Is the Trail Magik worth it?

We are avid backcountry adventurers, and when our girls were born everyone said our hiking would have to stop. How would we be able to do this with babies? We took these comments with a grain of salt and didn’t want to stop exploring the outdoors without our kids. We chose to continue doing what we were passionate about and would figure out a way to have the girls accompany us any way we could.

The summer our girls turned three we figured the struggle was real with the carrier straps and backpack straps overlapping, especially the waistbands, and might have to switch to front country camping for the following year or two until the girls could hike far enough on their own to continue our backpacking overnight hikes.

However, we thought we would give it one more go as we were booked to hike a large multi-day backpacking trip to Berg Lake in Jasper Provincial Park. A month prior the trail was damaged by severe weather and flooding. At the last minute we decided to do the Juan de Fuca trail on Vancouver Island. This is a multi-day trail consisting of 45 km in some serious muddy conditions. We were excited to do it, but also dreading having to carry the girls in the front carriers for that many kilometres uncomfortably.

I believe a day or two later I stumbled upon Trail Magik. I was super stoked that something like this could even exist. I felt my questions were answered and this would solve a lot. I quickly ordered two in hopes they would make it in time before we headed out on our trip. We were under a bit of a time crunch, but two Trail Magiks landed in our hands just a day before we hit the trail.

Such a game changer! We’ve been rocking it for just over two years now and it still comes on every adventure of ours. We’ve travelled with ours all over the world. From mountain tops to lakes to airport travel and everything in between, it is truly an amazing option for your little hikers that also need to rest their legs when you are going further then they can.

Some of the perks of the Trail Magik are:

It folds compact to the size of a water bottle
Weighs less than a pound
For kids aged 1 and up, to 43lbs in weight
Works with backpacks that have front upper load lifters and a waist belt
They come in some seriously amazing colours

The only real con we’ve experienced is that if you are wearing with child in it for several hours and many kilometres it does start to take a toll on your shoulders.

We’ve also figured out a hack to make it a back carrier in a pinch. While not super comfy, it does the trick when needed.

But, in saying that, it’s usually our doing as we pick hikes and adventures Tyson and I want to do and don’t really tailor them to what our kids can do. If they are able to hike all, part, or none of the trail we know we have the gear to get us there.