[at-l] Trip Report - Weekend hike with children

[ATtrailhiker at wmconnect.com (ATtrailhiker@wmconnect.com)]

Wow! That sounds like a fun hike!  We hike and camp about every weekend from 
March until usually the end of October. I really think it's great for the 
kids! 

We too went hiking on the AT this past weekend with our 2 boys (9 & 5). 
Friday night we parked at VA 623 Garden Mountain and walked north to Davis Farm 
Campsite, only to find some people already camped there. So we hiked back to the 
road, and since it was already pitch black out, decided to sleep in the van. 
We woke up at 2:30 a.m. Saturday, couldn't sleep very well, was really cold and 
windy, so we felt getting up and moving we could keep warm. It worked for the 
most part. We hiked 8 miles south to Chestnut Knob Shelter, and then to the 
spring-fed pond, where we set up camp. It warmed up a little bit as the day 
progressed. It was a great day of hiking, and after the kids played in camp, they 
definitely had a lot more energy than us, supper was made, and we crashed at 
5:30 p.m. Woke up on Sunday at 6:30 a.m., and we had our coffee and oatmeal, 
and cleaned up camp. It was a much warmer day, which made for a perfect 8 mile 
hike back to our van.

BTW, the kids LOVE to camp and hike, and even my little one, will play camp, 
during the week at home.

It would be neat to see more little ones out on the trail, getting an early 
start!  And would love to hear more "family"  trip reports.

Shatto Express