Did/do you hike with your baby?
My husband and I have done at least one destination hiking trip a year and several local hikes.
So, um, yes. But when I say, "I am going for a hike," usually I mean I am heading into our (local) woods to tromp about 3-4 miles over an interval of an hour or so, by myself or with one or two other people (or a dog). And I typically say that several times a week. So your reference to doing several local hikes over a year makes me wonder if what you are talking about and what I call a hike bear much resemblance to one another.
That said, I struggled with finding appropriate soft carriers to cart my LO in. I tried a bunch and ended up being most happy with a simple not-ring sling, something like this one --
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Peanut-Shell-Baby-Sling-Squirt-Soft-Green-Microfleece-/111690081043?hash=item1a013f6313, and him on my hip. But I mostly did that (partly because of how long it took me finally to catch on to those being available and working well for us) by the time he was about 3, so a bit heavy to cart long distances in that manner. So I didn't so much use them for hiking but instead went as soon as I could to a Kelty frame pack -- expensive (though shop for used), but worth it IMO (but not appropriate for a LO of only 3 months -- maybe 9 would be a reasonable age to introduce this? Months, not years!). I can really highly recommend the Kelty, not only because it is easy to put the kid in (stands up by itself and is fairly stable) and get him or her secure, but also because if, hypothetically speaking, you were walking along and tripped over a hypothetical stump and fell flat on your face fully sprawled out (hypothetically speaking), your kid would, speaking from my (hypothetical) experience stay securely in the carrier, nicely secure and entirely (hypothetically) unfazed by the misadventure. Just sayin'. So if when you hike you are going up and down mountains, I'd recommend it (or similar, I think there are other and perhaps less expensive such products available now).
Once they're old enough to walk, my experience has been that it's best if the route has a destination, usually a body of water at the "end" of it (somewhere near the midpoint, if it's a loop trail), as my kid is largely unmotivated by the thought that "we are going for a walk in the woods!" but pretty highly motivated by things like water, mud, and throwing rocks into rivers/ponds/streams.