Before you even start planning a hiking vacation be realistic with the spouse and kids. Explain just what hiking, sleeping in miniscule tents and eating unusual food entails. If you have a princess or two in the group you will have problems once you get on the trail. This is not a last minute decision. If you have no or little experience hiking you need to do your homework and do it well. Do some short day hikes in the months before. Subscribe to "Backpacker" magazine, get familiar with what hiking is all about. This can be a great vacation but it takes a lot of planning.

There are very upscale resorts where you can sleep in luxury at night and hike the trails during the day. A lot of places have guides that will make sure you make it back to the lodge in one piece and everyone accounted for. Lunches for the trail are availbable and they make sure you have enough water for the day. If you are not an experienced hiker and outdoorsperson this is probably the way to go. Coming home to a soft clean bed and shower after a hard day on the trail makes it more of a vacation for anyone who might object to your proposed "hiking vacation".

Safey is the major issue especially if children are involved. You are taking them into someone elses neighborhood where human rules do not exist. Taking kids where grizzlies and mountain lions make their home is putting them at risk. Too many kids have been lost and never found because they have lagged behind the group or wandered off when hiking in areas where the denizens see small and even older children as prey. Plan a hiking vacation where the risk of running into one of these predators is very very small. Even black and brown bears can be a danger.

Once you have gotten beyond all the scary aspects make a list. If you are doing the resort thing it's easy, but be prepared anyway. The list is long of those who have gone out for "just a short hike" and ended up gone for more than 24 hours because of weather or just plain getting lost. Be a Boy or Girl Scout - be prepared. REI and the like have what every hiker needs including maps. Buy a good GPS, use it on the city streets before you have to use it in the backwoods. Understand it well and you will never get lost. Break in your hiking boots - this is really really important. Your feet are going to get you in and out on the trail and blisters can make fun turn into agony.

A well planned and setup hiking vacation can be one of the most memorable trips a family can take. Take no chances, obey the trail rules and the fun is yours.

Learn more about this author, Marlene Cady.
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