The Number 1 Way to Ruin a Family Hike

Summer hikes are one of our favourite weekend activities! The flowers are in bloom, it’s always warm enough for a swim along the way, and the weather is far too nice to stay inside. We recently discovered a string of ways to ruin a family hike, and are sharing in hopes you avoid these mistakes.

There are many ways to ruin a hike, ill-fitting shoes cause blisters, ill-fitting clothes can chafe. But the biggest one hit us during our lovely little jaunt to the beautiful, calm Karloo Pools last week.

It’s honesty time: it was not the best day ever, fearlessly adventuring with our little family through an enchanting national park, discovering forgotten tranquil pools. It was a hot mess, literally. We were less than an hour away from crawling, as we exited the track, and single-mindedly staggered into the first grocery store we found. And bought, I kid you not, $15 worth of water, off-brand gatorade, and sparkling water.

Also, there may have been a dehydration-fueled debate about whether to prioritize health over price in the snack arena, but neither of us remember much of the details. We quickly made our purchase, and collapsed on a bus stop bench, guzzling liquid gold for 5 minutes. We hurried back to the train station, where we were the sweat-soaked, dazed-looking hikers, avoiding eye contact with judging looks from the other train passengers.

But, let’s back up a little bit.

Our weekend day hikes steadily increased in length and remote wilderness factor over the past month. Our excursions moved beyond the paved path of the coastal walks, venturing farther and farther from tap water sources. Although we are fully aware that straying further from a filtered water supply presents a real danger, with a 3 kilo/7lbs pack, a 15 kilo/33lbs toddler, and a small photography studio on our backs, the easiest way to cut weight is water.

We do take measures to avoid dehydration, before we leave the house, we drink lots of water to start the hike well-hydrated. We also depart early in the morning to rest at a cool, shaded lunch spot during the hottest part of the day, and I pack lots of juicy snacks like apples, grapes, and tuna (not sure if tuna water counts or not). All in all, we considered ourselves well prepared. That is, until being blindsided by the intense summer heat reflecting off the rock face and a longer than planned hike.

How to Ruin a Family Hike

We felt victorious after a 2.5 km hike to the swimming hole, a picnic lunch, and a gleeful splash in the pools. The water situation was a little dryer than planned because of the oppressive heat, but we felt optimistic. After toweling off, we had to make a decision. Continue an additional 2.5km to Uloola Falls and then turn around, or turn around while we were happy, content, and satisfied.

I don’t need to tell you what brilliant decision we made.

We continued onto Uloola Falls, and to say the track is dense, is an epic understatement. We kept our heads down and arms outstretched to prevent branches from tearing up our faces, while CZ napped safely with the protection of the sun shade to prevent intrusive branches whipping her parents in the face. At one point, the branches and bushes entangled themselves so much that we concluded we somehow exited the trail and were just trudging through the bush. We back-tracked until we saw the yellow and red trail markers, and continued on our way.

We hiked over blazing hot rock beds, tripped over tree roots, along parched creek beds, and eventually along a stream. The stream became a small pond, and the pond overflowed a bit, trickling over a hill.

We made it Uloola Falls.

Uloola proved a jaw-dropping disappointment. No tears were shed because of the water conservation efforts, but we felt underwhelmed and defeated. To sum it up, our problems included: 1) The scorching sun accelerated our dehydration and water consumption, 2) Water and civilization lay 5km in the opposite direction, 3) it was just long enough since the last rainfall to dry up the “falls.”

Number 3 might be helpful for people considering hiking Uloola Falls, but Number 1 is most helpful for most everyone. Never underestimate the amount of water you might need, or how much extra water you might drink if it is a little hotter than forecast.

The Purchase

We committed to never experiencing the desperation and helplessness of low water supply again, and relied upon the validated reviews on The Big Outside, for guidance on backcountry water filtration. We determined that a water pump didn’t align with our day-trip usage, and instead, chose the bottles. We purchased the LifeStraw water filtration bottles because of their reasonable price point and 1,000 liter filtering capacity. You can also purchase replacement filters once you have exhausted the 1,000 L volume (so for us, in approximately 15 years). Our hikes generally pass streams, rivers and/or ponds, so finding natural water sources, during a hike, is seldom a struggle.

Our most recent adventure to Wentworth Falls in the Blue Mountains proved an excellent testing ground. We were able to bring one water bottle a piece, and JZ and I refilled several times in streams and even beneath some “falls.”  While we will definitely require more equipment for our upcoming adventures, the LifeStraw bottles fit our current needs, perfectly.