Taking Your Second Child on Their First Backpacking Trip

Bishop Pass Trailhead

Having successfully taken my 10 year old son on his first backpacking trip several months prior as I had chronicled in Taking Your Child on Their First Backpacking Trip, it was time to introduce my 5 year old to the activity. I knew the timing was right as when I got a new small summit pack for my recent birthday and my 5 year old put it on immediately and thought it was for him. He proudly wore it around the house for almost an hour, blowing the whistle built into the yolk strap buckle I did not even know it had. He had seen his brother pack and return from his backpacking trip and assumed he was next.

I wanted to strike while the iron was hot. It wasn’t long before we had a planned boy’s trip to Mammoth with friends. We would take a few lazy days exploring and camping on the way up and then stay with our friends in their condo once in Mammoth. Our friends had to be home on a Friday but I saw no reason to rush home and thought this would be a good opportunity to fit in a backpacking trip for both of my boys and I. After speaking with my friend Edd about it, he suggested a great location he had taken his niece for her first backpacking trip near South Lake in the Sierras outside of Bishop.

With the location now selected the trip was nearly set. I needed to obtain a wilderness permit for our overnight stay. These can be reserved for $5 per person in advance or obtained free after 11:00AM the day prior to entry into the backcountry. As I was trying to show my boys on this trip that you do not have to pay to camp I opted for the free, walk in option. We visited the ranger station in Mammoth and obtained our permit with no problem.

The trail above South Lake

The following morning we arrived in the South Lake parking lot and found the trailhead for Bishop Pass which was the trail we would be hiking. The itinerary took us from South Lake up to Long Lake, about a 2 mile hike with about 500 ft. of elevation gain. We would enter the John Muir Wilderness about halfway into our route. The altitude at Long Lake was around 11,000 ft. but the boys had been acclimatized at Mammoth so the elevation was not much of a factor. We got our packs ready. My 5 year old carried my ultralight sleeping bag and his clothes. My 10 year old had his own gear plus a stove and the tent poles while I carried the rest. After a quick lunch near the trailhead overlooking the beautiful South Lake and a quick gear check, we were off.

The hike starts by climbing up and out of the South Lake basin. The views were incredible but the trail was uphill and it was early afternoon. My youngest, Eric, needed frequent breaks and said his legs were tired after only a ¼ mile or so. I let him know that there was plenty more hiking but that we would take breaks regularly. We slowly made our way along the trail, stopping to talk to other hikers who were most impressed at the efforts of my two boys.

Gregory points out a waterfall to his brother.

Eric started to get fairly tired at about the halfway point. His older brother Gregory did a good job encouraging him but it was not enough. I remembered that my parents always kept some high energy (sweet and sugary) snacks to motivate my sister on hikes so I figured I would give that a try. I offered him a chewy granola bar which he gladly accepted and he devoured it in no time. Within about 15-20 minutes it was quite apparent that it was working. We got to a short section of switchbacks and he started running up them! His brother and I laughed at the transformation. The trail soon leveled out and I informed the boys that this meant we had climbed out of the South Lake basin and would soon be arriving at Long Lake.

Eric evaluates a creek crossing

Arriving at Long Lake

Chocolate Peak in the background

While the thought of reaching our destination was appealing, mosquitoes began to appear. We quickly put on some bug repellant and stepped up the pace to get out of that area. Not too much further brought us to the first views of the lovely alpine Long Lake. The lake sits nestled between two mountain ridges with some of the best scenery you could ever imagine surrounding it. Tall craggy peaks and ridges contrasted by white snow and glaciers filled the upper elevations. The area around the lake was a mix of granite and pine trees mixed with a few meadows. We saw a few people hiking and fishing but they all looked like they were packing up to head back down. We proceeded to a secluded camp location that my friend Edd had informed me of. As this is the backcountry, there are no designated camps. You need to be 100 ft. from lakes, creeks and trails and follow the Leave No Trace guidelines. After a little searching we found the exact location my friend had suggested.

The boys and I set up our tent and put our gear inside. Our food was packed in our bear canister and we located that and our stoves about 100 ft. from our camp. The lake was calling us so down to the water we went with our water filter in-hand. Gregory just wanted to take pictures but Eric and I took off our shoes and socks and put our feet in the cold water. We pumped water through the filter and cooled off. Since we had the entire lake to ourselves I suggested skinny dipping to the boys. Eric took me up on it and he and I stripped down. Eric got about waist deep before he decided it was too cold. I got in about as far and he was right, but went on in anyway. Brrrrrrrrrrrr! I guess those glaciers we could see above us were melting directly into this lake. I lasted about 10 seconds in the water and it was time to get out. We dried off, pumped some more water and decided it was time to start dinner.

Trail alongside Long Lake

Our dinner consisted of one of our homemade freezer bag meals and a store bought freeze dried entre. Our freezer bag meal, chicken stuffing, was far superior to the store bought beef enchilada. It further confirmed my opinion that we can make better tasting meals than the experts. We heated our water on our homemade alcohol stoves and enjoyed our dinner in the last direct sunlight of the day before it dropped behind the ridge to the West.

With the sun down it was time to think about getting our stuff ready for the night. I wanted to pump enough water so that we would have all we needed for the morning and the hike out. The visit to the shoreline was an experience. The mosquitoes had been thickening since the sun went down. The worst time for mosquitoes is in the early morning or early evening, when there is no wind and especially near swampy areas or standing water. Guess what the conditions were like at that time at waters edge? You guessed it, prime time mosquito happy hour. While pumping water I had both my boys swatting them off of me. Despite the bug repellant, the mosquitoes descended upon us like gold panners to the American River upon the discovery of gold at Sutters Mill. After pumping water we headed back to our camp area.

Our mosquito free refuge!

The mosquito issue was not improving so I took the boys on a short hike to get a few pictures along the lake. We returned to camp in about 20 minutes and still the mosquitoes were horrible. While it was only 7:30PM, I decided it was time to crawl into our only safe haven from these vampires! Into the tent we went. We exterminated the few blood suckers that snuck in with us and began to enjoy this bug free zone. Since it was early we needed something to do. Unfortunately, we brought nothing in the form of entertainment. We began by reading every word on our wilderness permit. That lasted about 15 minutes. The boys then wanted me to tell them stories. I told some past tales of my childhood which put Eric to sleep. After almost an hour of story telling I had Greg tell me a story and that put me to sleep. He was on his own but he did not last long after me, he says.

The boys and I on our way out.

Our final view of Long Lake.

I awoke early and delayed getting out of the tent until at least I could see a slight change in the color of the sky so I knew the sun would be up fairly soon. I rousted the boys out of the tent by 7AM and we made our oatmeal breakfast and had cereal bars. We got all packed up and on the trail by 8AM. To keep Eric motivated I informed him that the sooner we finish the sooner he would get to see Mom. It had been just over a week since we left home and both boys were excited to get back home to tell Mom all about their adventures. We got back to the truck by about 10:00AM and cleaned up. We headed on down the highway to Lone Pine for some lunch. After backpacking I let them know that they could have anything they wanted for lunch. Thinking they were getting away with the crime of the century they both ordered a cherry coke with their lunch as I kept them on a no soda diet for the last week.

Over that lunch I asked Eric what was his favorite part of his first backpacking trip. He replied, “putting my feet in the water.” Not what I had expected to hear from him but it certainly helps me understand what a 5 year old enjoys. I will make sure that future backpack trips with the boys include stops along creeks, rivers and lakes for plenty of time to soak their feet, and perhaps a cold swim for Dad!