Kid friendly hike and paddle

Last weekend my sister, brother in law, and 2 nieces joined me for a short hike and paddle at the Fields Pond Audubon Center. Both girls love being outside. They are always pointing out flowers, insects, and birds. I knew that they would enjoy the trails at Fields Pond. They also love the water, on it or in it. Still, they are young and there is a few years between them so their attention can be short and varied. I was confident that a short hike on the Lake Shore trail followed by a paddle on the pond would keep them engaged, but also give them chances to play, be distracted, and reengage with a new activity.

When we arrived at Fields Pond, the boats, lifejackets and paddles were already loaded into backpacks. The girls played on the beach for a bit, as we sorted food, sunscreen and water into packs. All this efficiency had an unintended consequence, a bit of mystery. They had never seen the boats, and were not convinced that the backpacks were big enough to carry boats. This added to the excitement when we reached the end of the walk and pulled the boats out to get ready to paddle. Curiosity and a bit of swimming distracted them from the mosquitos, for the most part.

Next we carried the inflated boats to the water, this helped prove that they existed. The transition from hiking to paddling was a great mix of chances for the girls to help out and to play on their own. We did have a short negotiation about what color boat people would paddle. Blue was a crowd pleaser. Once we were on the water and moving, this concern faded away.

You might be wondering why add all the extra work, why not just go for a hike then go for a paddle? This trip offers a few answers. One, the novelty of carrying the boats on the hike was exciting for the girls. Two, we were able to always travel to new places. We did not have to walk or paddle sections we had already done. Third, it gave us flexibility. When we arrived in the morning the wind was blowing across the pond towards us. If we had paddled first we would have had to paddle into the wind at the start of the day. Instead we were able to walk to the far end of the pond, leaving us with a down wind paddle.

To be honest we didn’t paddle the whole way. We had some help from the wind. We rafted our rafts together and ate lunch in the middle of the pond. After lunch we had a short paddle back to the start and some time for a swim.

Find our more about Packraft Day Trips or Contact Me to plan a trip for your family.