california – Page 6 – Mommy Hiker

Caves and Creeks and Conductors! Oh My! – Hiking Malibu Creek Trail with a Toddler

Posted on July 29, 2013April 28, 2016 by Jennifer Fontaine

On this week’s Friday Family Hike, we journeyed 30 minutes north of Los Angeles to trek the Malibu Creek Trail to the Rock Pool! After almost two years of hiking with my babe you can imagine that we’ve been all over LA and beyond! There are so many old favorites that we go back to again and again, so it’s a lot of fun to venture to a new park and discover that it can be easily explored by a 2 1/2 year old. After Friday, Malibu Creek State Park is definitely one of our new favs!

When researching the trail information, we read that there is a $12 fee for parking, but there are also two designated state park parking lots available for free .2 miles away from the Park’s entrance, on Mulholland Drive, so we parked there and walked along Las Virgenes Road into the park and to the trail head.

It was a warm and misty (at times downright rainy) summer morning; perfect for staying cool and comfortable! Just steps into our hike, we made our first creek crossing and V was sure we had made it to the Rock Pool! After a little coercion and necessary time spent throwing various-sized rocks and sticks into the water, we were ready to move on!

The trail mosied ever so slightly up then leveled off when we reached the grasslands, a sprawling swath of meadows with so many nooks and crannies to explore, you can almost end your hike there, which we almost did. We found this felled log along the trail and decided to stop for lunch…

which turned into an hour-long playtime complete with V conducting Mother Nature’s orchestra and a bit of quiet contemplation!

I assumed, by that point, V would want to head back, but she wanted to explore some more, so we continued up the trail along a dry creek bed where I spied on the other side a huge rock face full of large wind-eroded holes. So, off trail we went, over the rocky creek bed and spent another hour carefully traversing the rock face and exploring every person-sized ‘cave’ we could safely climb.

We sat, looking out, enjoying our newly-found perspective perched high above the trail, sang songs, played patty cake, I Spy and even were lucky enough to coerce some hikers over to snap a picture of us!

At that point, it was getting dangerously close to naptime and with all of the hiking V had already done, I decided there was no reason to push on, we would have to make it to the Rock Pool another day and you can be sure, we’ll be back to Malibu Creek State Park soon!

Hiking & Hijinks in the Majestic High Sierras – Family Camping in Sequoia National Park

Posted on July 22, 2013February 24, 2016 by Jennifer Fontaine

We’re baaaaaack! Fully recharged, feeling rejuvenated and reconnected to this beautiful world we are blessed to call home. There’s something about being 6,700 feet up in the High Sierras that lifts my soul up, reminding me of just how grateful I am to have what I have and to do what I do and to be who I am, evolving and growing and mastering my awareness that I am always changing.

Hiking the Kaweah River Falls trail with toddler

Basking in the beauty of the Kaweah River Falls!

As is necessary when camping in Sequoia National Park during the summer months, we made our Lodgepole Campground reservations back in mid January and eagerly counted down the days. All One Hundred & Eighty of them! Fortunately, we had also planned a late spring camping trip to Big Sur as well, so we were able to bridge the seemingly infinite gap between trips.

This marked our third trip to the high Sierras and we enjoy it a little more each time! Within minutes of entering the park’s main entrance, we were greeted by 3 deer crossing the canyon floor. Early the next morning we were treated to another deer having breakfast 10 feet from our campsite!

Then, we all watched in amazement as a gorgeous brown bear made it’s way across the rocky creek bed a mere 100 yards from our tents! We were all so caught up in the awe of the moment that none of even thought to grab our cameras, but when the momma bear showed up later to fish in the creek with her cubs, thank goodness Uncle Joey snapped some pictures!

Mama Bear with her Cub (Can you spot her cub?)

We walked the land that John Muir fought so passionately to preserve so that we could all drink the deep breath of its wild air. “Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature’s peace will flow into you as sunshine into trees. The wind will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves,” he said and we did.

Hiking Tokopah Falls Trail with a toddler

Snack Break on the Tokopah Falls Trail

The more we camp with our toddler (this is her 4th camping trip), the more experience we gain, the more organized and prepared we become, the more we realize that we can do this….MORE! Thanks to our much smaller and more useful tent, our meticulously packed camping bins and tons of food prepared ahead of time, we were able to spend much of our days playing, exploring, discovering and taking lots of pictures!

