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The original was posted on /r/Ultralight by /u/DavidWiese on 2024-09-05 18:21:21+00:00.

Where: Cooper Canyon Trail Camp - San Gabriel Mountains - Angeles National Forest

When: 8/31/24 - 9/1/24

Distance: 5.8 miles round trip

Conditions: High was 87, low was 55. No precip.

Who: Myself, wife, 2.5 year old toddler

Pictures: Here

Lighterpacks: Me, Wife, Toddler

Map:

Overview:

My wife and I had taken our toddler car camping several times, but were eager to try out an overnight backpacking trip. Opted to head out to Cooper Canyon Trail Camp for a low-consequence low-distance test run.

Toddler is mostly potty trained which helped a lot.

TL;DR - You have to carry a 2.5 year old (and their stuff) about 90% of the time.

The Trip:

To get to camp, you can take a wide, nicely-graded fire road, or walk along the PCT/SMT. We were optimistic that toddler would do a bit of hiking, so we went with the easier road. After a solid .15 miles however, toddler declared “too much walking” and we strapped them up onto the carrier.

• Lesson #1 - You will carry the toddler more than you think

The following 1.25 miles to camp were thus quick and uneventful.

Cooper Canyon was not badly impacted by the 2020 Bobcat Fire. The sites are all still beautifully shaded with flat areas to set up shelters. There are bear boxes and fire rings (check current fire restrictions before using). The stream was flowing really nicely even so late in the summer. There is even a pit toilet. Quite a luxurious back country trail camp.

We quickly set up the shelters in the fading light, had dinner, enjoyed a small campfire, then got some mediocre sleep.

• Lesson #2 - Need to put a softer/flat foam pad on top of the eggshell sleeping pad for toddler
• Lesson #3 - Need to put toddler in a sleeping bag to help prevent rolling around/off the pad while sleeping

We woke up with the sun and had a quick breakfast. Strapped the toddler on mom and some snacks/water on dad and hiked over to check out Cooper Canyon Falls. I hadn’t been since 2018 or so, during some of CA’s worst drought. But after the past several years of really wet winters, the waterfall was truly impressive.

We didn’t want to scramble down to play in the pool with the kid strapped to us, which requires a loose and steep descent aided by ropes, so we enjoyed the views from up top for a bit before leaving. We stopped to play in some of the larger pools at the main creek crossing on the way back to camp.

Once we got to camp, we had second breakfast, and then packed up quickly. We knew it was just going to get hotter and the entire way out was uphill. This time, we put both packs on dad (front and back) because toddler would ultimately be napping on the hike back up.

It was sunny and exposed and we rested in the shade a few times on the way up.

We knew this trip would be a learning experience for us as we had to figure out how to backpack with the new family dynamic. Overall, it was a great success. We learned a few key things, and the kiddo had a great time (as did we).

Thoughts and Gear:

Honestly, we knew we’d be carrying the toddler quite a bit, but didn’t realize how much it would ultimately be. We tried to split up the load with more of it in one pack, so that whoever was carrying the toddler would have a lighter carry. This worked ok on day one, as my wife’s pack was lighter and she carried both the pack and the kid.

On day two, we had decided that she would just take the kid and I would carry both packs as it would make getting up and back to the car quicker.

Our gear is pretty dialed from years of UL backpacking. Even with all of the extra toddler specific stuff, our combined base weight was just shy of 21lb for this trip.

All of this stuff is detailed in the 3 lighterpack links but for clarity:

Wife and kid slept in the X-Mid Pro 2. She was on an XTherm and kid was on a Nemo Switchback. I think a GG Thinlight on top of the Switchback would have made them a lot more comfortable. They were also under a light blanket and then sharing my wife’s quilt. A much better option is probably their own bag… would eliminate chances of cold drafts and also keep active sleepers in place much better.

I slept under my Zpacks 8.5x10 flat tarp.

Re: packs. We do own an Osprey Poco Plus child carrier pack. I love that thing for day hikes and training hikes, but it doesn’t have a lot of storage for overnights. We PROBABLY could have made it work with some more planning, but that pack itself weighs nearly 8lb. It seemed far more practical to bring a ~1.5lb carrier for the kid and comfy packs with plenty of space.

Does a 31lb toddler count as worn weight? We did create them from ourselves after all…