Mountain Life
  • Daily Content
    • Trips & Expeditions
    • Climbing
    • Mountain Biking
    • Mountain Lifer
    • Multiplicity
    • On The Trail
    • Paddling
    • Photography
    • Skiing
    • Snowboarding
    • Stay & Play
    • Surfing
    • The Great Outdoors
    • The ML Interview
    • Travel
  • GEAR
  • VIDEOS
  • STORE
  • Magazines
    • ML Coast Mountains
    • ML Rocky Mountains
    • Vie En Montagne
    • ML Blue Mountains
    • ML Annual
    • ML Subscriptions
  • ABOUT
    • What is ML?
    • Our Team
    • Newsletter
    • Adventure Grant
    • Distribution
  • Podcast
  • Contests
  • CONTACT
    • ML Agency
    • Advertising
    • Contribute
Subscription Form

Get notified of the best News

Social Links
Instagram 22K Followers
Facebook 25K Likes
Twitter 5K Followers
Pinterest 1K Followers
Vimeo 34 Followers
LinkedIn
22K Followers
25K Likes
5K Followers
1K Followers
Mountain Life
Mountain Life
  • Daily Content
    • Trips & Expeditions
    • Climbing
    • Mountain Biking
    • Mountain Lifer
    • Multiplicity
    • On The Trail
    • Paddling
    • Photography
    • Skiing
    • Snowboarding
    • Stay & Play
    • Surfing
    • The Great Outdoors
    • The ML Interview
    • Travel
  • GEAR
  • VIDEOS
  • STORE
  • Magazines
    • ML Coast Mountains
    • ML Rocky Mountains
    • Vie En Montagne
    • ML Blue Mountains
    • ML Annual
    • ML Subscriptions
  • ABOUT
    • What is ML?
    • Our Team
    • Newsletter
    • Adventure Grant
    • Distribution
  • Podcast
  • Contests
  • CONTACT
    • ML Agency
    • Advertising
    • Contribute
  • Stay & Play

The Simple Secrets of Successful Family Camping

  • September 9, 2020
  • Ned Morgan
Total
35
Shares
35
0
0
0
0
0
Total
35
Shares
Share 35
Tweet 0
Pin it 0
Share 0
Share 0
Share 0

words :: Kristin Schnelten.

After a decade spent gallivanting about the continent with nothing much more than a camp stove and a dog, stopping to rest wherever I pleased—in tents, modified beds of trucks, often right in my Subaru—my first experience with family camping was quite a smack in the face.

The tight quarters, the constant needs, the sleeplessness, the forever-hungry bellies. The sheer volume of stuff. Thinking back on that adventure, “fun” isn’t the first word that comes to mind.

 

Family camping
Rathtrevor Beach Provincial Park, BC. Photo: Greg Rosenke via Unsplash

 

Family Camping + Friends = More Happiness

But it did get easier, and far more enjoyable. With a bit of experience, camping with kids brings with it all the highs and lows of camping without kids: crackling campfires and quiet sunrises, maddening bug swarms and forgotten tent poles. The secret to success is simple, really, and it applies to nearly everything else in life: Bring friends. And lots of food.

With very young children, friends offer an extra set of hands. Someone to hold the baby, chase the toddler, entertain the hungry while dinner simmers. A fun, non-parent grown-up can provide encouragement for weary legs on a longer hike, or novel entertainment on an endless paddle. Good friends will even keep the fire burning and your drink cold while you tuck the children into their sleeping bags—a critical step in a newer parent’s routine.

Littles are known for their specific wants, and keeping things as even-keeled as possible can be a saviour. Pack favourite foods, bring more than necessary (too much food is not possible here), even add a few never-evers. Sure, you wouldn’t let them eat Oreos by the fistful at home. But at the campfire, everything is fair game.

If you’re really brave, dive into that bag of marshmallows with the toddlers. Or, if you aren’t fond of marshmallow-hair extrication, wait until they’re a bit older. Once they’re safe to roast a puffy glob of corn syrup on their own, you know they’re big kids.

 

Campgrounds = More Freedom

Big kids can paddle their own board, carry their own pack (albeit a symbolic smaller one) and invite their own friends. Preferably those friends will bring their parents along, too. Finding another family to share your camping escapades can be a lifelong arrangement, and now is a great time to rope the right ones into the mix. Adults commiserate, reminisce and generally disregard their age and responsibilities around the fire while the children—well, they pretty much bugger off.

Campgrounds offer freedoms most kids don’t have at home. Bring the bikes, establish their boundaries and let them ride. They’ll make new friends, explore new trails, and, if all goes well, come back filthy and exhausted. For downtimes, pack a few surprises into the mix: a new book, a complicated fire-roasted dessert (with marshmallows, always with marshmallows), a jumbo-size package of sparklers, maybe even a hammock or two.

