Over the last ten or so years, I have hosted many backpacking trips for adults, and since retiring from teaching three years ago, I’ve been guiding backpacking and canoe camping trips for a local camp. This past week I took a group of twelve teens aged 13-15 on a 30-mile trip on the NCT beginning a bit north of Harbor Springs, and finishing in Mackinaw City. My campers had many questions about how their trips differ from the trips I host for adults, and I had to say that the itineraries are not so different, but my experience is.
For one thing, I have never had a group of adults break out into song while hiking. This week, I was treated to a full production of “Hamilton” as we hiked the Swamp Line trail in Wilderness State Park, various traditional camp songs, and a lot of Taylor Swift. One of the kids brought along a ukulele and played while we hiked. They also created a parody of “The Sounds of Silence,” wistfully singing of a post-hike meal of “real food.” A lot of them are band and choir kids, and their training in those arts really shone–when I say it was a treat, I am completely serious.
Braiding beads into hair wraps, and weaving complex braids into hair that hasn’t been washed in days was also new. I am now sporting three blue beads in my hair. The girls braided each other’s hair at pretty much every chance they got, and I learned quickly that finishing a braid perfectly was more important than hiking out of camp at a predetermined time.
Our water filters were running pretty slowly, which meant that every water source break was an opportunity for more hair-braiding, as well as Euchre, and more strumming of the ukulele, while we waited on the water to filter through. (We’re using Platypus filters, and I’m SO disappointed with the flow rate. Even with diligent back-flushing, they seem to clog after a few uses, and move at a snail’s pace. But, the kids welcomed the extra breaks.)
One camper brought along about a hundred temporary tattoos, so we were all tatted up by the end of the week. (By the way, DEET and temporary tattoos are not a good mix.)
You may also end up carrying a mascot–in this case, a rubber chicken.
Unlike an adult trip where everyone does their own thing for meals, I had planned out meals and snacks for everyone. The bartering that went on over Propel electrolyte packets, Quaker instant oatmeal bags, SlimJims, and Starburst flavors was epic. When I brought out the PopTarts to celebrate our last morning on trail, you would have thought it was Christmas.
When you’re hiking with teens, “Hiker Midnight” (8:30/9:00 p.m.) is not a thing. Getting these kids into their tents and quiet by 11:30 p.m. was an accomplishment, so I’m going to be sleeping for the next 48 hours to try to catch up. But, sitting around the campfire each night, listening to them tell ghost stories, sing songs, and playing “Mafia” and “Poison Dart Frog” was well worth the sleep deprivation.
Much like on my adult trips, people tended to bond pretty quickly. There’s something about sitting around the fire together, enjoying views and experiences that not everyone will get to see, and struggling together sometimes that makes people open up and be real.
Gear shakedowns are also quite different with kids. The boy who brought the ukulele was so excited about it that I didn’t even consider suggesting he leave it behind. Likewise, the girls brought a small tackle box type of storage device for their hair beads and friendship bracelet supplies. Everyone was great about embracing the dirtbag lifestyle when it came to clothing, thinking about layers, temperature control and bug protection, rather than a fresh set of clothing for each day.
When we reached Mackinaw City Friday around noon, and I called in an order to BC Pizza, their hiker hunger was real, and we demolished the pizza in short order before a bus picked us up to take us back to camp.
While the pressure of trying to keep someone else’s child safe is something that definitely weighs on me in a way I don’t experience hosting trips for adults, it’s so much fun to see these kids being goofy, artistic, and enjoying each other and nature.
Exploring Michigan and other cool places 