We were lucky enough to spend part of the holidays at a wedding in San Clemente before heading to Red Rocks for an annual Bishop climbing pilgrimage. We continue to use and abuse all our Deuter packs in a variety of situations, and they continue to deliver.
For San Clemente, it was all about the beach, and walking around the cute downtown. For Ali, our four-year old daughter, this meant using our Kanga Kid as our primary around-town day pack. The zippers had no trouble with the sand, the pack has plenty of room for beach toys and snacks, and an outer pouch handles towels well. Ali’s running all over the place most of the time, but it was still nice to have the option of popping her up in the Kanga when she started to crash while still out and about. The quality surf and amazing tide pools at Old Man’s were the ocean highlights – Ali saw a tiny octopus, sea star, sea slug and lots of other sea critters.
For San Clemente, it was all about the beach, and walking around the cute downtown. For Ali, our four-year old daughter, this meant using our Kanga Kid as our primary around-town daypack. The zippers had no trouble with the sand, the pack has plenty of room for beach toys and snacks, and an outer pouch handles towels well. Ali’s running all over the place most of the time, but it was still nice to have the option of popping her up in the Kanga when she started to crash while still out and about. The quality surf and amazing tide pools at Old Man’s were the ocean highlights – Ali saw a tiny octopus, sea star, sea slug and lots of other sea critters.
After a few days seaside, we headed north to Vegas for climbing. To keep things organized in the car we used a Xeno 90 and the new Grant Flight. We’ve been super impressed with the Flight, both as a carry-on for air travel and a well padded, laptop/tablet/kids books and clothes pack in the car. The pockets and padding make getting at your digital toys easy, while still keeping them safe. You can fill the Xeno to the gills, batten down its snaps and then roll it wherever. It did great rolling from the car over gravel to the tent in Vegas.
For the climbing days in Red Rocks we took the Kid Comfort 3. With the numerous rocky gullies and short technical scrambles the stability of the KC3 on your back and the security of the safety harness system are critical. The pack carries so well you can hike with confidence over uneven terrain, and your passenger is locked in snug.
Ali still fits the pack well at 33 pounds and 40-inches. The big storage pocket in the bottom and the pouches in the back can carry her toys, snacky-treats, and warm clothing for a day out in the elements. The large head space and sun shade do a great job keeping the sun off her face and give her some extra protection from overhanging rocks and branches.
We’re on year 3 abusing and beating on both the Kanga and KC3; they are both fully functional, going strong and look great.
Our other climbing pack was a Guide 45+. This worked out great – the Guide is a beast and swallows gear. We were able to stuff two people’s sport climbing equipment, down jackets, lunches, drinks, etc. In addition to her favorite crag activity (getting hoisted up to swing on over-hung routes), Ali surprised us one day, wanting to climb a 5.6 dihedral that we had set up for a group of friends. “I want to go all the way up, too.” Her monkey-see, monkey do instinct kicked in and she just padded her way up and didn’t notice the exposure at all.
Back at camp that evening around the fire, Ali got to experience whipped cream from a can for the first time, leading her to proclaim: “this is the best day of my life.”