I have hiked in some really cool places. We took a family trip to the Big 5 National Parks in Utah a few years ago and had an amazing experience. Recently I took a trip to Colorado and hiked 5 of the 14ers. What a trip! I spent a long time watching videos and researching to make sure I had what I needed for a successful trip. I would break my hiking gear into categories. The main category would be the Basics – if I was going to hike a few miles on a local trail these few items would be my ‘essentials’. When we did the 14ers I had quite a bit of other stuff with me – some I needed, some just added weight.
Hiking Basics
- Garmin Fenix
- Osprey Talon 22 (with a 2.5 liter bladder)
- Altra Lone Peak+
- REI coolmax socks
- Patagonia Capilene Light T-shirt
- iPhone (hiking project app, 14ers app, all trails, garmin explore)
14er Additions
- Trekking Poles*
- Sunglasses*
- Hat(s)* – lightweight winter hat and baseball cap
- Gloves*
- Down vest*
- Headlamp*
- Gore-Tex Shell
- Emergency Gear
- Small Med Kit
- Lighter and some cotton balls with vaseline (fire starter)
- Battery (to charge phone just in case)
- Bivy sack (worst case scenario)
Items with the * are probably essential for my next 14er trip.
I am considering limiting my emergency gear for the next trip. It seemed like I was carrying all kinds of extra weight ‘just in case’. Maybe it should be a route by route decision… lots of the 14ers are very low risk, well travelled routes with loads of other hikers. Bringing a bivy sack seems a little over the top. Of course if I had to spend the night on the mountain it would be another story.
Backpacking
I backpack pretty infrequently, but that would be the next level. The gear I have for backpacking is ‘ok’. I think for me to really enjoy multi-day packing I would need to invest in a few key items to lighten my load. I would also need to do it a bit more to figure out what are the things I really need. I’m sure I could drop several pounds of non essential gear just by being super selective. Maybe a multi day backpacking trip needs to get added to the adventure list. 🙂