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One of my favorite aspects of backpacking is that you really can get outside with very little. You can start with cheap options and get more and more dialed, and you don’t need to break the bank to be able to move efficiently in the mountains.
Last year when I climbed 27 of Colorado’s 14ers while thru-hiking the Colorado Trail, I ran into a woman on the summit of La Plata Peak who was hiking in a pair of Hey Dudes and carrying a Jansport with a metal water bottle inside. She drives to Colorado from Kansas to get into the mountains for a day. She was a little slower descending on the slick steep sections, but had hiked all of the 14ers she’s done in these moccasin-like shoes.
So, while we all love to obsess and nerd out over gear, I think it’s important to acknowledge that getting outside in whatever way you can, with the gear that you have, is the most important thing.
I’ve had the luxury of a stable income where over time, I could invest in products and upgrades that worked well for me. This is a retrospective on how my gear and my thinking around my gear has continued to evolve over the major backpacking trips I’ve done.
Taken on my thru-hike of the Colorado Trail in 2024, Portra 800.
The Early Era: Trying to Buy ‘Forever’ Gear
My first proper backpacking trip was a month I spent in Patagonia with my sister over the winter of 2018 – 2019. During that month, we did three four-day treks in Cerro Castillo, El Chalten (Huemul Circuit), and the Torres del Paine W Trek (all incredible, but I’m partial to the Cerro Castillo hike we did first, because it was the most remote). Since she was still a student, I bought all of our gear so we had matching sets of everything.
This was early on in my adult life, and I didn’t have a lot of savings yet. My intention around these purchases was to buy the best I could afford that would last. I also prioritized organization and convenience and carried around a lot of fear about ‘just in case’ things. I had heavy dry bags from Sea to Summit for everything which also made it more difficult to squeeze everything into a pack. I thought I had to be more clean and organized, and I was more careful about ‘taking care of my gear’, e.g. I would always sleep with a sleeping bag liner in my sleeping bag.
I brought a lot of what I now see as duplicates (such as three different items that function like a buff), or gear that is less efficient for its weight. I had very heavy and bulky clothing that I would now consider only for extreme or around town use. I carried 16 heavy stakes and I carried a rock to hammer in the stakes with, “in case there weren’t any rocks around”. I was packing like I didn’t have to carry it all myself! (This is partially true, as my sister and I shared the load of things like cooking equipment and tent parts.)
I knew nothing and had little experience, so I bought what I read you were ‘supposed’ to buy, not realizing that there are so many ways of handling every aspect of a hike. I tried to combat fear with a lot of ‘things’.
Sunrise at the towers on the W Trek, 2018.
Pack: Hyperlite 3400 Southwest 55L
Shelter: Nemo Dagger 2P Freestanding Tent and groundsheet, MSR groundhogs x 16, rock
Sleep: Exped Winter Synmat Pad, Feathered Friends 20 degree Egret quilt, Sea to Summit thermolite liner
Kitchen & Water: MSR pocket rocket & kit, flint, HumanGear spork, Sea to Summit dry sack as food bag, Katadyn filter & Hydrapak bladder, Katadyn micropur tablets
Food: Backpacker’s Pantry meals, oatmeal, Pro bars, tortillas with avocado and salami
Clothing: Patagonia capilene base layers, sleep layers, Patagonia Better Sweater fleece, Patagonia 3L rain jacket, Patagonia down vest, REI Talusphere rain pants, Manzella gloves, buff w/ gore-tex, North Face hiking boots, silk liner socks, Bombas hiking socks, REI Goretex mittens, beanie, headband, Xero camp shoes
Electronics: Luci inflatable light and solar charger, Black Diamond headlamp, whatever power bank I owned at the time
Toiletries: Collapsible toothbrush, REI coop multi towel, toothpaste, trowel, toilet paper, sunscreen, sunglasses in a hard case, Sea to Summit wet wipes
Misc: Sea-to-Summit Dry Sacks x 3, Adventure Kit first aid, emergency blanket, Patagonia fanny pack, Sea to Summit day pack, Yaktrax microspikes, Komperdell hiking poles, journal
On the Cerro Castillo trek in Patagonia, 2018
The Solo Era: Increasing Mileage
During this era, I started feeling more comfortable backpacking solo. Over the course of two years in 2020 and 2021, I hiked, cycled, bikepacked, and camped in Washington, Oregon, California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana as part of a goal of hitting all of the national parks (I’m almost through all of the parks in the continental U.S.!). One of the hikes I did was the Teton Crest Trail.
