This is a list of the equipment I took on the Hoh River Trail to the Blue Glacier trip which was six days long. I didn’t weigh my pack but it felt roughly the same as my fellow hikers who weighed in at 40 pounds.

I’m not saying this is what you should take…I’m just listing what I took. I was pretty happy with this, except where noted.

  • La Sportiva Nucleo High II GTX boots. I absolutely loved these boots. Quick to break in, so comfortable on the trail, and plenty of stability and grip.
  • REI Morning Star 65 backpack circa 2003. Old, crusty, but did the trick. I’m actually not sure if it is the 55 or 65.
  • Sierra Designs 3D sleeping bag circa 1998. So heavy. Next time I’ll take a quilt or something newer and lighter, for sure.
  • REI 20 liter compression stuff sack for the sleeping bag
  • ENO Sublink Ultralight Hammock System. Includes the hammock, bug net, and rainfly. I should have done several nights in this hammock before hitting the trail. I didn’t feel like I had it figured out until the third night. But I’m definitely Team Hammock from here on out when there are trees available.
  • Thermarest Sleeping Pad circa 2003. Nearly useless for sleeping in the hammock, but I made it work. Trick was to half-inflate it to keep it from becoming rigid. Next time I’ll bring an underquilt for the hammock and leave the sleeping pad at home.
  • Jetboil Flash camping stove. Loved this stove. Fast, dependable, and fuel efficient. Highly recommend.
  • Jetboil Fuel (100g). Three of us took 100g each, just in case, and we had way more fuel than we needed, see meals, below.
  • Katadyn Hiker Pro Microfilter Water Filtration System. Worked like a charm. Nothing like drinking ice cold water from a glacier-fed river!
  • Black Diamond Alpine Carbon Cork Trekking Poles. My first time hiking with trekking poles. Wow, what a huge difference those made. Would never go back to hiking without!
  • Black Diamond Cosmo Headlamp
  • Outdoor Research Seattle Sombrero. My first Father’s Day present. Honestly, it is too hot for summer hiking, but was glad I had it once we got to the glacier.
  • Two 1-liter Nalgene bottles
  • Sea-to-Summit 22 oz. collapsible bowl. My one and only food container. Kind of wished I had also taken one of their collapsible mugs for tea. Ended up drinking tea straight out of the Jetboil.
  • Core Element 100% Titanium Long-Handle Spork. My one and only utensil. Worked great.
  • Energizer power brick (20,000 mAH). This was WAY more power than I needed to keep my iPhone 8 and my Series 5 Apple Watch powered the entire trip. The thing weighs a LOT, so next time I’d be a lot more judicious about how much power needed to go along.
  • Wal-Mart rain jacket. Last-minute replacement as I had accidentally left my nice Outdoor Research jacket at home. Didn’t need it at all, though.
  • Wal-Mart Slip-on Flip Flops. Nice for walking around camp, but next time I’ll take Tevas so I can ford rivers with better grip.
  • Two carabiners. Used to clip the flip-flops and sombrero to the outside of the pack
  • Small Packtowel circa 1998. Oldie-but-goodie. This chamois style towel is small, light, and super absorbent. Used it several times.
  • Small plastic mirror. Didn’t need it or use it, would probably leave it home next time.
  • Ben’s 100% DEET. Super-effective, but felt a little greasy after application.
  • Gerber Suspension NXT Multi-tool. Didn’t really need it, but would have felt irresponsible not to have something like that handy.
  • U-Dig-It Shovel circa 1998. Didn’t need it and it weighs a lot, relative to the little shovels they sell now. Next time I’ll get a titanium or plastic one.
  • Combat Wipes Active (25). Definitely needed and used these!
  • Storm-proof matches. Didn’t need them, but glad I had them.
  • MPI Emergency Space Blanket. Didn’t need it, but glad I had it. Briefly considered rigging it as an underquilt for my hammock when I ejected my sleeping pad and then got chilly, but ultimately went back to the half-inflated sleeping pad.
  • 2nd Skin Blister Kit. Didn’t need it, but glad I had it. Was a lifesaver during the Rainier trip.
  • Silva Sighting Compass. Didn’t need it, but glad I had it.
  • Paracord (~50 ft.). Didn’t need it, but glad I had it.
  • REI Duck’s Back pack cover, large. Didn’t need it, but glad I had it. Saw some folks using theirs to cover their packs at night to keep them drier and maybe discourage rodents but I left mine uncovered the entire trip.
  • Nearly-empty toothpaste
  • Nearly-empty sunscreen
  • Toothbrush
  • iPhone 8. Took it only for pictures and to journal the trip. There wasn’t a signal at any point during the trip and I intentionally stayed out of all apps.
  • Apple Watch Series 5. Tracked the first day hike as official workouts but that chewed through the battery so just used it as a watch and step counter the rest of the trip.
  • REI BV 500 Bear Vault. Rented this from REI because one of our camp sites required bear vaults. This was a bummer because they are heavy empty. But, on the bright side, you always knew exactly where all your food, toothpaste, and sunscreen was.
  • Old Black Magic Sailing Gloves. Took these specifically for the rope/cable/ladder ascent and descent that is part of the glacier route.

Clothes for six days at the end of July between 700ft and 5000ft elevation:

  • Two pairs of pants. One Mountain Hardware and the other Kuhl. The Mountain Hardware pair was my favorite.
  • Two 100% polyester shirts, both REI basic hiking shirts.
  • Two pairs of Ex Officio underwear. Can’t say enough great things about these undies. Good for all kinds of travel.
  • Three pairs of Smartwool socks (circa 1998). I’ll never hike in anything other than Smartwool. Comfortable, durable, and dry. Happy feet. Probably one more pair than was necessary.
  • One pair of REI fleece pants. Intended these to be for sleeping or hanging around camp. Ended up being too warm most nights.
  • One long-sleeve REI base layer shirt. Also intended for sleeping or hanging around camp. Kind of glad I had it.
  • One quarter-zip REI pullover. Used for hanging around camp. Could have taken only this and left the base layer shirt at home.

My clothes strategy was to wear the same pants, shirt, underwear, and socks the first three days or until I couldn’t stand it any longer. That worked great. It got me to Elk Lake where I was able to do some laundry and then switch to fresh clothes for the climb to the glacier. Left my laundry to dry on the rain fly while we were on the glacier climb and everything was almost dry when I got back and totally dry the next morning.

Food for six days:

  • Six single serve tuna and salmon packs. Had some of these as snacks, and mixed some with dinners
  • Six Cliff bars
  • Four single serve JIF peanut butter packs
  • Half-a-pound of salted cashews
  • One pack of freeze-dried brownie bites
  • One pack of freeze-dried cookie bites
  • One bar of Ghirardelli 70% dark chocolate
  • Two 2.5oz packets of beef jerky
  • Three bags of English Breakfast tea
  • Three bags of Camomile tea
  • Eight freeze-dried meals from Peak, Backpacker’s Pantry, and Mountain Kitchen, see trip log for details, although I will say here that Peak Biscuits and Gravy is the hands-down winner of the Best Backpacking Meal Award in all our estimation. On most days I split the two servings with my hiking buddy. On heavy days we each ate the entire double serving. I carried half of these and my buddy carried half.
  • “The Concoction”, eaten for breakfast, which consists of (makes five servings):
    • 2.5 cups of oats
    • 9 oz. Carnation instant breakfast
    • 9 oz. Ghirardelli dark chocolate brownie mix
    • Five packets of instant coffee

For more meal ideas, see this link, which is where I got the Concoction recipe.