Even in the backcountry, kids will have more latitude than in their yard, and will generally relish in the responsibilities of setting up the tent, gathering firewood, starting a fire. Pack a flint and steel. Everyone digs new gadgets, and kids love to master skills with their buddies.

 

Family camping
Illustration: Izzy Canning

 

For Happier Family Camping, Include Everyone in the Planning Process

If you do head to far-off sites, take small steps. Although the very biggest kids may be physically ready for a two-km portage, hours of sullen highschooler complaints that may last through the return trip are a high price to pay for solitude among the pines. Choose shorter routes at first, and include everyone in the planning process. Which route is best? What’s the most creative way to feed three families? Digging out the gear, shopping for groceries and packing for a trip is often one of the most gratifying steps of any adventure, and giving kids ownership and experience may very well turn them into lifelong campers.

Heading into our 13th year in the family camping business, we’ve run the gamut of sleeping arrangements—setting up our tent in hot, buggy farm fields in Maine; packing gear in dry bags for multi-day canoe expeditions in New Brunswick; tucking high into a rooftop tent on an empty cliff, safe from howling coyotes in Michigan. The memories we’ve made, the stories we tell, are of nature, people and meals, all intertwined. We remember Algonquin: The blackflies. The warm swim on the beach. The moose who swam next to our canoe as we paddled. The storm that kicked up and nearly trapped us on a tiny island. Theresa and her outstanding, sticky dessert. Music by the fire. Let’s do that again.

Total
35
Shares
Share 35
Tweet 0
Pin it 0
Share 0
Share 0
Share 0
Related Topics
  • camping
  • family camping
Ned Morgan

Previous Article
  • Mountain Lifer

Blue Sky Kingdom: An Epic Family Journey to the Heart of the Himalaya

  • September 8, 2020
  • Ned Morgan
View Post
Next Article
  • Features
  • Annual

Holy Grail: The First SUP Descent of the Mountain River

  • September 10, 2020
  • Ben Osborne
View Post
You May Also Like
Blue-Mountain-Film-Festival-group-Ontario-Kristin-Schnelten-Blue-Village
View Post
  • Ontario
  • Stay & Play
  • Videos

Blue Mountain Film Festival Debuts in June

  • Mountain Life Media
  • April 14, 2022
Town-Blue-Mountains-Sustainability-nature-Glen-Harris-photo-snowshoe-Beaver-River
View Post
  • Mountain Lifer
  • Ontario
  • Stay & Play

Time For Action: Inside TBM’s Community Sustainability Plan

  • Ned Morgan
  • March 18, 2022
View Post
  • Skiing
  • Snowboarding
  • Stay & Play

The Soul of Skiing Defined: Ski Big 3

  • Sarah Bulford
  • March 9, 2022
View Post
  • Leslie Anthony
  • Skiing
  • Snowboarding
  • Stay & Play
  • The Great Outdoors

Spring at Sun Peaks

  • Sarah Bulford
  • March 8, 2022
View Post
  • Stay & Play
  • Videos

Friday Flick: AXED

  • Sarah Bulford
  • March 4, 2022
Alpine-scene-Lauren-B
View Post
  • Skiing
  • Snowboarding
  • Stay & Play
  • Travel
  • Trips & Expeditions

The Hidden Gems of the B.C. Backcountry

  • Mountain Life Media
  • February 15, 2022
ML-CM-cover-graphic
View Post
  • Features
  • Mountain Lifer
  • On The Trail
  • Photography
  • Skiing
  • Snowboarding
  • Stay & Play
  • The ML Interview
  • Travel
  • Trips & Expeditions

ML Coast Mountains: The Optimism Issue – Out Now

  • Mountain Life Media
  • February 11, 2022
Mirror-to-Nature-Ontario-retreat-Arcana-landscape-Kristin-Schnelten-photo
View Post
  • Ontario
  • Stay & Play