The Teton Crest Trail was my first solo ‘thru’ hike. At 45 miles or so, it’s certainly not long distance, but it felt long for me at the time! I used walk up permits at shoulder season and hiked about 14 miles a day, which felt like all day.
At that point, I was so scared of sleeping along in the wild, and of bears. I remember setting my Ursack away from my tent and realizing I had forgotten to carry my bear spray, so I ran back to camp in fear that a bear would get me in the short distance back to my campsite.
I kept almost all the same gear but ditched a few things, and realized I was carrying things that I still wasn’t using. Some of the changes were necessarily because the terrain / conditions did not require it.
Primarily though, I started to settle into more of my own hiking style: I started to realize I was preferring to eat cold-soaked oatmeal instead of cooking with boiling water, that I wasn’t wearing all of my layers, and that maybe it was not necessary to have hiking boots. On this trail I started realizing that yes, I could hike alone and sleep outside alone, and when you hike and camp alone it’s more interesting to spend your waking time walking further as opposed to setting up camp to hang out earlier.
Later, in 2022, I hiked the Tour du Mont Blanc somewhat impulsively because I happened to have extra time available while staying at a friend’s family’s place along the route.
By this point I was thru-hike curious and wanted to see if I could do it: hike over twenty miles a day on end.
My pack’s base weight was about 18 lbs at the time, so my feet were exhausted by the end of four days of twenty miles a day, even though I wasn’t carrying nearly as much food given how frequently you’re able to purchase food on trail — it’s not nearly as remote as an American trail. I can’t believe I carried a 2-lb film camera around my neck!
It was after I’d hiked the Tour du Mont Blanc that I decided I would do the PCT.
On the Tour du Mont Blanc, 2022.
Pack: Hyperlite 3400 Southwest 55L
Shelter: Nemo Dagger 2P Freestanding Tent and groundsheet, MSR groundhogs x 16, rock
Sleep: Exped Winter Synmat Pad, Feathered Friends 20 degree Egret quilt, Sea to Summit thermolite liner, silk liner
Kitchen & Water: MSR pocket rocket & kit, flint, HumanGear spork, Sea to Summit dry sack as food bag, Katadyn filter & Hydrapak bladder, Katadyn micropur tablets
Food: Oatmeal, bars, crackers, chips
Clothing: Patagonia capilene base layers (*on the TMB, I swapped to short sleeves and bike shorts), sleep layers, Patagonia Better Sweater fleece, Patagonia down vest, Patagonia 3L rain jacket, REI Talusphere rain pants, Manzella gloves, buff w/ gore-tex, North Face hiking boots (*on the TMB, I swapped to Hokas), silk liner socks, Bombas hiking socks, REI Goretex mittens, beanie, headband, Xero camp shoes
Electronics: Luci inflatable light and solar charger, Black Diamond headlamp, whatever power bank I owned at the time; occasionally a Kindle
Toiletries: Collapsible toothbrush, REI coop multi towel, toothpaste, trowel, toilet paper, sunscreen, sunglasses in a hard case, Sea to Summit wet wipes
Misc: Sea-to-Summit Dry Sacks x 3, Adventure Kit first aid, emergency blanket, Patagonia fanny pack, Sea to Summit day pack, Yaktrax microspikes, Komperdell hiking poles, journal, Nikon F2 film camera on a leather strap around my neck (!)
