Spencer on Nostr: Training as a family to do a 60 mile backpacking trip along the John Muir Trail has ...
Training as a family to do a 60 mile backpacking trip along the John Muir Trail has been homeschool on steroids. We'll see how the hike goes, but I'm proud of how much stronger the boys are after just 4 weeks of hard training.
Our first training hike was supposed to be 3 miles. We didn't make it 0.3. Basically, the 10 year old moved like a 100 year old saying that his 12 lb pack caused debilitating pain. After 1.5 hours of "training," I was 80% convinced that we would have to cancel the whole thing.
To everyone's credit, they got serious about their weight training, and probably even more importantly they prepared their minds for heretofore unimagined pain to enter their cushy lives.
For me, the 2nd training hike marked the moment of peak pride as a dad. After seeing my kids carry heavy backpacks for 6 miles in sweltering° Texas heat, wearing grimaces of suffering and strength, it was undeniable that they had crossed some kind of mythical threshold. They weren't the same kids anymore. And best of all, I could tell they felt the change.
Here we are on the 3rd training hike.
Now the taining hikes are done. The last one felt better than ever. Go time approaches. Hopefully mother nature is merciful to our little band of aspiring hikers.
Our first training hike was supposed to be 3 miles. We didn't make it 0.3. Basically, the 10 year old moved like a 100 year old saying that his 12 lb pack caused debilitating pain. After 1.5 hours of "training," I was 80% convinced that we would have to cancel the whole thing.
To everyone's credit, they got serious about their weight training, and probably even more importantly they prepared their minds for heretofore unimagined pain to enter their cushy lives.
For me, the 2nd training hike marked the moment of peak pride as a dad. After seeing my kids carry heavy backpacks for 6 miles in sweltering° Texas heat, wearing grimaces of suffering and strength, it was undeniable that they had crossed some kind of mythical threshold. They weren't the same kids anymore. And best of all, I could tell they felt the change.
Here we are on the 3rd training hike.
Now the taining hikes are done. The last one felt better than ever. Go time approaches. Hopefully mother nature is merciful to our little band of aspiring hikers.