Yes OK, we had to use bribery but my 5 year old son and one of his friends had a great day out on Conic Hill at Loch Lomond on Sunday. The climb was not without its cries of 'I'm tired' and 'will you carry me' but they were reasonably few and far between. The most difficult part was when my son hurried ahead when his friend was desperate to lead the way - the leadership tussle between Tony Blair and Gordon Brown had nothing on this one.
Last week I'd posted a message on the UK Walking Forum and numerous people responded with some very good advice indeed. Basically keep it simple, have plenty of nibbles and games to motivate them. Well it seemed to work and the choice of Conic Hill was a good one.
As you approach Balmaha the hill is prominent and looks like a real mountain making it easy to build up expectations of adventure. Leaving the car park there is a reasonably short walk through woods where a large stick for the leader was acquired and chocolate promised once we reached the next stage - a stile and the open hill.
Onto the open hill and a very well built path climbs fairly steeply up the hill. It was a reasonably nice day and it was busy, not surprisingly as the walk up is part of the West Highland Way. Most walkers were coming in the other direction and the antics of the two junior walkers were keeping the masses amused. The climb was proving less problematic than the thorny issue of who should lead the way and who should have the stick!
Every so often I would slip ahead and hide some bite size Mars bars. The thought of chocolate and a short break was enough to keep them going. The view helped a lot as well - the islands of the loch, stories about the highland fault line and a view in the distance of Greenock where granny stays, all helped keep interest high. And there was also extended discussions about the amount of sheep poo to be avoided.
Once at the top the lunch was quickly eaten and the two other lumps at the summit had to be conquered! The descent was a bit of a slog but the promise of ice cream at the bottom kept us moving. All in all a succesful day and I'm extremely greatful for the advice I received.
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