Tag: wilderness

What’s in my Day Hiking Back Pack?

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Even if I’m doing an easy 5 miler in the wilderness, I always carry the 10 essentials and MORE! After having to almost spend the night in the Lassen National Park wilderness completely unprepared after a short hike to a lookout tower, I learned a hard lesson! I now carry items to sustain me in the wilderness until help arrives. This could be hours or even days!
Disclaimer: This is what I carry. You may have different ideas! I’d love to hear them!

Here is the link to the fiasco I was involved in a few years ago where I almost had to spend the night in the freezing cold forest!

The Story about my (almost) night in the mountains!  

My Day pack is an REI Trail 40 and Here’s what’s in it! (NONE of the links are affiliate. All  are non-sponsored)

A word about navigation apps and what I use:

I rely on a few essential navigation apps, tested and trusted by hardcore mountaineers and thru-hikers. These apps provide reliable navigation and have been field-tested by the toughest adventurers. Here are my go-to  primary choices:

  1. Gaia GPS is a powerful app offering detailed topographical maps, weather data, fire information, private property boundaries, and many other useful layers. It’s widely used by serious backcountry hikers. While the free version offers many features, the paid version is highly recommended for those who frequently venture into remote areas.

  2. FarOut: FarOut is particularly valuable for the three long trails: the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT), Continental Divide Trail (CDT), and Appalachian Trail (AT). A one-time fee allows you to download the trail you hike most often—for me, that’s the PCT.

These are my secondary apps:

  1. AllTrails: AllTrails is excellent for researching and finding hiking trails. The paid version includes a cool 3D animated feature, plus up-to-date trail data from recent hikers, which is especially helpful during the spring thaw. However, be cautious with the navigation feature, as it has been known to be unreliable on backcountry trails.

  2. Wikiloc: Wikiloc is another useful app for researching trails and discovering new hiking destinations.

  3. PeakFinder: PeakFinder can be hit or miss when identifying peaks. It’s great when it works, but don’t rely on it in a moving car. The app is free.

Other Things I take:

Hiking Umbrella – Trekking Poles- Water Bladder-Cell Phone- Hat- hiking gloves- roll of duct tape wrapped around chapstick, garbage bag, toilet paper (pack out used!), Hand warmer, Smart water bottle, it fits the water filter, and A FRIEND! Don’t hike alone!

Here is what’s in my multi-night (backpacking) bag!

https://lighterpack.com/r/fxk0s3

FIRE on the Mountain! Mt. Lola

With the morning temperature in the low 30s, it was a beautiful day to hike to the top of Mt. Lola located just down the road from Truckee CA.

We spot a fire, see some weird structure remains at the top, and get some awesome views!

This summer I probably did about 20 Sierra hikes with eight separate peaks hikes thrown in. I hiked some of those eight peaks multiple times with a total of 12 peak hikes!  At over 11K feet, Mt. Rose was the hardest for me.. but being stubborn, I did that one twice!
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Mt. LOLA

Named after local Gold Rush celebrity, Lola Montez, the peak formed by ancient volcanic mud flows 4 to 12 million years ago was used as a platform to survey the west by triangulation in 1878. The first time this was done in the world!
Using telescopes and mirrors aligned from the top of Mt. Shasta, Mt. Lola and Mt. Helena the Coast and Geodetic Survey observed the longest triangulation line ever used on Aug. 1, 1878.

Rock structures and brick pillars remain at the top from that summer long ago when George Davidson stationed atop it sending a flash of light to the station on the top of Mt. Shasta.

More on Lola Montez here 

More on the the survey here

Thank you for watching my videos.. my labors of love!