So My Wife and I Are Going To Be Trek Parents. Who's Done It?

[UNSTUCK]

I'm sure this will turn out to be a pretty interesting experience for us, but right now I'm a bit apprehensive about it. I want the kids to have a great experience so I want to be as prepared as possible. I would say that both Mary and I really enjoy the outdoors, but neither of us could/would go hike 30 miles tomorrow. Fortunately we have 3 months to get ready, in every way. We have no Trek knowledge or experience. We have never done any hiking of more than a mile or so. In reality they couldn't have picked a couple that is more unprepared for this kind of journey. So, please, help us get ready.

First thing I'd like to cover is clothing. This should be much easier for me. Sounds like they want me in khaki pants and long sleeve button up shirts. Mary will be wearing a pioneer type dress, but under that it sounds like yoga type pants are popular. I've been looking at "hiking" pants and it looks like a lot of them will pass for khaki pants. Easy enough. Can someone recommend a pair or brand they think would work well? Got any ideas for shirts? I imagine I'll just find a big shade hat to wear as well. I have a nice pair of hiking boots I plan to use. What about socks? Just double up my gym socks? What about these "smartwool" type socks? Are they worth $20-30 a pair? Do you still wear a thinner sock under them? One pair the whole trip or clean socks each day? (I normally HAVE to wear clean socks each day, but space is very limited.)

Are yoga pants a good idea for Mary? Any other suggestions? She does not have hiking boots. She does have a new pair of cross training type shoes that will be broken in well by the trip. Will that work? I don't see us doing much hiking after this trip so I'm not sure if boots would be a good investment or not. What do women typically need/want to have a comfortable hike?

My biggest fears are blisters and chafing. Hopefully the right socks will prevent the blisters. What about chafing? Baby Powder? (I don't know...it smells good.)

That's probably enough for now. I have a lot more questions though. If it matters we will be hiking June 28-July 1. Not really sure where. Northeast Utah and I guess crossing into WY. on occasion. I'm sure it's a standard Trek area.

Thanks for you help.

 

[jeeper]

I wore jeans and tennis shoes, like usually. I had no issues.

One thing we did on our last trek that made a HUGE difference for people was to take brand new, never used, weed sprayers full of water. I would spray people the whole time we walked to keep them cool. They loved it.

 

[mesha]

My wife and I were the trek coordinators for our ward. The biggest problems we ran into with kids were no show socks and blisters. Everyone that wore regular socks had no problems. I wore an old pair of khakis(even though I have a lot of hiking pants) and a white church shirt(even though I have a lot of hiking shirts). Both got dirty and that was the last time I wore that shirt .

We heard a million times how difficult the trek would be, but it wasn't that bad. It is a nice walk with 200 people. You move slow and take lots of breaks for people to talk to you. It was a great experience, but honestly, not as bad as we thought it would be. If you have been hiking, ever, you will be fine. From your post above, I would recommend getting out and walking with your wife. Walk around the neighborhood, and try to find some hills. Work your way up 15 minutes at a time until you feel ready.
Hiking boots are not needed.
Smartwool type socks are always worth it, always. My favorite brands are darn tough and smartwool.
Baby powder can help with chaffing, but I found it not needed. Take a chunk of moleskin in case you get some blisters.
Between your sun hat and a good pair of socks you should be just fine. There were people on the trip that really struggled, but I think this might have been the first walk they have ever been on. Had they prepared a little(like it sounds like you are) they would have been fine.

 

[ID Bronco]

We got asked to do this for the first time this year too! I'll be watching where this thread goes. We haven't gotten any info yet at all. I'm very excited!

 

[nnnnnate]

We were asked to do it last year but I bowed out after thinking about my bum knee and how I can't mow the lawn without it swelling up. I missed going as a youth and thought it would have been an interesting experience but my wife had no interest at all. She didn't have a great time going in high school and doesn't like outside.

 

[UNSTUCK]

Mary's just he opposite. She's never done it before either and can't wait. She would drag me along had I said no. We got lucky I guess as I have vacation the week before and the week after. Now I have vacation three weeks in a row.
Guess I won't worry too much about clothing. I'll look around though and see if any deals show up. So if I pack a package of the nice heavy costco socks to have as backups for the kids that might be a good idea.

 

[rholbrook]

Three times here. One year as support. Last year was a Stake one and it was a lot of uphill. On our first day out on the first time, it rained, hailed and snowed on us. The weather turned about 4 miles out and we had to go to the 2nd parking lot. The kids were so tired they nearly skipped dinner but then they went to bed as soon as we let them.

A good comfortable pair of shoes is important. Duct Tape for blisters, powder is only good for so long until it makes paste. If your junk is prone to chaffing like mine, get some good tightie whities to wear under the Gs. Nice loose long sleeve shirt, hat and something to make sure your neck is covered. The pace is plenty slow and the kids will be excited to pull the carts for the first 30 min and then you will loose them. The girls seem to be tougher than the boys.

You need to have some fun things planned for your kids. One thing I like doing is to have highlight time for each of your kids. Have the parents write a little half page thing on their child. Their hobbies, likes, and a one thing noone knows type of thing. The kids loved it. You or Mary will read it and you can break it up so you do one every so often so that by the end of the day you will have half of them done. Its even fun if you do one on both you and Mary. Make sure you have lots of little treats for the kids. A friend of mine to prepare would go do activities every other week for a month prior like bowling with their families. Our ward never let on as to who was in their families until the morning of.

Have fun.