In the Tetons, 2021.
The Pacific Crest Trail Era: Embracing Ultralight
I knew from my experience on the Tour du Mont Blanc that I needed to seriously lighten my load if I wanted to be capable of hiking long days repeatedly. In preparing to hike the PCT, I initially thought I’d be able to keep all the gear I’d used before, then quickly realized I would need to overhaul almost everything and transitioned to more cottage gear brands.
My base weight for the PCT was ultimately about 10 lbs or about 13 lbs in the Sierra. I was still nervous about moving to an ultralight setup, and I had all of my old gear ready to be shipped out to me if I felt I was lacking. I hated leaving behind my little stake rock, which is funny to think about now!
I still wasn’t fully ready to let go, but I tried to embrace the philosophy as much as possible. I took what I thought was the lowest possible comfort, then added back. Examples:
- I switched to a tarp (even through the Sierra), and found I liked cowboy camping so much that I rarely used the tarp unless it was raining. I finally ditched my rock for staking.
- I upgraded to a quilt.
- I bought a custom UL backpack, but I didn’t understand my hiking style well enough to pare down the number of custom features that I asked for, so it ended up being on the heavier side of UL range packs.
- I decided to cold soak, including through the Sierra, which was another evolution of what I’d been trending towards already with preferring cold oatmeal over a hot dehydrated meal. I then realized I didn’t even want to bother with oatmeal in the morning, and switched to bars.
- I switched to mini groundhog stakes and learned to use rocks or other features to set up my tarp.
- I replaced my sleeping pad with a lighter inflatable pad, then found that a CCF pad worked ok, too.
- I overhauled all my clothing for UL clothing alternatives.
- I ditched most of the stuff sacks and the sleeping bag liner, and replaced the remaining two stuff sacks with DCF.
- I first carried dehydrated towels that expanded upon washing, then realized I stopped caring about constantly wiping off dirt and ditched them.
- I replaced items for lighter versions, like headlamps, trekking poles, camera (which I got a clip for), battery packs, etc.
- I had to add back more to my repair and first aid kits than I’d originally brought.
- I replaced my Patagonia vest with a Timmermade lightweight vest, then realized I really did need a full sleeved down jacket.
- I started out with a paper journal but quickly realized I was too tired at camp or at camp in the dark, so I wasn’t writing by hand anymore (despite swearing by handwritten things in my off trail life). Ditched the journal for digital.
- I also realized over that many months that there were some luxuries I wanted to have, like a sit pad, and sandals to wear in town.
By this time, I had learned to weigh things and put together a Lighterpack and went on Reddit for a shakedown. Below, almost everything is different from before except for my gloves, my trowel, and Hokas. The list below reflects what I started out with vs. ended with.
My early Sierra setup – ditched the snowshoes immediately lol
Pack: KS Ultralight 40L, pack liner
Shelter: MLD Grace tarp, 6 mini groundhog stakes, 2 Titanium peg stakes
Sleep: Thermarest Neoair, CCF pad, sit pad
Kitchen & Water: cold soak jar, bamboo mini spork, Sawyer filter and coupler, CNOC 2L bladder, 1L Smartwater bottle, 750ml Smartwater sport bottle, Plymor industrial bags for carrying food
Food: Bars, Nutella, chips, crackers, couscous, mashed potatoes, nut butter, bacon jerky, Oreos
Clothing: Cotopaxi sun hoody, On running shorts, Timmermade down sweater, alpha fleece hoodie, Montbell Versalite rain jacket, Patagonia Houdini windshirt, Amazon dance pants, New Balance glove liners, Manzella gloves, Montbell shell mittens, buff, Hokas, Darn Tough socks, beanie
Electronics: Nitecore headlamp, Nitecore power bank, 6 inch cables, wall charger
Toiletries: Cut toothbrush, dehydrated wipes, toothpaste tabs, trowel, toilet paper, sunscreen, sunglasses, Kula cloth
Misc: DCF stuff sack for clothing, DCF ditty bag, homemade first aid kit, Gossamer Gear hiking poles, journal, Nikon FM2T film camera on a camera clip
On the Pacific Crest Trail in a record snow year, 2023, in the Sierra near Chicken Spring Lake.
