Taking our daughter/ Moffat 2019 Trips

[william schmaltz]

Thanks for sharing! How old was she when you did the first fly out trip? I had my wife convinced on taking our guy moose hunting this year (he will be 11 months then) but she has been bombarded from all sides and talked out of it (for now). I understand that she isn't willing to accept the risk of all the potential new exposure items and the bacteria that can be present in a 10 day remote camp. Especially when you factor in that it could be impossible for help to come when you most need it.

As I've mentioned before, I would love to read that article!

Everyone looked at us like we were crazy with the pack and play in our Arctic Oven last weekend. Glad we aren't the only ones!

 

[Becca]

Thanks for sharing! How old was she when you did the first fly out trip? I had my wife convinced on taking our guy moose hunting this year (he will be 11 months then) but she has been bombarded from all sides and talked out of it (for now). I understand that she isn't willing to accept the risk of all the potential new exposure items and the bacteria that can be present in a 10 day remote camp. Especially when you factor in that it could be impossible for help to come when you most need it.

As I've mentioned before, I would love to read that article!

Everyone looked at us like we were crazy with the pack and play in our Arctic Oven last weekend. Glad we aren't the only ones!

Molly's first fly out hunt (aside from the two while I was pregnant) she was 7 months old. I actually think that was easier than the one we did the following year at 19 months bc she wasn't mobile or eating much solid food. She was happy sitting on a raincoat or in a cardboard box. By last year she was walking (badly haha) and needed a lot more to keep her happy.

As parents we all have to make judgement calls about what risks we are comfortable with. I spoke with our pediatrician at length before our first trip, and have done all our trips with our doctor's encouragement.I do carry OTC meds for Molly, and take an epipen junior as well. Truly all any of us can do is try to make safe choices and mitigate risks, none of us can eliminate risks although unless we simply stay home and live in a bubble.

Something I've noticed is that most of the "naysayers" aren't taking their kids on backcountry trips. Most of them don't take their wives, and many don't even go themselves. We try to critically evaluate the comments from the peanut gallery, consider the source and make our decisions based on experience.

 

[Becca]

As I've mentioned before, I would love to read that article!

Everyone looked at us like we were crazy with the pack and play in our Arctic Oven last weekend. Glad we aren't the only ones!

I will try to keep notes this season for the article, it's a good project for next winter

I really hate the weight of the pack n play, and generally prefer our lightweight pea pod tent instead. But for winter camping we wanted her off the ground and safely contained away from the buddy heater. She slept 13 hours every night so she must have been comfy.

 

[ffparamedic]

Love this Becca!! Our new little guy is 3 months old! Ready to get him on some adventures.


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[bz_711]

Great stuff!

 

[Reburn]

Like everyone else said its very cool seeing someone include their toddler. Kudos.

The picture of Molly teaching Luke to read was my favorite.

 

[william schmaltz]

As parents we all have to make judgement calls about what risks we are comfortable with. I spoke with our pediatrician at length before our first trip, and have done all our trips with our doctor's encouragement.I do carry OTC meds for Molly, and take an epipen junior as well. Truly all any of us can do is try to make safe choices and mitigate risks, none of us can eliminate risks although unless we simply stay home and live in a bubble.

Something I've noticed is that most of the "naysayers" aren't taking their kids on backcountry trips. Most of them don't take their wives, and many don't even go themselves. We try to critically evaluate the comments from the peanut gallery, consider the source and make our decisions based on experience.

I hear you loud and clear. We had people freak out just giving our little guy a ride in the Beaver. Which is statistically safer than driving to Anchorage (or just walking on the street there). Luckily it isn't too hard to put yourself in proximity of like-minded people in AK. The problem is her forgetting about the potential negatives the "naysayers" have placed in her.

I also hope you didn't confuse my inquiry with judgement. I am all in on they way you guys bring her with! I asked about age so I can go to my wife and say "see, they did it!". I'm just trying to get her to the same level of comfort.

 

[Yellowknife]

Thanks for sharing! How old was she when you did the first fly out trip? I had my wife convinced on taking our guy moose hunting this year (he will be 11 months then) but she has been bombarded from all sides and talked out of it (for now). I understand that she isn't willing to accept the risk of all the potential new exposure items and the bacteria that can be present in a 10 day remote camp. Especially when you factor in that it could be impossible for help to come when you most need it.

Our first kid spent over 60 days in the bush starting at 11 months. It wasn't tent camping, but it was fairly primitive log cabin life ~100 miles from the nearest road. We came out for one weekend in that time. I won't lie and say it was easy, but it wasn't life threatening, and sickness was a non-issue (unlike if we were in town).

A newborn can theoretically be fragile health wise, but by 11 months they are usually pretty dang tough and able to tolerate quite a bit. We found the key to a happy baby on a remote trip is basically breaking them in to it. If they are an "indoor" baby, then the sensations of temperature swings, bugs and wind will make for an unhappy life (mostly for the parent). If they have spent plenty of time outside, then it's just life as far as they are concerned. Eating a little dirt and a few bugs hasn't hurt any of mine yet, and if anything removing them from urban life likely results in LESS germs.

By far the biggest issue with backcountry babies and toddlers has always been the sleep thing for us. They get buzzed on the whole adventure and skip naps and don't sleep the first few nights. That can be rough and a major consideration if you are trying to be an effective hunter.

 

[Becca]

I hear you loud and clear. We had people freak out just giving our little guy a ride in the Beaver. Which is statistically safer than driving to Anchorage (or just walking on the street there). Luckily it isn't too hard to put yourself in proximity of like-minded people in AK. The problem is her forgetting about the potential negatives the "naysayers" have placed in her.