Frolicking through fields of wildflowers

Discovering hidden creek-side beaches

Sketching the sweeping Sierra vistas

Learning how to skateboard with Uncle Joey

Swimming with the Trout

On our last night, my hubby and I sat curled up next to a crackling fire, V tucked snugly into her sleeping bag, and we were already discussing how we are going to squeeze in another camping trip before the end of the summer! We can’t wait!

[Guest Blogger Series] Raising An Environmentally Aware Child By Tina Hamilton

Posted on July 1, 2013February 24, 2016 by Jennifer Fontaine

It’s that time again! This month our Guest Blogger is Tina Hamilton, who embodies all of the qualities and traits that we are working diligently to instill our daughter. With thoughtful discovery and careful exploration, her father and a special circle of other childhood mentors gave her a foundation of love, respect and honor for all of the beauty Mother Nature has to offer. Enjoy!

I have been hiking my entire life. Before I came along, my dad was a lifelong Boy Scout who spent more time outdoors than in. I started hiking with him before I could walk – we have family pictures of him carrying me on his back in an external-frame baby carrier from Patagonia.

Old School Daddy Hiker!

As soon as I was old enough, I signed up with the Girl Scouts as a Brownie. With adventures planned by my scout troop and the (much wilder) adventures planned by my dad, I spent entire summers as a child hiking and camping in the woods, and spent the winters with my feet firmly attached to cross-country skis.

Between my dad, the Girl Scouts, and simply being a product of the 1980’s, I became a stalwart young environmentalist. I followed to the letter every instruction found in “50 Simple Things Kids Can Do to Save the Earth,” I had comic books about pollution in the Amazon rainforest, I read every book by Jean Craighead George I could get my hands on, and I spent long hours debating with my dad whether it was more environmentally sound to use paper plates or to waste water on doing the dishes (I argued that the water could be cleaned while landfills remained forever; Dad argued it was late and “Get Smart” was about to come on).

My experiences in the great outdoors and my involvement in the green movement (before it was known by that name) shaped my life in considerable ways. It gave my dad and I common ground on which to come together during my difficult teen years and my travel abroad for college. It also gave me, I think, an inner core of strength on which I could rely in hard times. “I want to come home,” I would cry to Dad in a trans-Atlantic phone call. “Go for a walk in the woods,” he would say. “You’re always at home in the woods.”

Discovering the beauty of Mother Nature

The benefits of spending time outside can’t be under-emphasized – exercise, family bonding, exploration of nature, and learning responsibility and self-reliance. Going hiking or camping can even make your brain function better, according to neuroscience research reported in Backpacker Magazine.

So what can you do to get your own kids to fall in love with nature? Take some hints from my dad:

Start them early. There are a lot of child-carriers that are far more comfortable for parent and baby than the blue monstrosity still hanging on a hook in my dad’s basement.
Go at their pace. Start with places close to home – a city park can be just as fascinating as a mountainside to a small child. If you’ve got a yearning for a longer hike, leave the kids at home.
See it from their point of view. I still remember the day my dad and I counted 87 extremely tiny frogs that were congregating on the hiking trail. I don’t know where we were or if we ever made it to our destination. But I clearly remember my dad’s excitement matching my own as we kept count.
Bring a friend. For a kid, sharing an outdoor experience with a friend is much different than sharing it with an adult. Plus, kids can keep each other far more entertained than adults can – just ask my dad about the gigglefests my cousin Becky and I used to have.

Climbing Ruins

My final advice? Make it meaningful. Both my dad and the Girl Scouts spent a lot of time emphasizing the “Leave no trace” philosophy. “Take only pictures, leave only footprints,” my Scout leader would say. “Leave it be so you can come back and enjoy it again next time,” Dad would say. Knowing that taking care of the earth was my job gave me a sense of responsibility that has definitely grown over time – and it all started when I was a toddler adventuring through the woods on my dad’s back.

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About the Author

Tina Hamilton is a writer, blogger, and social media enthusiast from Southern California. You can follow her on Google+ and Twitter.