Weldon Springs: October 11-12, 2012

Last October we needed one more overnight, even though it was getting a little chilly. Enter Weldon Springs. The map didn’t look too thrilling, but it’s only 1 ½ hours from home, there’s a river… So we went. 

We checked in at the park office, and the person who checked us in seemed a little inexperienced at such things. I asked about trail conditions, and she said they were overgrown. Apparently she was comparing them to a suburban lawn, because the trails were wide and obvious. She did tell us that in the spring the two more distant campsites flood, so if you’re planning to go, call ahead. 

There are 4 campsites within 100 yards of the trailhead (and outhouses and a pump) that would be good for very inexperienced kids or a gear shake out or anything where you might need to bail.  The most direct route to the further campsites is about a mile. We took a slightly loopier route. 

Lunch

Lunches are some of the hardest meals to figure out. Boo still can’t eat and walk at the same time, so snacking all day instead of stopping for lunch is right out. Sometimes we have a hot lunch, sometimes we don’t. What Boo eats varies a lot. Here are some things she’s eaten for lunch on hikes. 

Hard-Boiled Eggs

She’s been a fan of hard boiled eggs for a while. They’re good to fill her belly and stick with her, and I don’t mind eating her leftovers. The shell must be carried out, and if she’s already too hungry, there’s no quick sugar boost, but as a planned meal or snack, they’re awesome. 

Wraps

Some tortillas, meat, veggies of choice (tomatoes, greens, cucumbers), maybe a mustard packet. Pack the ingredients, build at lunch time. Awesome for unplanned dayhikes that have to start at the grocery store anyway. 

Stuff in Pitas

We often have a pita with a pouch of tuna. We have had dehydrated hummus, which was fine after it sat a few minutes. Much like wraps, almost anything can go into a pita.

Hot Lunch

Sometimes something hot is called for. We’re fond of couscous, and not just because it was the only camping food we knew when we started. I start her portion rehydrating before the water boils, so it’s not too hot for her when it’s ready. 

Calzones

One recent hike, Lee made calzones in the morning. We wrapped them in towels in our bags, and they were nicely warm for lunch. 

Smashed Sammiches

A traditional choice. Boo is fond of peanut butter and jelly. 

Random Plants

Though we try to keep this to a snack level, there is always the option to eat what plants are edible and allowed. We’ve been known to munch on dandelion greens, garlic mustard, and an assortment of berries.

What do your kids eat for lunch? Is it any different than what the adults eat?

 

Whistles: Review-ish

When she started running ahead of us, we decided we needed to start teaching her basic getting unlost skills. First was “If you get lost, hug a tree and stay put.” Then we got her a whistle. 

The first whistle she had was a yellow one like this. It was too easy for her to cover the holes with her mouth. 

Many backpacks come with whistles built in to the sternum strap (like this). While I can make an OK tweet on one, Boo doesn’t have sufficient control to keep the holes uncovered and make any noise. It’s a nice backup, but not sufficient for her yet.

Now she uses an orange whistle like this. She likes it best. The sound holes are furthest away from the mouth, so she’s most successful making noise with this type. 

We do have her practice with them occasionally, in situations where nobody is likely to mistake it for an actual emergency call (trail head, back yard…). 

The other thing we do is put her whistle on a break-awayneck lanyard. We bought a pack online, and I cut out 5-6” of the strap to make the length better for her. It stays looped on her backpack, or is a safe necklace. We did lose one once, but I’d rather she have the breakaway safety feature right now. 

I’ve considered a bigger whistle with the holes even further away and harder to cover up, but I’m afraid those are too big for a good little kid necklace. Thoughts? 

The boy had three whistles on him the last time we discussed it. One plain yellow whistle, an two that were parts of emergency/survival multi-use things. 

What whistle (if any) do your kids carry?

My Favorite Place to Play

Forest Park Nature Center in Peoria Heights, IL.

Nice little museum (mostly hands-on), some critters, frequent classes, friendly staff, store, and a few miles of beautiful trails.

