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Hills with little uns

Hills with little uns


Postby Yerolda » Fri May 27, 2022 8:45 am

Hi all. I'm a long distance walker by preferred hobby, have been bagging trails for the last 10 years now, up to about 1,900 miles of Scottish (& Northern English!) unique recognised trails.

For what is quite a selfish hobby of hours of driving followed by hours of walking followed by hours of driving; i've made the strategic error of choosing to bring a child into the world, due at the end of July.

In an effort to ensure I don't have to give up the main thing i love doing, i'm looking to see if anyone has any advice on what hills, mountains etc, would be traversable safely with a wee one in a proper child safe rucksack carrier on the back.

I doubt i can walk the 20+ miles a day that i aim to do when trail bagging, so i've turned my eye to the idea of hills, where I can more easily get my head around the sort of 5,6,7 mile round trips (albeit, with added incline!). I've been up a few hills in Scotland and the Lake District like Ben A'an or Skiddaw that i've thought would be doable with precious cargo strapped to me. Victorians loved a pony track, bless 'em.


So i wondered... does anyone have any reccomendations about decent sized hills or mountains that would still be safe to go up with a little one on the back? How young have you taken a kid up a hill? Any reccomendations on child carrying backpacks? Anything i haven't considered?
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Re: Hills with little uns

Postby HalfManHalfTitanium » Fri May 27, 2022 10:22 am

I've done many walks with kids in the backpack. Also, they quite quickly started to prefer walking themselves - we climbed Cnicht when my daughter was 3, and went on to do several bigger hills including Tryfan and Cairn Gorm.

Depending on where you are in the UK, I'd suggest the following walks that I've done are back-packable in good summer conditions.

Pen y Fan from Storey Arms
Picws Du / Fan Brycheiniog
Black Mountains - most routes
The Sugar Loaf
Moel Sych / Cadair Berwyn via Llyn Lluncaws
Moel Famau
Snowdon via Snowdon Ranger or Llanberis paths
Kinder Scout from the Hayfield side
Ingleborough from Clapham
Helvellyn from Thirlmere
Skiddaw, as you mention
Grisedale Pike
Cat Bells
Dale Head from Honister
Harter Fell (Mardale) via Gatesgarth pass
Tinto
Broad Law from the Megget Stone (https://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/maps/map1_1bd.shtml)
Ben Lomond - but note that there is one very short steep rocky bit low down on the route
Ben Chonzie
Ben Lawers
Meall Greigh by itself
Meall Buidhe (Glen Lyon)
Meall nan Tarmachan (without the ridge)
Ben Gulabin
Glas Tulaichean
Morrone

I've not done Beinn Ime but I've done the lower part of the route (en route to the Cobbler) and it could be suitable, the upper part carrying on to Beinn Ime summit also looked very straightforward.

The Cairngorms have lots of routes that could be done with a backpack, but I would suggest not bothering with the summits and just doing the approach. For example, the approach to Braeriach from the Sugar Bowl is good as far as the Chalamain Gap. The walk to Coire an t-Sneachda from Coire Cas is good as far as the corrie.

There are also several routes around Drumochter that would be possible.

My main other thought is warm clothes. In my experience children need to be very snugly wrapped up in a backpack since the yare not moving and can get cold very quickly. In warm weather, mine needed lots of water!

tim
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Re: Hills with little uns

Postby Yerolda » Fri May 27, 2022 10:28 am

Thanks for this. I'm in Edinburgh but your Welsh tips won't go wasted, as my partner has family in Wales so it's likely to be a frequent destination. I've lumped up a few moels, including cnicht. Remember that being quite steep! The kind of steep that once they're walking they will bounce up and leave me trailing behind. Perhaps not for the first couple of years though!
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Re: Hills with little uns

Postby cruachan06 » Fri May 27, 2022 10:50 am

Can confirm Tinto, as someone did it on the day I climbed it, although he was knackered and had to pass his son off to the grandad for the way back down. That was a small child not a baby though, as he mentioned 16kg.

I haven't done them myself yet, but planning to as I'm working in Fife at the moment, but the guides on here indicate the Lomond hills have some more gentle slopes as well as a way to ease in to it. I'll be posting a report on East Lomond from Glenrothes soon I expect.
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Re: Hills with little uns

Postby Tringa » Fri May 27, 2022 2:15 pm

Just another thought.

Are you planning to have someone else walking with you when you walk with your little one on your back?

If not, then I'd think very carefully about taking on hills.

You could be absolutely fine but any stumble, twisted ankle or other difficulty you encounter is potentially much more serious when you are carrying a baby and if you are on your own, it could be very serious.

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Re: Hills with little uns

Postby WeeHills » Fri May 27, 2022 4:07 pm

There are plenty of hills that can be done with babies in tow, however, as babies and parents are individuals this is not a straightforward question to answer.

Firstly on what age- very small babies can't be carried on the back. There are front carriers, which can be used from birth, but in my experience not all babies get along with them. My daughter (winter baby) loved it, my son (summer baby) screamed blue murder if you tried to put him in it. Most disappointing, but given the weather that summer I figure he was overheated in it.

Back carriers are usually for ages 6 months up, by which time, given the July due date, it will be winter. I would personally be very wary of heading for bigger hills in the winter months with a wee one, they lose heat fast.

Of course by next summer, age one, your new arrival will still fit the carrier, but how heavy will he or she be by then? I happily carried my own son up Ben Lomond aged 15 months. But my two were wee scraps of nothing, there is not a chance in hell I'd have managed it with my 9 pounder at birth grandson at the same age.

In short there are many variables and my advice mostly would be to not get too set on any particular course of action as that way lies disappointment. Start small, the Pentlands are lovely and handy for Edinburgh, see how it goes, find what works for you and accept your hobby will be curtailed at least to some extent for the next decade or so.

Oh and congratulations!
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Re: Hills with little uns

Postby JWCW2014 » Tue May 31, 2022 6:29 pm

We’re now passed baby carrier stage (and into an older child who is hillwalking mad and a younger one who is keen though still quite wee).

The few times we went in longer walks with a baby carrier (rucksack style) because the little one wasn’t moving they got very cold (or, on hotter days, too hot!). I was always glad to have another adult with me who could check on them, particularly when they’re too small to say that they’re hot/cold etc. they can lose temperature pretty quickly.

Also having a child on your back affects your balance more than a bag of similar weight so I’d advise against any routes that are uneven - a fall with a younger child on your back could do you (or worse, them) an injury. Kids tend to slump to one side and you can’t really correct that and end up walking to compensate which can also significantly affect your balance as their position changes.

Inclination would be not to do anything too remote - babies and children are unpredictable - the pentlands is a good starter probably (and whilst a bit busy, you can see how it goes and build up or abandon ship to the pub.

There was a very small window when our eldest was happy to be in a baby carrier but once they started crawling they just wouldn’t settle. You might have to negotiate your own day release on occasion to tackle the less tame ventures out!
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Re: Hills with little uns

Postby BigTed » Wed Jun 01, 2022 11:11 am

My dad took me and my brother up Ben Lomond when I was 4 or 5 or and my brother was 3 or 4. So my bother was small enough to be carried after walking part of the way.

I had had enough by the start of the second steep section. Maybe 2000 feet. So my dad left me beside the path and said he would be back in an hour or so. Meanwhile I got bored and wandered off back down the path to the carpark myself.

Strangely I don't remember my dad being particularly up or down when the returned. I think he just assumed if I wasn't where he left me I would have made my own way down.

It sounds like a matter for the social workers these day but this was the 60s. I was already walking a mile back from school myself aged 5.
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