1st backpacking trip

[whitefoot]

im thinking of taking my 8 yr. old daughter on her first bp trip soon, anybody have any suggestions on a good place ,semi easy in the adirondacks with maybe some fishing or a leanto there, i know of a couple places but have been there before,looking for new places to go. any help would be appreciated
happt trails,
whitefoot.

[Kevin]

I've been toying with taking my cousin's 8/9 year old daughter out for a hike somtime. Think she would have a blast, but face a similar problem. Because kids seem to have boundless energy, I was thinking Cascade or Blue Mountain as a dayhike. Just to see if she likes hiking, do something I enjoy (climb mountains), and to have a destination/goal with a simple aesthetic reward (views). I wouldn't want to hike 5+ miles into the woods just to find out she's going to be miserable for the weekend.

Ask Tim/Mavs00 about his 2 kids - both 46ers who started hiking around that age. Reason I mention mountains so much is that the summit offers a great reward for kids (grown kids like me too ). Not everyone sees the beauty in 'flat land' backpacking hikes. Hell, I've even hiked some parts of the dacks and about all I took away was "trees, mud, and bugs" as memories. Give her something memorable on her first trip and you increase the odds of her taking interest in it.

[AntlerPerak]

Kevin nailed it with his "boundless energy" comment. The biggest problem is when you get camp setup. They will keep you hopping unless you have a plan to keep them occupied. Fishing, swimming, short day hike to interesting summit. Those sorts of things because you resting and them exploring does not work.