And the best selection of fair-trade, organic, shade-grown, bird-pooped-on coffee in the area.

Where do you like to hang out and brag about your outdoor exploits?

Scavenger Hunt

I got a new camera, and Boo immediately claimed the old one. 

The next Saturday, instead of hiking, the adults in the house were cleaning up after a horrible pickle juice spill in the refrigerator. Boo was in desperate need of some outside time, but wanted company. I suggested a scavenger hunt. A photography scavenger hunt. She jumped at the idea. 

So I made up a list. Things I could draw, since she’s not quite literate, and both easy and hard for her to find. Easy: green grass, mud puddle, bulbs coming up. Hard: bike, bird, squirrel. She took her list and camera and had a fun almost-hour running around the yard. 

 On hikes, we generally give her one or two interesting things to look for if she gets whiny, but this has potential. And will become easier as she reads more words...

Do you kids carry a camera? 

Have you done scavenger hunt hikes? How did it go? 

Good Friday Hike

We had Friday off. What better way to fill it than taking a nice long hike? Boo has been agitating to hike “to the freeway” for months, and we haven’t had enough daylight or good weather at the same time. Friday… it looked good. Weather was sunny, warming up quickly after dawn, and it’s been dry enough most of the mud is walkable. 

Lee made calzones first thing in the morning, then wrapped them up in a towel to keep warm. I packed our big bags with what was to hand.

There were a number of trees across the trail to clamber over. Lots of hickory husks to collect. Plentiful benches for rests and snacks. We found a dead small mammal (mole?) that was very interesting. While most of the trail was dry enough, there were a couple places Boo almost lost her shoes.

Lee heard squirrel sound, “Wow, guys look!” There was a hawk chasing a squirrel! It swooped and missed a few times, the squirrel ran even faster than they usually do, ran over a bump, hawk disappeared behind the bump, brief kurfluffle, and silence. Wow.

Boo was thrilled when we first could see the freeway. She was even more excited when we dropped down and saw the new tunnel under the freeway. We were expecting her to look into the tunnel and be done with it. But she really wanted to go through. OK then. She held Lee’s hand the whole way through, and almost lost her shoes in the mud at the far end. 

After the tunnel is a bridge, and that’s where the trail currently ends. So we ate our lunch. The calzones were still warm, and oh my gosh they were good. Oranges, raisins, and Sweet Tarts finished the meal. 

As Lee and I put our packs back on, Boo was already halfway back to the tunnel. This time she bopped through without a hand. 

Funny thing about spring hikes. It’s sunny and warm, but there’s no leaves on the trees! Poor Boo was so desperate for shade she crawled under a bench at one stop, and eventually ended up wearing Lee’s hat. 

The trail had softened up during the day, and walking down the north sides of the hills was slippery slidey. Boo ended up falling a few times. 

Another hiker passed us as Boo was flagging. She perked right up and started running. So another motivator for my kiddo is a friendly stranger. Who doesn’t mind getting their ear talked off…. 

We did four miles in about 4 hours. Boo was tuckered out, but after an hour of quiet time at home, she played outside and rode her bike until dinner, so we could have gotten another mile or two out of her with judicious breaks and feeding.

What is your favorite and least favorite part of spring hiking?

Tuesday Trails

In addition to trying to get into condition for summer hikes (made harder by alternating sleet and mud), we  have added a weekly "observation hike". Every Tuesday afternoon, we head to a specific 1/2 mile trail and pay attention. The idea is to slow down, see how one place changes week to week, and use our senses as much as we can. Then we come home and write about it in journals.

We have a couple locations where we take a picture every week. For instance, here's the prairie.

Week 1:


Week 2:


Week 3:


It's a lot harder to beg off because the weather isn't perfect, or we had a rough day at work. We're paying attention to the general sounds of birds, and we see a lot more animal tracks.

Once the weather starts being less wet, we're going to bring the journals with us. 



All the Tuesday Trails pics