You might be wondering why I misspelled the word “my” in the title. After all, I’m a 29-year-old writer who should know better! Well, “Mya” is the name of my almost 9-month-old daughter. She’s blonde-haired, blue-eyed, and blows spit bubbles like you wouldn’t believe.

My wife, Trisha, and I took our beautiful little cuddle bug out for her first outdoor excursion. Our goal was to do something easy – no El Capitan for us right out of the new parenting chute.

Before we set out, we had absolutely no idea what to expect. Would she blow out of her diaper and into her snowsuit? Will her drool freeze to her precious chin (and do they call those cutecicles?) Does a baby poop in the woods? Luckily, the February  day was dry and in the lower 40s – a wintery heatwave for North Idaho!

As a first legit outdoor outing with our bubbly-lipped baby, our little family chose to ease into an easy 3-Mile snow-covered trail at English Point in Hayden, Idaho.

With a few inches of heavy snow on the ground in the city, we threw our snowshoes into the car in case we encountered the deep pow farther out.

And to appease Diesel, our lab mix, we took him along for the ride. You could tell it had been a long winter for that guy – he was salivating at the jowls in anticipation.

To keep Mya warm, we dressed her in a fluffy pink snowsuit.

She looked like a pink starfish.

But she’d be a warm pink starfish, nonetheless.

English Point is home to three looped trails. The yellow is 3.1 miles, the green is 1.6, and the blue is 0.6. We chose the yellow to get our sweat on – granted I was already sweating with Mya strapped to my chest before we even hit the trailhead.

As we trudged down the snow-dusted trails of English Point, pockets of snow fell from the tall pines overhead. Some of the falling snow glinted in the sunlight as it fell, other clumps hit me in the face. It was magical.

Mya seemed to dig the outdoors. She loved looking around at the trees and the snow covered landscape. She got a little fussy, as babies do, but she quickly passed out and became a limp starfish.

After we caught a glimpse of Hayden Lake through to frosty pines, the lazy trail weaved us back to the parking lot (located off Lancaster Road in Hayden). By the time we loaded up our diaper pack, snow jackets and pants, I knew this was something I wanted to do more of with my wife and baby. This short walk proved that it’s not only doable to hike with a baby – it’s enjoyable.

Have you hiked with your baby? Share your tips and stories with us and fellow readers!