Candy hearts notwithstanding, February offers plenty of opportunities for family fun! And, depending on where you live and hike the most, February can mean lots of things. It may herald a few more months of winter … or the start of spring! Or, if you’re lucky enough to live somewhere where the weather is all over the place, it could mean both. Looking for an outdoor activity to do ...
Whether you’re new to hiking with toddlers and young children or you’re looking for a different trail to explore, the Hike it Baby community is a valuable resource for finding family hiking trails around the country. In this article, we share three kid-friendly hikes in South Carolina to explore with babies and young children.
Hunting Island Loop (Hunting Island State Park, S.C.)
Hunting Island...
Losing a child: it’s every outdoor parent's worst nightmare – something distracts you momentarily and you turn around to find your child nowhere in sight. Calls are unanswered. A hasty search of the immediate area yields no sign of them. You don’t know where they are – and chances are they don’t know where they are either. Does your child know what to do?
They will if you take the time to prep...
"How do you feed your baby on trail?" This is easily one of the most common questions new parents ask when they decide if they’re ready to hit the trail with their baby. Between figuring out what to wear for a nursing mother or how much formula to bring to satisfy your growing baby, it can be enough to make you want to stay close to home and use the “maybe they aren’t ready yet” excuse to avoid...
In this article, Hike it Baby Branch Ambassador and photographer, Melissa, shares her tips and recipes for easy camping meals for kids. I don’t like to cook. Let me clarify: I don’t like to cook when I have tiny people pulling on my legs, climbing on chairs next to hot stoves or generally being on top of me in some way or form while I'm trying to provide for our survival. So th...
I learned early to layer in the winter. Growing up, I was always cold. Our house was drafty and we played outside a lot in winter. I would always ask my parents to turn up the heat. My father would promptly ask me how many layers I had on. If it was less than three, the answer was a guaranteed no.
Now that I'm a parent, I totally get the layering question. Each kid is different and will need a...
So you have joined the Facebook page for the Hike it Baby Branch near you and keep seeing these awesome photos from events you would love to attend, but you have a baby who can be unpredictable. What if they start fussing or go into total meltdown mode? What if none of the normal remedies cure the crankiness? Rest assured, we have all been there! Meltdowns and crankiness are bound to happen at ...
Last year, my little family embarked on a summer filled with hiking adventures ranging from 1 mile to 14 miles, and one of my biggest takeaways was the fact that packing food for summer hiking was VERY different than packing for other seasons. Some of my normal go-to foods (such as sandwiches made with cold-cuts and mayo) just don’t hold up in the heat of summer without having to haul some sort...
My dad is in his early 70s and suffers from gout. His feet swell in pain and all he can do is sit on the couch, wrap his feet with medicinal herbs, and wait for a good day when he’s not hurting to get outside. When he’s around the family, he pretends to be a model of healthy living in retirement. But we can see in the slow way he walks and drags his heels that he’s hurting. His shoes are perman...
This summer, due to various circumstances, we decided to become a one-car family, temporarily, from early summer until fall. We live in Portland so it's an easy transition. Luckily, the roads have special bike lanes and whole streets are dedicated to only bikes. While I know this isn’t the case everywhere, we see this trend growing – especially electric bikes. Many cities are embracing biking a...