I also hope you didn't confuse my inquiry with judgement. I am all in on they way you guys bring her with! I asked about age so I can go to my wife and say "see, they did it!". I'm just trying to get her to the same level of comfort.

I think we are absolutely on the same page, no judgement felt here. Obviously every family will have their own comfort level with this stuff, largely influenced by the experience they bring to the table before kids show up I think. We are by no means experts, still just figuring this out like everyone else. Parenthood is absolutely a moving target haha. Glad we could provide you a "see, they did it!" That was essentially my goal with this post.

 

[WhiteOak]

I'll definitely be following along. Thank you for putting this together! I've always been inspired by the parents that make the choice to not change thier lifestyle with kids but to involve the kids from the start. It gets way too easy to fall into the rut of not doing things you want because it would be too hard to take the kids. My 2 oldest girls are now old enough to hike on thier own for a bit.(2 and 3 but at this point they would never ride in a pack for longer than a few mins). We just had a boy a couple weeks ago and I am vowing to not make the same mistakes. I want to take him with me as much as possible getting used to riding on my back and get the whole family outside making memories as much as possible. Way to go guys! Your daughter has some pretty cool parents.

 

[Becca]

Glad you chimed in YK, your adventures with your young kids have been really inspiring to us on our own journey tofamily adventures. While Molly is a pretty great sleeper both at home and in the field, I don't mean to give the impression that we haven't had our share of challenges. Like the 6 night Kodiak trip last summer where she was awake in the middle of the night every night for hours. Or the moose hunt where she screamed for hours and kept everyone in camp awake because it was unseasonably warm and I dressed her too hot for bed. I do think the more we go, the easier it gets. Camping and the outdoors becomes more "normal" to her the more we do it I think.

Something that seems to help the sleep issues some is keeping as many things routine as we can. This means we haul a pacifier, stuffed animal and a white noise machine with us. Those are extra ounces of totally worth it at this point.

 

[Fendrick]

Nothing better than having your kids out with you. My youngest is 9 and he gets made during bow season here in Wisconsin when I go out on a school night as he doesn’t get to tag along. He loves spending time in the woods. We don’t have the backwoods experience that you gutless out west have, but it’s fun to get them out whenever you can doing anything that is not staring at a screen.

 

[AK Troutbum]

Very cool! And I laughed about the fruit snacks...frequent snacks seem to be key in keeping her happy

Hey, I like fruit snacks too, you think maybe you could take me next time! Great job guys and great idea about taking the “play” tent as well, I imagine that came in very handy. I think it’s a wonderful thing getting her out while she is young, and although she may not remember much about these times when she gets older, you guys are sure to remember, and you’ll have the pictures to prove it. Shoot, she will have experienced more wild outdoor nights in her first few years, than probably 90% of the population experience in their lifetime. Keep it up!!


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[Becca]

Hey, I like fruit snacks too, you think maybe you could take me next time! Great job guys and great idea about taking the “play” tent as well, I imagine that came in very handy. I think it’s a wonderful thing getting her out while she is young, and although she may not remember much about these times when she gets older, you guys are sure to remember, and you’ll have the pictures to prove it. Shoot, she will have experienced more wild outdoor nights in her first few years, than probably 90% of the population experience in their lifetime. Keep it up!!


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Thanks for the kind words, Greg. You've done some amazing Kodiak trips with your son, it's so inspiring seeing other folks getting out with their kids. Let us know when you want to join us for a trip, we'll bring the snacks but you might have to carry them yourself

The "play tent" is the kidco peapod plus, and has truly been invaluable for us in getting a good nights sleep in the field. In the picture below we used it in our Cimarron, but she's slept in it everywhere from cabins, to our enclosed trailer (aka ghetto camper), to floorless shelters, to our cabelas guide model. It offers a bit in the way of "containment", as well as being easily covered with a sheet to make it darker. Its bug proof and has an integrated sleeping pad, although sometimes we leave that home in favor of a closed cell foam pad with higher R value. Her toddler sleeping bag and even a full sized pillow fit inside easily (when weight is no object).

https://imgur.com/a/ljLHAcq

 

[Becca]

Summer got away from me, and I didnt do the job I intended to in keeping this thread updated. We spent quite a bit of time camping over the summer, with some hiking and fishing thrown in. We also spent 4th of July at our friends' remote fly in fishing lodge.

We spent a week camping on the beach in Homer, AK with my family. More of an urban camping trip, but we had a great time.

Hiking

Campfire s'mores. Shes much more careful around campfires this year which is nice.

Learning to fish with her "Olaf" fishing pole

Early silver salmon

Float plane trip to our friends' lodge. Molly's great about wearing her "airplane ears" in small planes.

We've had our share of sleeping challenges when we are away from home, but the peapod tent continues to work very well for the most part.

 

[Becca]

The first week in August we flew back to kodiak for our annual deer hunt. Our friends Jake (elkeaterCO) and Sarah joined us from Colorado.

The Beaver loaded down with us and our gear. We took a heavy camp and real food for this one, which was awesome.

Headed out to hunt for the day.

Molly is getting heavy these days, but still loves riding in the backpack. She typically talks the entire time.

Molly was a lot more interested in the whole process this year, which was a lot of fun. She was excited to inspect each deer, and asked a lot of questions during the butchering.

Certainly a group effort, we were so grateful to have Jake and Sarah along, and appreciated all their help and patience.

The four of us were blessed to kill 8 deer, which is as many as we'd hoped for since that pretty much filled up the airplane going back to town.

 

[Ryan Avery]

@Becca I didn't know you hung out with such a shady crowd

 

[Becca]

@Becca I didn't know you hung out with such a shady crowd

We had practice when we took you and Kelly You’ll have to come again some year!