The Colorado Trail Era: A Period of Complacency
Before the PCT I had been so concerned about counting grams (a backlash from the excess weight I carried on the TMB, I think) and calories/gram in my food at a nutritional cost. I felt that ultimately a few ounces here and there didn’t make a huge difference, and I’d already done the research on the Big 3 items and was comfortable with it.
So I went into the CT with about the same gear and carried luxury items like an extra cotton shirt that I found for town (and for a pillow), an extra microgrid fleece when I was allowed to buy one from a walk-in appointment at Melanzana in Leadville, extra food, heavier trekking poles that were easier to set up my tarp with, etc.
Turns out that weight did add up, and I could certainly feel it on the uphill.
But the bigger issue was that my priorities for hiking had changed: I was now hiking alone for long hours and prioritizing speed and distance.
To do that, I needed to cut more weight and reduce inefficiencies in how I was spending my time.
Another critical issue on this hike was that I didn’t have good enough protection from the constant rain. I stuck it out with my tarp, but I would occasionally get a little wet from sideways rain if I wasn’t in a site protected by natural features. I had to dig myself moats, and use my sleeping pad as a raft against the growing puddle around me. My Nylofume pack liner failed on me, and my pack’s waterproofing had already worn out from abuse on the PCT, so my down quilt and down jacket were frequently wet and occasionally soaked. I went through frequent ‘car washes’ and my old strategy of hitting the foliage with my trekking poles was slowing me down. I was also moving at a pace that didn’t allow a lot of time for me to sit around waiting for things to dry out.
To hit the twenty-seven 14ers that I did, I also had to hit a specific schedule to avoid afternoon thunderstorms: camp out at the base of the next junction, set up my tarp and stash my camp items, then slackpack to the summit and get back below treeline before the predictable storms, then hike another 10 – 15 miles to the base of the next 14er.
I was moving too fast uphill to eat solid food while breathing that hard, and I delayed soaking and consuming a lunch to prioritize descending to treeline. I wasn’t eating enough and was feeling nauseous from the elevation or the lack of food or the pace or all of the above.
I was also trying to run more on trail, but the heavy camera clipped to my shoulder pack was preventing me from doing so effectively.
It was clear my hiking goals had shifted, and my gear needed to evolve with me.
Stashing / drying my gear during the day while slackpacking a 14er
Pack: KS Ultralight 40L (this was falling apart by this time!), pack liner (also failed)
Shelter: MLD Grace tarp, 6 mini groundhog stakes, 2 Titanium peg stakes
Sleep: Thermarest Neoair, six-panel CCF pad, sit pad
Kitchen & Water: cold soak jar, bamboo mini spork, Sawyer filter and coupler, CNOC 2L bladder, 1L Smartwater bottle, 750ml Smartwater sport bottle, Plymor industrial bags for carrying food
Food: Bars, Nutella, chips, crackers, couscous, mashed potatoes, tuna, nut butter, turkey jerky, more foods with fiber and protein, olive oil, Oreos
Clothing: Cotopaxi sun hoody, On running shorts, Timmermade down sweater, Montbell Versalite rain jacket, Patagonia Houdini windshirt, Amazon dance pants, New Balance glove liners, Manzella gloves, Montbell shell mittens, Hokas, Darn Tough socks, beanie
Electronics: Nitecore headlamp, Nitecore power bank x 2, 6 inch cables (2 Lightning cables failed, as did the port on my iPhone, so I switched to a wireless Magsafe charger), wall charger
Toiletries: Cut toothbrush, toothpaste tabs, trowel, toilet paper, sunscreen, armless sunglasses, Kula cloth
Misc: DCF stuff sack for clothing, DCF ditty bag, homemade first aid kit with more items than I’d had before since I’d gotten injured on the PCT and realized I needed more!, LEKI hiking poles, Nikon FM2T film camera on a camera clip, baseball cap
The relief after the sun comes back out after rain
The CDT + GDT Era: The Next Evolution
At this point, I think I have a much better idea of who I am on trail, how I like to hike, what slows me down, and what is critical that I can’t compromise on. I know what kinds of problems or blockers I’m solving for. I know what starts to annoy me after packing / unpacking my gear every day, and how to handle different conditions with knowledge as opposed to more. I also know which luxury items I won’t care about, and which ones are actually nice to have.
