Mt Jo (the Adirondacks)
I took the kids on their first hiking trip in the Adirondacks. For my 5-year old, Olivia, this was her first real hike ever. And for Julia, my 10-year old, this was first real hike in a long, long time.
Given their lack of experience and the likelihood that I would have to carry all of their things and, probably, Olivia, I decided to take them to hike Mount Jo - a small mountain situated south of Lake Placid near the Adirondack Loj. Research indicated that this was a kid/family friendly hike.
In truth, it was a bit challenging for Olivia and I did have to carrier her a few times. She took the struggle like a champ and part of it was me just worried she would trip and fall and get a boo-boo. However, there was a few points where you need to do some decent scrambling, which is an epic climb for a 5-year old.
We started our hike at the ADK Loj. It runs partly by Heart Lake and then up the southern slope of the mountain. There is a "Short Trail" and a "Long Trail". The short trail is like the name implies: shorter, but steeper and more technical, with a few scrambles. The long trail is easier and more gradual. We decided to take the short trail up and the long trail down to make a loop of the day's hike.
Regardless of which trail you go up, they both connect shortly before the summit.
The summit provides a beautiful view of the High Peaks in the area (see my pano). When we reached the summit, we took a break and snacked picnic-style.
