Baby’s First Backpacking Trip

In preparation for our planned backpacking trip to Yosemite in July, Avery convinced Morgan that it would be a good idea to do a one night practice run at Castle Rock State Park. The theory was that we could get home easily if it all went south.

Friday afternoon Brooke and Avery packed up the backpacks. Brooke liked playing with the z-lite and the waterbottle. Avery took all of the sleeping gear and Morgan took Brooke, her toys, sleeping bag, water and food. Uncle AJ helped us carry our BLTs, one BLP(ickle), and Star Realms.

We met Andrew and Karissa in the parking lot around 5:30 pm and were on the trail at 6:00 pm. Castle Rock regulations said that we had to be off the trail and at camp by sunset. It was 2.6 miles from the parking lot to the Castle Rock Trail Camp.

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Starting pack weights:

• Karissa – 15
• Andrew -21 including 1lb 4oz of dried apricots
• AJ – 25
• Avery – 26 including one 6lb tent
• Morgan – 29 including one 16.5lb baby

The check-in ranger said it was a nice time of day to take the Saratoga Gap Trail to the campground so that we could get the views of the ridge. Karissa navigated us successfully until we got to the intersection where we had to choose to go on the gap trail or the ridge trail. Avery thought they were supposed to take the ridge trail because the ranger had said ridge views, but Morgan remembered that it was the left trail we were suggested to take. After consulting the map, we continued along the Saratoga Gap Trail.

Brooke was in a good mood on the hike. She babbled up a storm and made lots of cute baby noises. AJ discovered that Brooke was very interested in trying to grab his strand of grass. Andrew and Karissa shared their plans for their “wattage cottage” remodel. Karissa wanted it to look like “a mini REI” for their recreation gear. Andrew wanted to create wattage on his bike, but not store it! He did the math and calculated it would take 350 hours of hard biking to charge his Tesla. This was about an hour of peddling for one mile or $0.15 at the super charger. He added that it would also cost him 700 calories. Morgan thought that was equivalent to 2 pizza slices.

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Upon arrival at the Castle Rock Trail Camp, they decided to go to sites 1-5. This ended up being farther than they bargained for. Andrew scouted all of the sites (they were empty) and chose site 5 for the seclusion. We set up camp around 7:30 pm. Brooke had dinner and played with her toys (2 lbs of luxury weight!). Morgan, AJ, and Karissa got the song from the baby flashlight stuck in their heads. “Red, Green, Yellow, Blue! Let’s follow the jungle crew!”

Avery set up the super heavy REI Half Dome Plus tent for Morgan and AJ. Brooke hung out in there with her toys before Avery set up the trekking pole tent for her and Brooke to sleep in. Andrew set up his twin tent for him and Karissa. While packing, Avery discovered that a king size pillow case worked perfect as a fitted sheet for the z-lite. This was Brooke’s bed!

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Since it was getting cold quick, Avery and Morgan put Brooke in her sleeping bag. It was huge on Brooke and had no openings for her hands to keep her warmer at night. It made her super slippery and she flapped around like a flightless bird.

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It was past Brooke’s normal bedtime, so Avery took her into the tent to try to convince her to sleep. Avery closed her eyes, trying to show Brooke that she should also close her eyes. Brooke had other plans and worked overtime to seal-crawl to Mommy and plant her mouth directly on Mom’s. Shocked, Avery told Brooke she had to find someone her own age to lock lips with.

Meanwhile, Morgan was teaching AJ how to play Star Realms and drinking out of his whiskey pouch. Andrew and Karissa were making backpacking meals in pouches. It was a pouch party! Brooke was supposed to join in with her baby food pouch, but was too busy crying in the tent to eat.

Brooke did not want to sleep. Avery played the flashlight songs over and over until she finally drifted off around 9:00 pm. Everyone else tucked in as well. At 11 another group showed up and took campsite 3. They kept talking and Avery had to go ask them to be quiet. It was ironic because Brooke spent the rest of the night waking up every 45-60 mins crying loudly. Avery regretted not bringing Brooke’s beanie and ended up tucking her into her quilt and checking to make sure she was breathing alllllllll night long.

After a restless night, Brooke really woke up at 4 am in a fit of fury that was not assuaged by nursing. Morgan brought Avery a new diaper and Avery changed the diaper in the dark, but kept getting it inside out and twisted because Brooke was NOT cooperative or quiet. Some non-nutritive suckling later, and Brooke finally knocked out until 6. AJ couldn’t sleep after being rudely awoken at 4 and spent the time wandering around the campsite.

The rest of us woke at 6 am to yet more baby crying and tons of condensation on the tent walls. Brooke was late to the pouch party and ate her pouch in Daddy’s tent. Avery packed up the tent while AJ, Morgan, and Karissa took turns eating breakfast and stacking cups for Brooke to babyzilla. We put Brooke in double onesies since it was still cold out but she wanted her hands back.

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After packing up, we dumped our trash in the bear-proof trash cans next to the bathroom (how luxurious), apologized to the neighbors for all the baby screaming, and headed down the Ridge Trail to the parking lot.

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Blaring Brooke played several minutes of Grass Grabbing and then turned into Blissfully Bobbing Brooke and finally Beauty-sleep Brooke. Everyone was extremely relieved she decided to get some shut eye.

We were treated to some views of the marine layer on the way out and had fun working up a fine sweat back to the car.

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Overall, there were some precious memories made and a whole night of type 2 fun! We learned a lot and are going to make a few changes before our Yosemite trip.

Final stats

Pack weights

• Andrew – 11
• Karissa – ??
• AJ – 25
• Avery – 26
• Morgan – ??

Misc stats

• Diapers used: 3
• Pouches finished: 3
• Favorite non-toy toy of the trip: grass
• Times Avery nursed Brooke at night: ~6
• Pounds of apricots left in Andrew’s bag: 1
• Wattage generated: ??
• Number of Gossamer Gear The Two tents: 2

Hours slept

• Avery, Morgan – 3
• Andrew: until 4am
• Karissa: too cold in Andrew’s giant summer bag
• AJ: congested until 4 am

Epilogue

After leaving the parking lot, Brooke pooped and we had to make a roadside change. She was upset and crying mixed with uncontrolled giggling at Mommy playing peekaboo with her in the back seat. Morgan and AJ picked up dim sum while Brooke climbed around the car and played with the Hawaiian macadamia nut bag.

The last 10 minutes of the car ride was soul killing baby screaming. Brooke was overtired and couldn’t be pleased by peekaboo or milk any longer. The rest of us tried to support her by also screaming. It didn’t work. She only screamed louder. AJ couldn’t believe how loud she had gotten in the last 5 months and reminisced about how quiet she was at New Years.

To the relief of everyone in the car, we finally pulled into the driveway and put Brooke down in her crib for some much needed rest. Traumatized, we ate our dim sum outside the house and then set about drying gear, fixing the internet, taking much needed showers, and finally getting some SLEEP!