I want to move quickly and nimbly across the landscape, prioritizing distance and speed over time in town / camp or breaks on trail. I want to feel unencumbered. I realize that nutrition is the fuel that allows me to do that, and I need to be smart about how much protein and fiber I’m eating.
I wrote about this in detail in my preparation post for my attempt to thru hike the CDT and GDT combined, but here’s a summary of what I landed on — a base weight that is comfortable but minimal, slightly lighter than before, and most importantly more efficient:
Initial test of gear setup, November 2024. I started putting my camera directly in the shoulder strap pocket and swapped hats, but otherwise this is it 🙂
Pack: Pa’lante ultralight pack (no hipbelt saves me time, and the bottom pocket increases my flexibility with what snacks I can pack vs small hip belt pockets)
Shelter: MLD Grace tarp (replaced all guylines with thinner & lighter guyline that doesn’t tangle), 6 mini groundhog stakes, 2 Titanium peg stakes
Sleep: trimmed six-panel CCF pad, sit pad (it’s luxury, but over long days and as I lose weight on trail and sitting on rocks gets more uncomfortable, it’s nice to have!)
Kitchen & Water: cold soak jar, bamboo mini spork, a squeeze bottle for olive oil (easier to use), Sawyer filter and coupler, CNOC 2L bladder, 1L Smartwater bottle, 500ml soft flask bottle and bite valve (easier filtering / drinking), Plymor industrial bags for carrying food
Food: Bars with a focus on protein, chips, crackers, couscous, mashed potatoes, tuna, self-packaged nut butter, jerky, granola for dinner, olive oil, occasional treats for morale, carb mix (for intake of calories when it’s hard to breathe, and to boost the calories in my food), bone broth protein powder to boost protein
Clothing: Cotopaxi sun hoody, On running shorts, Timmermade down sweater, alpha fleece crewneck, microgrid fleece hoodie, LEVE Outdoor Co non-breathable rain jacket, EE Copperfield windshirt, Amazon dance pants, Timmermade Hyper D pants (which I can put on / take off without removing my shoes), New Balance glove liners, Manzella gloves, Montbell shell mittens, Hokas, Darn Tough socks – ultralight versions with cushioning, beanie
Electronics: Nitecore headlamp, Rovyvon Aurora mini flashlight with clip, Nitecore power bank Gen 3, 6 inch cables – both USB-C and switched to a USB-C phone, wall charger
Toiletries: Cut toothbrush, toothpaste tabs in waterproof container, trowel, lighter trowel, emergency toilet paper, bidet + soap, sunscreen stick, armless sunglasses, Kula cloth
Misc: DCF stuff sack for clothing, DCF ditty bag, homemade first aid kit with more items than I’d had before since I’d gotten injured on the PCT and realized I needed more!, LEKI hiking poles, Nikon FM2T film camera on a camera clip, lightweight cap, smaller point-and-shoot film camera that fits in a pocket
Final gear lay for the trip, April 2025
I’m sure my gear will only continue to evolve as I do, and as the industry evolves. Let’s see how it goes 🙂
xx
stitches
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