Fall & Winter Checkup: Is Your Daypack Ready?

Fall in the Pacific North West seems to bring out SAR operations a couple times every year. In the past couple years there have been a couple cases where the individuals were very, very lucky in being found in time and rescued. They involved people who had little gear on them and who faced cold, wet and inhospitable conditions.

This isn't an arm chair quarterbacking lecture on perceived notions of what the hikers did wrong (I won't do that, it isn't fair to the people involved!) but rather a call to check over your day pack now that fall is here and winter is around the corner. In summer if you get lost or hurt while out for the most part you have days more time to be found - warm nights and a heavy use of trails helps here in Washington State for example. Come fall and winter the trails are used less, darkness comes earlier and it freezes often at night. Snow is common in October and on - and if you haven't hiked in snow before it is easy to get lost and lose the trail.

Yes, you might end up with a heavier day pack, and no you don't have to carry everything I do. But you can be prepared to survive a night out (or more) or help others who get hurt in the back country. My feeling is that if anything happens to me while I am out I want all the advantages I can have! We hike year round and it never hurts every couple months to lay out your gear and asess what you are carrying. It gives you the "push" to resupply, add new gear or remove gear.

So what do you really need? Well, it depends on where you are hiking. If hiking urban trails you don't need as much. There a cell phone is more likely to help you than carrying a full pack of gear. No matter what though, and no matter what trail you take off on, the most important thing you can do is leave your plans with a trusted person and never deviate from those plans unless you notify them!

Go prepared: make sure the trail is open, the road to the trailhead is open, that your car is ready for off season travel. Read up on the weather. If a storm is coming in that could be big, make sure you won't get stuck on the other side of a raging river you cannot recross (yes, this has happened to hikers). Carry a handsaw in your trunk in case a tree falls while you are out hiking, and blocks that remote FS road you are down on (I have heard a few local NW hikers comment on that this has happened to them.)

My off season gear list:

Day pack
Pack cover
Prolite sit pad
2 water bottles
Kitchen: Stove, fuel, pan, cup, spork, cozy, lighter and paper towels.
Water proof matches/fire kit
Headlamp
Knife
Clothes: down vest, socks, gloves, hat and GTX Paclite jacket.
TP bag with garbage bags and hand wipes.
Snack food bag full of snacks.
Days food + plus an extra days food. This includes packets of hot drinks and mild electrolyte drinks.
Micro Pur water treatment tablets.
GPS or compass.
Maps
Sunglasses
First aid kit (includes prescription medications)
Emergency blanket (the silver ones)
Cell phone
Shovel for snowshoeing (If I am doing that)

What can one do with all the items or more importantly, why carry them?

Day pack:
If your pack is a top loader you can use it as a 1/4 bivy, covering your legs. If you are shorter it can easily go up to your mid thighs.

Sit pad:
This will insulate you from the ground if you need to stay in one place. While in a pinch you could cut evergreen boughs to sit on, this is a much better choice (environmentally it just isn't LNT). In an emergency never sit on the ground, it will suck the heat right out of you.

Kitchen set up:
If you have that feeling you are not where you are supposed to be, don't panic. Stop, sit down and have a cup of something hot. It will give you time to let the panic slide back down. Take that time to think, to study your map. Your brain is the most important piece of gear you carry-let it have time to work.

Clothes:
You never know when the weather could turn nasty on you suddenly. Always go prepared for cold weather. Summits and passes can get very nasty, and that hot sweaty feeling can drain away in a matter of minutes. Replaced with teeth chattering and blue fingernails.

Emergency blanket:
If something does happen and you need to set up a shelter, open the blanket up, lay a portion on the ground carefully and put your sit pad on it. Get your extra clothes on, put your legs in your pack and wrap up in the blanket. You won't be uber comfortable, but you will have a very high chance of staying warm through even freezing temperatures. It will help block the wind and the cold from below you.

A couple of my friends I hike with often carry small UL tarps to set up at lunch time if it is nasty. It is a nice bonus to sit at a lake having a hot lunch while the mist and rain falls around us. If one is doing long miles in nasty weather/remote areas a UL tarp can be a good idea to add in. The tarp can add the ability to shed rain and more wind.

Most of all, go with a good attitude: don't be afraid to turn back if you feel uncomfortable with the weather or with trail conditions. It is a good idea to talk about this with your hiking partners beforehand - that if one person doesn't feel comfortable, then turn around is called.

And remember .... if you do get lost? Make sure that your contact person tells the evening news that you have no experience and had never hiked before. Because no one wants to be the "Experienced Hiker Lost! Story At 11 PM!" Also be sure to leave a flattering photo of yourself to be shown on all the media outlets......Joking aside, take some time to think about what you would do if it happened!

In safe hiking and happy trails....
~Sarah