Hiking/Fell Walking with kids and Chronic Illness

We have always fell walked with our two since they were little.  My husband and I were keen Fell walkers before they were born and we continued that albeit at a much slower and different pace after they arrived.  This is also true of my Fibromyalgia.  All of our UK holidays see us heading for the coast or country side where we can do some walking, most weekends we try to get a walk in even if it’s not a long one. It’s about being outside, communing with nature, and absorbing it. There is nothing that soothes the soul like being in the woods or on the hills.  This is definitely something that my oldest now feels a keen need for, and one which he misses terribly when my fibromyalgia is bad.

I am forever in awe of him when we are out walking as he is never on the path, but is traversing the treeline on a steep incline or deep in the woods running parallel to us. For him this is very much about him finding his own path and just being without talking or interacting.  Don’t get me wrong he will involve his sister at times and come and talk to us occasionally but what he likes is scrambling about like a mountain goat. This is my pet name for him! He would make a natural fell runner, whilst we are walking the route he runs it and some. 

Typically we walk anywhere between 3-6 miles or do a steep hill hike, it very much depends on my illness and not the kids. They have been able to do a 6 mile walk comfortably since they were 4.

When we go out for a long walk there are some little things that we do to encourage the kids to keep going:

• We make sure we have layers so you can remove them and add back on, this is paramount in the UK weather.
• Waterproof footwear is a must- wet feet equal moaning unhappy children, they also equal blisters when the boots rub! At the moment Noah is in full welly mode and even wore them to his friends birthday party the other day!
• Have wicking socks- again this will help to prevent blisters on sweaty feet

On the subject of blisters, we always carry blister plasters in your first aid kit

I carry a small first aid kit in a tuff bag, you can buy small portable first aid kits but I just made my own based on what we generally need. We mainly have to deal with minor to mid level cuts and abrasions, we get sand in an eye, thorns in fingers etc... So I have stuff to deal with these kind of injuries as such our kit includes the following:

• Plasters various sizes
• Savlon spray
• Tissue
• Bandage/wound dressing
• Medical tape
• Scissors
• Blister plasters
• Hand sanitiser homemade - This is also good after a wild wee, ha ha!
• Sterile water
• Anti histamine- my hubby is allergic to bee & wasp stings ( He will not get an epi pen) and Zany is developing an increasing reaction to them also. This is purely a stop gap measure that will hopefully see us through until we can reach civilisation and get medical attention! We have not tested it out yet,eek!!!
• Tweezers
• Antiseptic wipes
• Homemade calendula balm – for stings and any other minor poorly!

Other essential kit that we always have with us are:

• A litre of fluid each -We also leave drinks in the car. I know that this might mean an unscheduled toilet stop but we are not adverse to a wild wee!!LOL
• Baby wipes
• Energy bar- bites
• Nuts and dried fruits
• Chocolate – in case my hubby’s bloodsugar dips. Although we try to time it so that it doesn’t.
• Sometimes lunch it depends what time we start
• Skittles – these are essential. We let the children have 2 at various points on the walk. This keeps them going to the next marker i.e when we get to the top of the hill you can have some skittles etc….

We try to make sure that they children have the right type of kit for outdoor adventures without spending loads,  as they grow to fast or wreck it. I buy a lot of Regatta stuff as its cheapish and lasts, I also if I can buy 2nd hand from Ebay. They each have the following for cold and warmer seasons:

Winter/Autumn

Walking boots/snow boots: Noah has walking boots I buy these either from ebay if I can or Regatta. I buy lightweight ones. Zany doesn’t like walking boots but will wear a pair of snowboots. I buy these from all over. He currently has these ones from Regatta: Unisex High Rise Hiking Boots

Waterproof/insulating coat: Technical parka from Next this also doubles as their winter coat- these coats are good for temps down to -5 and are fully waterproof. They cost about £50 -65 but we usually get 2 winters out of them making them nice and cost effective.

Fleece -  these come from the Regatta Outlet and are priced really well usually about £10 – 18 These are the fleeces that they currently have:.Regatta Kids Dissolver Fleece  

Ski trousers – I bought these from mountain warehouse but the quality is rubbish I have had to sew Noah’s about 6 times so far. So next year I will probably buy them from Regatta which I find to have far superior quality.

Base layer- I don’t buy a specific base layer although Noah has two tshirts designed for this again from Regatta. Are you sensing a theme here? What they usually wear is organic cotton long sleeved tshirts from H & M. These are the Regatta Base Layer tops:Regatta Base Layer

Socks – Bridgedale winter walking socks,we actually all wear mid weight socks for this. These are the ones I buy for the kids: Woolfusion Trekker Junior Sock

Gloves – Thinsulate 40g, I also wear these as my hands are really painful if they get cold. These keep them nice and toasty. We all have a pair of these: Winter gloves! 

Hat – Zany wears a hat, I nearly always buy this from Next but Noah’s hair is so thick that he really doesn’t need one, trust me that guys hair is waterproof it is so thick!

Summer/Spring

Waterproof trousers – Again I buy from the Regatta Outlet, these have no padding so are not warm.These are the over trousers I buy as they are easily packable but you have to have them the UK weather is erratic and it can change quickly on the hills: Regatta Waterproof Kids Trousers

Waterproof coat – I buy Noah’s from Regatta it’s a thin raincoat/cagoule type thing, I also buy Zany’s from here but this year I bought her a landsend one from ebay. Both are fully waterproof and windproof with taped openings.  These also double as their summer coats.

Bridgedale Socks – It really is in my opinion worth paying for good brand here, you need your feet to stay comfortable and they last years. We all wear this brand. These are the ones we have for summer: Womens/Boys with big feet) CoolFusion 
 Socks Girl's Coolfusion Socks  

Footwear – they have a selection of suitable footwear for walking in the warmer months. They have walking sandals, walking trainers and of course their beloved wellies. Although why they want to wear them in summer I will never know!

Fleece just in case. This is usually the one from their winter kit if it still fits.

NB:I am not being paid by Regatta I have just found their stuff to be better quality than the other low to mid price range outdoor products like Mountain Warehouse,although I do like Trespass stuff this is also good quality. My kids go to Forest school every week and spend a lot of time outside almost everyday so their kit gets a lot of use and abuse, the only shoes that seem to last Noah are Regatta hiking trainers so this what I buy.