Backpacking Cheaha - Aiden's first trip! Jan 30-31, 2021

This was my baby's first backpacking trip ever! At the time of this trip he was 5 years old! We had soooo much fun!

This trip was wonderful and exciting at the same time! We decided to do Aiden’s first backpacking adventure at Cheaha State Park about a mile in on the Pinhoti trail. He was super excited, but fell asleep on the way there after asking how many more minutes it was about 5 or 6 times. I was so tickled that he fell asleep! Then he woke immediately as I pulled into the parking lot and started asking questions about this and that. We readied our packs and took our start-of-trip picture. He did really well on the way up. He did not complain of his pack being too heavy or being tired or anything. In fact, I chased him most of the way up the mountain and had to keep telling him to slow down and wait for Daddy!

We made it to the campsite I stayed at with Mimi. And then decided to see if the one further was available. It wasn’t, there was some guys staying there. We walked a little past it, but Aiden really liked the site before the one Mimi and I stayed at. So we backtracked to it. It had a fire pit, some logs to sit on, a really good view and good hammock trees.

First we set-up the hammock and put the tarp in “porch-mode”. Then Aiden suggested we build a fire and do some marshmallows. Magically, someone had left some metal marshmallow sticks for us! So we used those and did marshmallows over the fire. We listened to music on my bluetooth speaker and ate some fruit roll-ups and some goldfish.

When the dark came, the temperature dropped, and Aiden wanted to watch YouTube on my phone. At first he watched some out by the fire with me, but then decided he wanted to get in the hammock where it was nice and warm. I wasn’t feeling good to my stomach, so I didn’t eat much for dinner. Only a couple of bites of his ramen noodles that I made for him. I eventually went to the hammock and took my bedtime meds that make me sleepy. But they didn’t.

I kept having to go pee every 45 minutes or so, which was an awful ordeal. It takes a lot of effort to get out, put crocs on, go pee out in the cold, come back, take crocs off, and then shift a sleeping 5-year-old around so I can get back in the hammock without squishing him. I have no idea why I was having to pee so much as I hadn’t drank that much water or anything else. It was weird.

The wind was picking up and getting louder and louder. There’s always some wind to deal with up on the ridge but this was really bad. Really strong winds. It was so hard that it rocked the hammock like a cradle. And then it would stop and be totally silent, which was the worst. I feel like I probably could have gotten used to it if it had stayed constant.

About 11pm I checked the weather and it said the rain was going to start about 3am. I decided to call Mom and see what she thought. I was already considering breaking the set-up down and heading back to the car. Mom’s take was I already had the tarp up so we wouldn’t get wet as long as we stayed there and maybe the rain wouldn’t be there right when they said. She was right, so I decided to stay a bit longer.

Eventually around 3am I was so sick to my stomach that I decided I had to go poo on the side of the mountain. It had already started misting rain here and there, and the wind was crazy loud - so this decision did not come lightly. Aiden was fast asleep. I got out and went maybe 15-20 yards around some bushes to go. I’m proud that I’m able to go without getting my feet wet or getting anything on me! Then I’m almost done and I hear, “Daddyyyyyyy”. He was waking up! I yelled back that I was coming right back but he couldn’t hear me from inside the hammock due to the wind pounding the outside of it making a bunch of noise. I ran back around and as soon as he could hear me, he was fine. I got back in and tried to relax. I felt better, but still couldn’t sleep. I was really worried that it was going to start raining.

I checked the weather again. The app now said there was a 100% chance of rain by 5am. I was going to wait till 4am to get up until I realized Aiden hadn’t been able to fall right back asleep after I got back in. I told him what was up. “Hey bud. It’s going to rain by around 5am. If we get up soon and go ahead and pack down, I think we can get to the car before the rain drops down on us. What do you think?” “Okay Daddy!” He wasn’t afraid of anything!

So first I got out and got the cook-kit put back together. Then I got him dressed. He had to take his socks off, so we couldn’t find the ones he took off and went for the extra pair we had in his bag. The wind was roaring and blowing mist everywhere. Our shoes were wet on the outside but not soaked through so still felt dry when we put them on. It was pitch-black dark except for the light coming from our headlamps and lights from the city miles away viewable when you looked toward the ridge. I was packing things up as fast as I could, having a good bit of anxiety while I worked. Aiden was laughing! Yes, laughing and exclaiming repeatedly how awesome this trip was and how much he wanted to come back and do this again!

We finally got it all packed up. He helped me by holding the stake-bag and putting the stakes in it as I pulled them up from the tarp. I got his headlamp on and mine on with backpacks and we headed down the trail. I remember thinking how scared I was of the woods, and especially at night - back when I was a kid. I wouldn’t even go into the woods at night, and here my kid is almost running down a trial in the middle of the night - and laughing, smiling, and having a great time. It warms my heart to think that he ight find the same joy and peace in the outdoors that I have found.

We made it to the car and back home all in one piece. We were both super-tired! This trip I will never forget, ever.