Hiking

Sam has had two hiking experiences so far as we introduce him to some of the things our family loves to do. For our first trip, we stayed close to home to soothe my mama fears and see how Sam managed. We spent two hours on Nose Hill Park, a 5-mile-square nature reserve five minutes from our house. It was a gorgeous day with the endless blue skies that Alberta is known for.

Sam seemed to do well being in the backpack and eventually I quit pausing us every three feet to check that he was breathing and his oxygen was on and he was not slouchy. Zachary was in heaven out there as he is our mountain-boy by nature. Daniel expressed his enjoyment of our hike with repetitive statements such as, "How long do we have to be out here?!" and "Are you trying to torture us?!" and "How far is the car?!" Jacob employed his charming strategy of falling to the ground as though wounded in battle and turning himself into moaning deadweight until he gets carried for a distance. While annoying, it does reassure me that my children are not *entirely* made up their outdoorsy-dad's DNA.

Chris carrying Samuel and oxygen tank. (I know. My husband is a total hottie.)

Chris carrying Samuel and oxygen tank and Jacob.
(If that is not a triumphantly devious look in Jacob's eyes, I don't know what is.)

Lunch break.

A little thumb is a tasty way to end a meal, even out here on Nose Hill.

Gorgeous day with my boys.



So buoyed were we by our hiking success that we decided to try a mountain hike the following weekend. We drove about forty minutes west, just this side of Banff National Park, to a hike I have done every summer, including pregnant and with littles, for ten years. Ahh, look how normal my new life with a family of six is!

It was cooler out there than in the city and we hadn't brought sweaters, so a brief discussion of weather provisions was had. Then I fed Sam in the front seat of the van. Then we put him into the backpack and he screamed. Then we put him into the front carrier but realized it was dangerous to hike when I couldn't see my feet over rocks and roots and bridges. And that falling would mean crushing him. Then we put him back in the backpack and he screamed. Please also imagine our varied interventions as the other boys used their "hiking sticks" as weapons and I contemplated whether Canmore or Calgary would be the hospital of choice if they impaled an eyeball.

Finally, I wandered over to the trailhead with Sam, trying to walk off some frustration, and was greeted by a large yellow sign that said, "BEAR IN AREA." I have hiked and camped around bears my whole life but... not today, folks. I have to admit that all of this took the wind out of my sails more than I would have liked. I really wanted to prove - I am not sure to whom - that my family was "normal" again, that Sam was just part of us. He is no longer that little half-bald, chicken-legged, struggling-to-survive, tubed-up baby from the hospital. But I guess he's not totally mountain-ready either.

All was not lost though. We stopped to eat our picnic lunch and ended up finding a lovely little hike with groomed trails, that is, trails not likely to present multiple tripping hazards if I was to wear Sam in the front carrier. It wasn't so much a "hike" by our standards but it was pretty and we were surrounded by mountains and nature and an incredible number of birds. And so I'll take it.

Yo yo. Just hikin' in the woods, homey.

 

Sam and me.  

 

My boys with Mount Yamnuska in the background. (We'll hike that one next year.)