Twenty-seven years ago, this week, I became a mom to a tiny baby who was born four+ weeks early. That first fall and winter, he was so tiny we rarely went anywhere. As Spring came, he was growing and making up for being so tiny. That first summer, I started taking him places just to be outside. I started finding my love of hiking again, but with him. Once he could fit into a jogger stroller it was so much easier.
On his First Birthday, he hiked in the Hoh Rain Forest to the Archangel Tree with me.
My Mother had talked me into driving her to The Hoh. I didn’t even know at 25 years old that we had temperate rain forests in Washington State. But once we turned off Hwy 101 to drive the 18 miles into the end of the road, my entire life changed.
That ill-fitting baby carrier changed my life. I wanted to see ALL the trails. I knew I needed a better carrier and within a short time I had saved up and bought a classic late 90’s Kelty kid carrier with tips – I was a barista those years.
I took him to many places, none truly wilderness, but we got out. We started car camping. As he turned 3, he could walk aside me, just slowly, with his little legs.
In his 3rd year, as he approached 4, above a wild river in the Olympic Mountains, on our way to do a loop hike.
On the morning of my 29th birthday, he hiked to the Olympic National Coastal Strip and we spent the morning walking the beach after a hike through the coastal forest. We had camped the night before. Always the two of us, snuggled in at night in our metal tent, as I called my small SUV then.
Above Sauk Lake in the North Cascade Mountains, on our way to the summit of Sauk Mountain, in his 4th year. That summer, I noticed he was getting stronger, so I pushed more hikes. This was early in the summer, one of the first mountain hikes he did with me.
As fall approached that year, and he turned 5, he was doing 10-mile days with me.
He was getting taller by the day, and I had one year left with him before school started. Hiking was what we did. 2-3 days a week, we hiked.
Backpacking in his 5th year. As winter ended, we headed into the mountains once again. This time, his pack was bigger, heavier, and the miles long.
He’d backpack in his 5th year so many times, chasing the snow line.
Backpacking in the Olympic Mountains in his 6th year.
And that was our life together. He had become my solid hiking partner. He was always willing to go, even after he went to school. We’d head out Friday afternoon and hike in during summer for two-night trips or leave early Saturday morning. In the summer, we often hiked three to four days a week.
It changed when he hit 12, and I had his first younger brother, and then at 14, I had the next brother.
But he still hiked with me. He was a unicorn hiker. He rarely complained and was always game, especially if I bribed him with ice cream on the way home. He just got a reprieve from the death marches with me and just came on the fun and scenic hikes.
Even now, as he turns 27, he still hikes with me. He nearly always walks a couple of miles a day. A modern Elder Gen Z, he prefers taking public transportation and happily walks to the bus stop to catch the bus to work. And yes, he still hikes with his Mom.
~Sarah
Love this❤️… Happy trails to you both.