First backpack trip on his own two feet

I’ve been very impressed by my son’s hiking skills as of late. He’ll won’t be 3 until February but has recently day hiked as far as 4.5 miles :) So I decided it was time to try a backpacking trip with him. We did two backpack trips when he was a baby and thus small enough for me to carry, along with our gear. But this would be the first overnight trip with him hiking. He also carried his own pack, a little Deuter I bought soon after he was born. He did well and I’m very proud of him!

We hiked with our friend Albert on a trail that I’ve been on a few times before, Middle Fork Trail to Cucamonga Wilderness. Well, the first half of the hike, anyway. I’d never taken the lower trail to Stonehouse Camp before, instead always staying on the upper trail. On the west side of the wilderness there is a very popular trail leading up Icehouse Canyon. But the east side sees few people, mainly because the access is a 3-mile long rocky and rutted road. We saw no one on our hike since it was also mid-week – just how I prefer it ;)

The first half-mile of the trail gains elevation but it’s slow and steady. Then the trail splits at an unsigned junction and you can take the lower trail which descends to Stonehouse, or stay on the upper which contours up and around on the way to Third Stream Crossing Camp. On this trip we went to Stonehouse, the easiest option. The trail is good until the last little bit where it disappears so you just pick your way up and over the rocky stream to the camp.

I call my son T – he’s named after his Dad, Todd, and so I either say “T” or “Todd Philip” to differentiate from his Dad – the latter is usually if he’s in trouble, lol. T is becoming quite a little naturalist as well as a good hiker. He knew manzanita and yucca prior to this trip, but he was asking about all the other plants so now he knows yerba santa, chamise, and sage. He then had fun pointing them out to Albert. We also turned over a rock in camp and found a centipede which he called a “wiggly bug”.

Once we got to camp we found the ruins of the Stonehouse it’s named for, and set up our tent nearby. Then we had lunch and went down to the creek – T loves to throw rocks and splash in water. Thank goodness I brought extra shoes and socks, because as the sun went down it did get chilly in the canyon. When we were done playing we relaxed for a while but T wouldn’t take a nap. So we took a walk up the canyon admiring the many old oak trees and waterfalls. We were hoping to catch a glimpse of bighorn sheep which call this place home, but they remained elusive.

We then made our way back to camp, ate dinner, and played frisbee. I found a lighweight glow-in-the-dark frisbee ring and that ended up being a great toy for camp. We then retired when it got dark. T went to sleep as soon as his head hit his pillow. I was glad I brought along a real pillow for him, a small one made by Thermarest. I myself have a blow-up one but it works well enough. It took me a little longer to fall asleep.

In the morning I kept T busy in the tent with a deck of cards and the pigs from the “Pass the Pigs” game. Who knew they were the perfect size to ride in the Jeep that T brought with him? T always has to have at least one car with him – on this trip we brought 3. Why not? They don’t weigh much. Albert went on a morning hike and so we took our time waking up and eating breakfast. I didn’t cook – T is a picky eater and so I brought food I knew he would eat – cheese, turkey, crackers, peanut butter and jelly, and applesauce. It was actually Albert that packed in the 3 applesauce packets for him. He also was kind enough to share his water filter and bear can so that saved me from carrying too much weight – I already carried a larger tent and extra sleeping bag, pillow, clothes, shoes, and food!

Shortly before Albert returned we saw two deer – actually startled them as we exited the tent and they bounded up the steep slope faster than I’ve ever seen two deer move before. Albert came back, he told me he awoke early, as he usually does, and took a hike up canyon to the upper trail then looped back. He got a little lost on the way back, and took a little longer than expected, but I was glad he got in a longer hike, since he’s used to doing a more strenuous trip.

We leisurely packed up and then headed on our hike out mid-morning. We made good time hiking out, but T did have to take a couple of short breaks and during them he wanted to sing, “Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer.” And then he pointed out to me that burned manzanita resembled Reindeers – I had to agree with him.

I hope you enjoy the photos and are inspired to take the youngsters in your family along on your adventures :)