I forced my kids to go on a 70-mile hike with me in California. It taught them what they're capable of.

06.11.2024 - 03:39 / insider.com

To be fair, if you were to ask my three teenagers right now if they liked schlepping all of their belongings on their back to hike so deep in the woods that they had zero connectivity on their cellphones, they would definitely say, "nope!"

Backpacking is hard, really hard, especially if it wasn't your idea to go in the first place and your parents forced you to detox in nature against your will, far away from your friends and digital devices.

On one particular seven-night backpacking trip, where we section hiked for about 70 miles in the high sierras on California's John Muir Trail — the magical land of 14,000-foot peaks, glacial lakes, and glittering slabs of granite — my boys, ages 11, 13, and 14, heard one of two things from nearly every hiker they met on the trail: "I wish my parents took me on a hike like this when I was your age," and, "I wish I took my kids on a backpacking trip when they were little."

I have always loved backpacking with my kids, and hopefully, one day, I'll do it with my grandkids. I want to finish the rest of the 211-mile-long JMT with my sons.

There's a sweet spot, an intersection when your kids are old enough to hike with some weight and you're still healthy, strong, and young enough to tackle the excursion.

After all, it's no easy feat to trek all day, set up camp, cook dinner, sleep on the ground, and then do it all over again the next day and the next.

So, why do I do it? Why drag kids up and over craggy mountaintops or through burly forests, where dangers like impending weather, wildlife, or injury could derail the journey you've been planning for months?

First off, hiking for multiple days in a row, carrying everything you need but nothing you don't, is one of the best ways I know to truly connect with my family.

Without the distractions of smartphones, video games, school and work responsibilities, or other obligations, I'm able to delve into what really matters: carving out meaningful time for my boys.

In the same way that a company retreat can spark creativity by providing employees with a break from routine, our family hikes help us form stronger relationships without the distraction of day-to-day home life.

On our JMT backpacking trip, we cooked meals together, filtered and treated water, set up our tents, and marveled over the day's explorations. One afternoon we spent hours inside our tents, waiting out a passing hailstorm — there was nothing to do but tell jokes, relax our tired bodies, make up songs, and listen to the thumping ice bounce off our tents.

In the backcountry, after a long time spent casting and hoping, my oldest son caught, gutted, and cooked a fish. My middle son, educated about navigation and blazes, trekked a bit ahead on the trail by himself