Hiking

We usually hike 2+ times a week as a family for exercise and to share our knowledge. As we hike we not only push ourselves to go farther and faster, but we also educate one another on outdoor skills. I am more knowledgeable about edible plants and Papa is currently teaching me about land navigation. We have a topo map of the area we hike in and Papa is teaching me how to find where I am on the map using known points and the features of the land. We're currently using MapMyHike to track how we're progressing and it's been nice to look back and see how far we've come. After Baby was born we took about a month and a half off of hiking, but now we're even faster than we were before I was pregnant, which is great!

When we hike Papa carries about a 50 lbs pack, I carry the baby (16 lbs) plus about 20 lbs worth of supplies, and Pooch carries 12 lbs. I love finding lighter but better items to replace the things we currently have, and light but durable versions of the supplies we'd still like to have. Our plan is to bug in should anything happen, but we have a back up rendezvous spot should we need it, and packs to get us there. Since Papa works a little over a mile away he could be home in about 2 minutes with a vehicle or 7 without one. Because of this on a typical day it would be unlikely for us not to be able to secure the house together, but it's always good to have a plan should you need to get away from civilization for awhile until things calm down.

Do you have any sort of exercise routine geared towards being prepared for an emergency? Leave us a comment and let us know!