Tears in the Backcountry

For Aurora’s tenth birthday I got her a back pack and promises of a mother daughter backpacking trip. I arranged a two night trip in the high Sierras for us (and Zadie). We spent a lot of time planning what we might need and plotting our route on the map. We were both very excited about it all. It all worked out remarkably smooth until we got to the trail and started walking. Aurora didn’t seem ecstatic about it all. The best words to describe us as we were walking were: Me - Chipper, Zadie - Feral, Aurora - Wilted. We kept walking and it was all very beautiful but I could tell the beauty wasn’t Aurora’s focus. So I stopped Aurora and gave her some grand speech about how this was her trip and at any point we could turn back if it wasn’t fun. My sappy speech had the desired Hollywood effect as Aurora burst into tears and let me know it was fun but she felt sick. Oh. 

This might all sound odd if you don’t know Aurora. Aurora hates being sick. And what she dislikes even more than being sick is admitting or talking about her illness or treating her illness. So we kept walking in the same manner with my chipper turning into happy and Zadies feral turning into raucous. Aurora stayed wilted. After we were more than halfway to our camp spot we decided to hike out for the night in case Aurora got sicker. She generally vomits when sick and one camping trip a year with child vomiting all over the tent is quite enough. We hiked out in a glorious thunder and hail storm to a soundtrack of booms and Zadies shrieks (she really didn’t like the hail). We found a cheap motel and crossed our fingers that we would be back on trail in the morning. Alas, Aurora only felt worse in the morning. I creatively came up with a list of day hikes and activities but the only one she had energy for was the library. After lounging in library chairs for an hour Aurora declared our trip over. I, healthy as I was, was less easily discouraged and proposed we start the drive back by driving to Mammoth so if her condition improved we could easily get back into the mountains. Aurora threw up half the drive to Mammoth, the entire time I checked into a motel, and the rest of the day from bed. And most of the day after. She lay in bed feverish and sad looking while Zadie and I bounced off the walls and stared longingly out the windows. 

When Aurora was two she woke up with a fever the day we were supposed to go to Quebec City. When Aurora was two she got sick during a backpacking trip and we ended up evacuating to the nearest ER. When Aurora was five she got the flu the day we arrived in Ottawa for Christmas. When Aurora was six she woke up sick the morning we were supposed to drive to Toronto. She is actually a remarkably healthy child and probably gets sick the least of anyone in our family. Guess we were due for another bout of inconveniently places illness! 

The drive back to LA was one of the highlights of our trip as Aurora felt better and we got to chat and laugh together. Who would have thought it. Nonetheless, we learned things from our brief backpacking trip. It is indeed possible for me to carry the majority of the backpacking gear for three of us and a squirmy toddler, hail is scary for babies and can even lead to a fear of ice in beverages, it is better to leave the backcountry when kids are sick, flopsy (the bunny) makes the ten essentials list.  

These trees!

Nothing sad about the view from the trail

The point of turning back

After the storm