Hi everyone,
My dreams of completing the JMT in 2011 were put on hold due to the unexpected pregnancy, but most amazing blessing of my baby girl on November 29th. I have made it my goal yet again for 2012 to complete the stretch from Yosemite to Whitney Portal, and am helping you can give me a few pointer, or lead me to someone with experience backpacking with a baby. Katalina will be 8 to 9 months when we begin our trip, which I hope to extend out to two to three weeks. Any pointers?
Tricia
Try to get a sponsor. Some baby products company would probably love to have you rep their products on the trail. Oh and your badass!
guino
Do you really think you can carry a 8-9 month old baby - which is likey to wiegh 30 pounds, along with all your gear and food for both of you for 270 miles? What about dippers or do you wash cloth ones out in the stream everyday?
I’d be suprised if the rangers even let you on the trail. And if something happens to the kid along the way, you’ll be charged with child endangerment or homicide. Not worth the risk. Find a sitter or wait 8-10 years.
slo-go’en
With all due respect, I don’t think going on a thru-hike with an infant is a good idea at all.
Besides the obvious challenges of caring for your child while backpacking, think of the unnecessary risks you’d take. Stream crossings, snow fields or just an accidental slip and fall become much more serious if you are carrying such precious cargo.
I agree with slo-go’en, better to wait until your child can walk and help carry some of the food. IMO
Mike
The JMT isn’t a theme park - it’s mostly wilderness. No problem if the weather is nice, the creeks low, and you avoid injury, equipment failures and other unplanned hiccups. But stuff happens - even to the most experienced folks out there. You will sometimes be days from help - unless you can achieve contact and get a helo rescue.
Last year south of Wallace I huddled on the ground in a fetal position for hours hoping the lightning gods would not find me, as the latest “storm of the century” roared through. Hard to describe the feelings when repeatedly, there was no discernable time interval between the flash and the boom.
Creek crossings were doable - though sporty. Also at Wallace, a guy heading north ended up for no apparant reason falling and instantaneously floating downstream because of a millisecond lack of attention - looking at me as he nearly completed the crossing vice focusing on where his feet were going.
Stuff happens. Fatigue happens. Pain is mandatory (though misery is optional). The baby will be too young to appreciate the experience - it appears to be a misadventure to satisfy Mom’s ego.
booger
I don’t have a baby. I have a friend, a pediatrician actually, who does have two. She is a former NOLS leader and she took her children on backpacking and kayaking trips from nearly infancy, and recommends it.
She has emphasized to me however that you need easy exits for safety, and you can’t expect to complete even a small fraction of the distance you would without the baby with you. (As in, she would do 20s without the baby, and 5-8 with them.)
This would seem to rule out all of the JMT except possibly, just maybe, the northernmost part between Yose Valley and Red’s Meadow.
markv
And also, i always feel like i have to counter the “impassable!” posts on this place. But cmon, some facts please. It wouldn’t be carrying a 30 lb. baby for 270 miles. It would be carrying a 15-20 lb. baby for 210 miles. Stream and snow crossings could very well be negligible if it’s August or September of a normal or low-snow year.
It’s bad enough without exaggerating.
markv