 

[ricsrx]

I have done 3 as an adult and 1 as a youth.

as said above.
duct tape. for feet if needed
good shady hat
nice loose baggy cargo pants to hold the most important item , your water bottle.
new socks and old comfortable tennis shoes
if you have water jugs in the hand cart, don't spike it with "Gatorade" keep it water so they can pour it on them selves. i like the sprayer idea.

and HAVE FUN, i kinda blew it with my first adult trip and drove my young men like horses pulling the cart, i should have slowed down and enjoyed the time with them

 

[nnnnnate]

A few of the 14 year olds I do scouts with made water bottle satchels with their trek families as a bonding activity. I thought that was a great idea.

 

[Kevin B.]

My favorite brands are darn tough and smartwool.

I discovered Darn Tough several months ago, and I'm sold. So comfy.

 

[UNSTUCK]

They're not putting the kids into families until we get to the trail. Kind of disappointed with that. It would be nice to start planning as a "family" instead of us guessing what kind of kids we may end up with. So it will be important to have some good "ice breaker" games/activities to do right away so we can become familiar and comfortable with each other quickly. Any ideas with that?

 

[thefirstzukman]

I all depends on where you go, if you do Rocky Ridge like a lot of people do and in June/July you will want some good hiking boots. Hit the DI up for some cheap cotton long sleeve shirts and i like a straw cowboy hat for the sun. I am a big fan of Merino Wool socks for hiking and a mid height boot to help keep sand/dirt and rocks out , it can never hurt to have a good pair of Keen or Merrell boots, my wife only wears hers a few times a year but I never have to worry about her feet when we go hiking. Enjoy the time, it is great.

 

[mbryson]

My next posit of boots were going to be Keen but because of their sorry for Bears Ears, I'll find something else

 

[ID Bronco]

This is our Trek week. I'm getting excited, meeting our kids tonight. Any last minute advice?

 

[Houndoc]

Jealous!

Have gotten to go yet as youth or adult....

 

[ID Bronco]

Jealous!

Have gotten to go yet as youth or adult....

No, it's the first time for me, my wife, and two of our boys. Should be a great experience.

 

[sixstringsteve]

I love trek. Every year I've gone it's been super super easy.

First year, they wanted the men to wear jeans, which meant lots of chafing for me. Not fun. So... one thing I've learned is that sweat/salt is what chafes the skin. Compression shorts and something that's breathable is really nice. Take a wet-wipe bath every night. The goal is to not sweat too much in the chafing region or to at least wash all the salt off your skin as soon as you can.

I once had a bad case of chafing at Bryce Canyon. It was awful. That night I did the wet wipe bath and used a bunch of neosporin. The next day I was 80% better. Keep yourself clean and try to enjoy the trip.

For me, the women's pull and carrying the ladies across the water was the highlight for me. I used to hate hearing about the pioneers, I always found it tough to relate to. But after 2 treks and a personal trip there with mesha and rocktaco, it has become one of my favorite stories in american and religious history (along with the Hole in the Rock pioneers).

One point to consider for trek. Because it was a long time ago, we assume the pioneers were hardcore paul bunyan types. Not so. They had a few backcountry guides who knew the frontier well, but 99% of these people were sissies like us. They lived in comfortable houses. They weren't explorers. They struggled with the same things you'll struggle with. It wasn't fun for them, and they had never done anything even remotely close to this. They weren't hikers in great shape, they had big houses they sold or abandoned to come out here. Many were from England. It's easy for us to put them on a pedestal and say "well, they didn't have the internet or cell phones, so they must have been tough outdoorsmen." They weren't (at first).

Also, it wasn't all suffering for most of the parties, just the martin and willy parties that got stuck in the bad storms.

Another cool story that I enjoy is hearing about the families who were ready to go with the first round of travelers. They were well prepared. They had big wagons, big teams of oxen, they sold their possessions that they worked hard for, and they earned the right to have a comfortable trek across the US. However, many of these families chose to sell their well-prepared oxen, wagons, and provisions and donate to those who couldn't afford it. Talk about a sacrifice! How many of us, working hard our whole life to have the things we need, would give it all away to someone else who may not have been as fortunate, or worse, who hadn't prepared and saved themselves? Lots of incredible characters there. If you have the right attitude, you'll have a blast. I'd do trek every year in a heartbeat.

They also allow families and groups and visitors to stay at the campground for free in the non-summer months. It's a great way to experience the place, without the crowds. When Davy and Troy and I went back on our own in November, it was an incredible experience. It wasn't rowdy, the wind was blowing, there were sheets of ice in the river when we crossed, and we had the missionaries to ourselves. It was a great time. I'm hoping troy (rocktaco) can chime in and give a non-LDS perspective of the experience.

 

[lime chev]

I went almost two years ago as support/uncle. It was awesome. Moving porta potties and fetching dish water. LOL. Kids are mostly pumped to be there. Getting them use to the idea of no electronics will probably be the biggest hurdle. Don't worry about not meeting the kids till the day of, you'll be amazed who you end up with. My calling is with the Stake YM and still is so when the time came to put kids with ma's and pa's we all prayed (stake ym/yw leaders, Stake presidency, High councilor) that we would know who should be with what family and went through every kid one by one. We were amazed on how many kids went into families that we unanimously thought should be there. Have fun and get to know your kids and you really start to think of them as your own during and after trek. You will never forget them. The oldest girl was married in the Temple last year. the oldest boy is still on his mission and one of them just graduated high school on Friday. I was "just" an Uncle to a family with eight kids. Two years later the boys still call me uncle joe and I still get random hugs from some of the girls. I cant say your experience will be the same but you will only get out of it what you put into it.

 

[UNSTUCK]

What kind of games did you play, or what did you do in your down time? Sounds like we will have lots of it and need to entertain the kids a lot.

 

[sixstringsteve]

on day 1 the kids were the most worried about going without their phones for 2 or 3 days. At the end we asked them their favorite part of it and so many kids said "being away from my phone and just relaxing."