to a record low.

I know this is a bit late, but scoutstuff.org has a good selection of youth packs. I particularly like the Scout Hiking pack. I use it as a daypack, and it fits my 10 yo son and 8 yo daughter pretty well.

Just a suggestion and worth what you paid for it.

What I really want is a pack that has good support but weighs only 1 1/2 lbs instead of 2 1/2!