Hiking a 20 km day trip with toddlers, crazy idea or what?!

The girls and I hit the road at 6:30 am, making a stop to pick up a friend along the way to Mt. Revelstoke National Park. Tyson works away a lot and when my friend asked if we wanted to go hiking I jumped at the chance. Tyson and I had done this hike to Eva and Jade Lakes before as a 2 night adventure so I kind of knew what I was getting into. I was hopeful that the girls would be able to hike some of it to ease the load off me carrying too much weight. Even just being a day hike we still needed to bring the essentials to be prepared for any weather change. So I loaded up the Dueter Lid Comfort III with everything we needed including 2 litres of water, a SteriPen, seat pads, and cannot forget the real fruit gummies for motivation.

The first kilometre is pretty easy from the main parking lot to normally where a shuttle would drop you off. But because of COVID no shuttle was running. The girls hit the trail running. They were in their glory running along and grabbing sticks and rocks while gaining trail. A few kilometres in Bexley needed to rest her legs so she hopped into the Trail Magik and we continued along. That was short lived, I’m talking only minutes, and Bexley was off running again. With so much to see and explore it kept the girls intrigued enough to not even realize how much trail they were covering.

We got to the junction for Eva and Jade lakes (5 km), took a short rest, and then pushed on to the saddle up overlooking Jade Lake. Lidija needed a few quick minutes in the Trail Magik to rest her legs and then she was off again. Bexley decided to hop into the Dueter pack and relax up the steep section. We reached the saddle and pulled out our seat pads and had lunch overlooking Jade Lake and taking in the surrounding mountains.

As we quickly descended back down to the junction to head to Eva I loaded the girls up in the carriers, both on me equaling around 60 lbs. Lidija constantly watches my feet as we hike and has been studying just where perfect placement should be and it wasn’t long before she wanted out so she could take on the steep decent too. Bexley on the other hand enjoyed the ride.

Once back at the junction we pushed on to Eva Lake. At just under a kilometre from the junction and relatively flat we made it there in no time. The girls welcomed the amazing views of the lake, found a huge rock to climb on and relax and enjoy some gummies for hiking so well.

By now we were about 14 kms in and it was time to get back to the truck before dark. The girls pushed on with smiles on their faces. By this time they had missed nap time, had hiked more kilometres in a day then most adults, and were still in great spirits.

The way back we saw Picas and waterfalls. This is a wry well known hike so there were also many people passing in either direction, always giving praise to how well the girls were doing. Around the 16 kilometre marker both girls were starting to slow down, started to whine and needed a break. This time they gladly jumped into the carriers and away we went and they fell fast asleep. These last few kilometres were all up hill so needless to say I got in quite the workout. We made it to the lot where the shuttle drops off. Only 1 kilometre left and it’s was all down hill. Lidija wanted to finish off the hike on her own 2 feet so out she got. But a few strides in she started crying saying her legs hurt, so I carried her to the bottom where both girls finished off the hike from the end of the trail to where the truck was parked.

These girls were machines! Their tiny little legs carried them a total of between 12-14 kilometres of the 20 kilometre hike. Every now and then throughout the hike I would remind them that they could hop in the Trail Magik to rest their legs at any time. Both of these girls we so in their element distracted by nature and everything around that they pushed on and on.