Buck Mountain Overlook Hiking Trail
For the first inaugural hike I thought it would be great for Otto and myself to do the Roanoke Mountain trail. What a disappointment. It was 2 miles of road up to the summit and a short foot path (10 minutes if that) to the overlook. Needless to say it would have taken more time packing Otto up into the backpack carrier and getting everything ready than it would be to walk there. That being said we make an executive decision and decided to go do the Buck Mountain trail instead!
Back Pack Carrier
Mentioning the backpack carrier, we bought a inexpensive one to begin with, the Chicco Smart Support Backpack Frame Carrier from BabyRUs. We tried Walmart first since it was closer but none of them stocked any Backpack Frame Carriers. You could only get it online but it didn't tell you that on the website. So we made a quick call and got the info before going and found that the ToysRUs stocked it in the store.I had to adjust the seat and raise it all the way up (it has 3 straps in the back) as well as tighten the front clip. Outside of that was adjusting it to fit me. It works pretty well for the price ($75) but I would like for it to have some hand straps for picking it up. Right now you have to pick it up by the frame to rest it on your thigh to put it onto your back.
As far as storage it has a small convertable fanny pack that clips onto the back of the pack that you can also wear. I could get a diaper and ziplock full of wipes in there but not much more. I did manage to squeeze a ziplock of popcorn and a sippycup of water.
Buck Mountain Overlook
Picking back up with the story, we arrived at the Buck Mountain Trail and after about 10 minutes of getting Otto pack up and everything situated we were on our way!

Once we reached the bottom Otto had his snack of popcorn and water and chilled for a bit. He had adapted immediately to the backpack carrier and seemed to be comfortable despite the belt/harness.
We ended up visiting here and there with people on the trail and everyone always had a smile and a comment in regards to Otto riding along on Daddy's back. We thought that it had been a good start to the hiking blog for the week and looked forward to next week's hiking trail pick...if only it had waited that long!
McAfee's Knob Hiking Trail
Well Sunday rolled around and Sarah (my wife) had to get some work done so that left Aidan (13), Emily (12), myself and Otto with something to come up with to do for the day. Well with the beginning of the blog this week HIKING seemed the best thing! I quickly looked around for a trail that would be worthwhile for the older kids and decided upon McAfee's Knob. Now that being said I learned a hard lesson in the "estimated time" to do the trails. Everything I saw said somewhere between 3 to 4 hours...that wasn't the case for those with 20+lbs of toddler on their back wearing classic fivefingers.
That being said it was a great hike as an experience. For me it ended up being a slightly painful one by the end walking the fire trail given the consistently rockiness of the trail the whole way with me wearing only the fivefingers toting Otto the whole way. The other was the weight of Otto on the shoulder straps. They left a red mark through a light shirt and some soreness down in the muscle as well. It would be good if somehow more of the weight would have been transferred to the waist strap and my center. I did have the benefit of my walking stick and that helped tremendously on the uphills as well as stepdowns and such maintaining my balance. Definitely a critical item to have when walking with a backpack carrier for slip/fall prevention.
As far as footwear, Vibram now, after 5 years, have better suited versions for trail hiking (Treksport, Komodosport LS) with the extra shock absorption and inserts to deal with rocks and such but I had no such frivolities on mine! There are also other manufacturers out there making similar products but given my past experience with Vibram with work boots and treads for my cowboy packers I trust and went with them especially since at the time they were the only ones making them.

All in all, I could see a concerted regular effort to maintain the trail, even something as recent as a large pine tree that had fallen downhill across trail that had the middle cut out of it to restore right of way. A great deal of that is credited to the Roanoke Appalachian Trail Club and their efforts. You can find them on Facebook as well.
So we had a great time hiking McAfee's Knob and would do again...just not right away. I definitely know what was meant by "Tenderfoot" back a era or two as well as relate to the souls that had to make the migration westward under duress from the new occupants of the land that decided they owned it instead of them. Only 5 1/2 hours hiking that trail and I more than sympathized with those that were barefoot, wearing moccasins or shoes of the day instead of horseback or wagon. We may skip next week, waiting to see how quickly my feet and shoulders recover. This morning there is still a good deep ache in them but that way you know that you're alive and you've done something in this world.
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