A Mirror to Nature

  • Editor
  • January 31, 2022

Leave a Reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Featured Posts
  • Jamie-Mocrazy-portrait 1
    Jamie MoCrazy: Thriving after Traumatic Brain Injury
    • May 17, 2022
  • Relic-The-Beachcombers-Ben-Tour-illustration 2
    Requiem for a Relic
    • May 16, 2022
  • 3
    Helly Hansen Presents: Adventure Planning 101 with Squamish SAR
    • May 16, 2022
  • Dynafit-Sea-to-Summit-Delphi-harbor-revised 4
    Friday Flick: Skiing with the Gods of Delphi
    • May 13, 2022
  • 5
    For the Love of SUP
    • May 10, 2022
RECENT POSTS
  • Nick-Gottlieb-Pereval-Dzhuku-pass
    Touching the Mountains of Heaven
    • May 12, 2022
  • Full-Circle-Everest-The-North-Face-Nepal-prayer-flags
    Full Circle: First All-Black Team Attempts to Summit Everest
    • May 9, 2022
  • North-Shore-Betty-rummel_t_0110_BP
    Friday Flick: North Shore Betty
    • May 6, 2022
Social Links
Instagram 22K Followers
Facebook 25K Likes
Twitter 5K Followers
Pinterest 1K Followers
Vimeo 34 Followers
LinkedIn
INSTAGRAM
mountainlifemedia
22K Followers
@jamiemocrazy’s traumatic brain injury (TBI) occurred on her second competition run in slopestyle skiing at the finals of the World Ski & Snowboard Festival in Whistler in April, 2015.
Reel Rock 16 is coming to #Squamish! There are two showings 👉 May 20th and June 1st at the Eagle Eye Theatre, Howe Sound Secondary School, in beautiful Squamish supported by @climbonsquamish! #Linkinbio to get your tickets! #climbing #film #filmfest #climbers #adventure #climbon #adventure #squamishbc #tickets
Finding that picture perfect moment with @sweenyj #mountainlifer
The winter that just keeps on given-er! 🤘#mountainlifer
FRIDAY FLICK 💥 This past March, speed mountaineer Benedikt Böhm @benediktboehm rocked a five-hour sea-to-summit expedition up Mount Parnassus in central Greece. Starting at sea level on his road bike at the village of Itea on the Gulf of Corinth, he climbed up to an altitude of 2.414 metres. #linkinbio to watch the film!
I had no idea what to expect from this trip, neither from bikepacking, a fancy term for cycle touring and a sport I’d never done before, nor from Kyrgyzstan, a country most people cannot find on a map. Carl, who I’d only just met recently after moving to Canada—I’d flagged him down after backcountry skiing after seeing his Montana license plate—had invited me on this trip while on a mountain bike ride. I said no. A few weeks later I figured, “Why not?”
The @rab.equipment  dynamic Cirrus Flex is a soft, lightweight hybrid synthetic insulation for mountain-friendly layering. Keeping you warm and perfectly suited to journey in the mountains. #TheMountainPeople #WeAreRab
"@normhann and I lashed paddleboards to the roof of his truck and headed north along the Island Highway, towards Telegraph Cove. Norm had invited me to tag along on a commercial paddleboard group he would be guiding in the Broughton Archipelago. Despite a long history of SUP expeditions, I harboured some reservations."
To date, more than 6,000 people have summitted Everest, the highest point on Earth at 8,848.86 metres of elevation above sea level. And only a tiny handful of those climbers have been Black.
Happy Mother’s Day to all the rad moms out there! Here’s our Art Director & Head Designer @calypsodesign getting cozy with some sharks. #mountainlifer #mothersday
Follow

Subscribe

Subscribe now to our newsletter

@jamiemocrazy’s traumatic brain injury (TBI) occurred on her second competition run in slopestyle skiing at the finals of the World Ski & Snowboard Festival in Whistler in April, 2015.
Reel Rock 16 is coming to #Squamish! There are two showings 👉 May 20th and June 1st at the Eagle Eye Theatre, Howe Sound Secondary School, in beautiful Squamish supported by @climbonsquamish! #Linkinbio to get your tickets! #climbing #film #filmfest #climbers #adventure #climbon #adventure #squamishbc #tickets
Finding that picture perfect moment with @sweenyj #mountainlifer
The winter that just keeps on given-er! 🤘#mountainlifer
FRIDAY FLICK 💥 This past March, speed mountaineer Benedikt Böhm @benediktboehm rocked a five-hour sea-to-summit expedition up Mount Parnassus in central Greece. Starting at sea level on his road bike at the village of Itea on the Gulf of Corinth, he climbed up to an altitude of 2.414 metres. #linkinbio to watch the film!
I had no idea what to expect from this trip, neither from bikepacking, a fancy term for cycle touring and a sport I’d never done before, nor from Kyrgyzstan, a country most people cannot find on a map. Carl, who I’d only just met recently after moving to Canada—I’d flagged him down after backcountry skiing after seeing his Montana license plate—had invited me on this trip while on a mountain bike ride. I said no. A few weeks later I figured, “Why not?”
Mountain Life
  • Home
  • About
  • Contact
  • Subscribe
  • Advertising

Input your search keywords and press Enter.