I thru-hiked the Colorado Trail (CT) from July 23rd to August 19th. This timing put me about a week or two ahead of the main bubble of summer hikers, but far enough into the peak season to enjoy the wildflowers and snow-free miles of trail.
The Colorado weather was pretty mild most days (i.e., 40s in the mornings warming up to the low 70s during the daytime). However, June 15th to September 30th is also part of the monsoon season where torrential rain, lightning, and even graupel (frozen snow) are regular threats at higher altitudes. Thus, my packing list for this trail was more robust than my typical mid-summer hike.
Scroll to the end of this gear list to see what I named as my MVP piece of gear for the CT, what gear choices I didn’t like, and what I’d do differently if I were thru-hiking this trail again.
(Note: I publish my packing list after each hike because I think there’s value in seeing what gear other hikers actually used, liked, or disliked on a particular thru-hike. Any item with an asterisk beside it indicates a deviation from my standard long distance hiking gear set-up. Also, NONE of the hyperlinks in this post are affiliate links. They are merely provided as a quick reference for the reader. )
BIG THREE
- Backpack – ULA Circuit (68L/internal frame pack)
- Pack Accessories – WEBO Shoulder Pouch
- Pack Liner* – Six Moon Designs Waterproof Bag
- Tent – Nemo Hornet 2P tent
- Quilt – EE Enigma down quilt (10-degree)
- Air Mattress – Therm-a-rest NeoAir XLite (size: regular wide) with pump sack
- Foam Pad* – Gossamer Gear 1/8″ Thinlite foam pad
HIKING CLOTHING (WORN)
- Hiking Bottoms – Patagonia Baggies 5″ shorts
- Hiking Shirt – REI Sahara Sun hoody (men’s)
- Undergarments – Patagonia Barely sports bra & Jockey seamless underwear
- Hiking Socks – Injinji hiking socks
- Shoes – Altra Lone Peak 7
- Gaiters – Dirty Girl gaiters
- Hat – Headsweats Race hat
- Sunglasses* – Sunski Headlands sunglasses with polarized lenses
- Watch – Timex Ironman watch
- Trekking Poles – Leki Cressida Thermo poles
- Wallet – Webo wallet (w/ ID, credit card, and cash)
OUTERWEAR
- Puffy – Mountain Hardwear Ghost Whisperer down hooded jacket
- Rain Jacket* – Patagonia Torrentshell 3L rain jacket
- Rain Pants – REI Junction cycling rain pants
- Wind Jacket* – Patagonia Houdini wind jacket
- Sun Gloves– REI sun gloves
- Warm Hat – North Face pink beanie hat
- Warm Gloves – Smartwool liner gloves
EXTRA CLOTHES/CAMP ITEMS
- Layering Shirt* – Icebreaker 150 short-sleeve base layer top
- Underwear – Patagonia Barely underwear (3 extra pairs)
- Sleep Clothes* – REI wool 1/4 zip long sleeve shirt & Patagonia wind pants
- Socks – Smartwool socks (1 extra hiking pair, 1 sleep pair)
- Headband – Buff CoolNet UV+ multifunctional headband
- Camp shoes – Crocs Swiftwater sandals
- Storage – Sea to Summit Ultra-Sil stuff sack (9L)
- Pillow– Therm-a-Rest Trekker Stuffable Backpacking pillowcase
- Journal* – Field Notes 48-page notebook, pen, Sharpie marker
- Repair Kit – Tenacious tape & repair kit for air mattress
HYGIENE ITEMS
- Toiletry Storage – Lightweight stuff sack
- Dental Care – Travel toothbrush/toothpaste + floss
- Vision – Daily wear disposable contacts & glasses
- Cleaning – Wet Ones (travel size)
- First Aid Kit – KT tape, Body Glide (0.8 oz), bandaids, Lamb’s wool
- Knife – Swiss Army knife (w/ mini scissors)
- Skincare – Chapstick and sunscreen
- Toilet – Duece of Spades #2 trowel, TP, doggie poop bags, Kula cloth
- Trash storage – Large ziplock bag
FOOD/COOKING ITEMS
- Stove – MSR PocketRocket2 + 8 oz. fuel canister & mini lighter
- Cook Pot – MSR Titan Kettle (0.85L) + homemade pot koozy
- Spoon – Toaks long handle titanium spoon (w/ polished bowl)
- Cup – Sea to Summit collapsable cup
- Food Storage* – Ursack and OPSAK odor proof bag (12″ x 20″)
- Water filter – Sawyer Squeeze filter & CNOC Outdoor Vecto 2L bladder
- Water storage* – 1L and 0.75L plastic bottles, plus 20 oz drink mixing bottle
ELECTRONICS
- Phone/camera – iPhone 15
- Earbuds – Apple Airpods
- Garmin InReach mini – GPS satellite communicator
- External battery – Anker Power Core 20100 external battery
- Power – USB cables (x2) and Anker dual port 12W USB wall charger
- Navigation – Far Out Guide (formerly Guthook App) for CT on my iPhone
- Headlamp – Nitecore NU25 headlamp (360 lumens)
- Electronics Storage – Sea to summit Ultra-Sil Dry Sack (size: XXS)
POST-HIKE THOUGHTS
Although this was a summer hike, I packed as if I was heading out for a much colder trek. This gear list includes plenty of warm gear to compensate for the chilly Colorado nights – especially when camping at high elevations like 11,000 or 12,000 feet.
In addition to the warmer gear, I also planned to hike two separate 6-day stretches on the trail between my resupply towns. Thus, I carried my 68L ULA Circuit backpack to accommodate the extra weight and volume instead of my lighter 45L summer pack.
All told, this gear list looks more toward a 3-season gear list than a mid-summer one. But nobody said the Colorado Trail would be easy. So let’s break my gear into a few useful categories:
New gear I carried on this hike
- Waterproof Bag. I normally just pack my gear into a clear plastic liner bag (like this one from Gossamer Gear). Yet after a while, those liners all wear out or get a hole in them. So last Christmas, Keith bought me a reusable 50L pack liner from Six Moon Designs to try out. It only weighs 3 ounces, and is much more durable than the liner bags I was using before. Verdict: 👍
- Tiny Journal. I’ve transitioned to taking most of my trail notes on my iPhone during my past few long-distance hikes. Nonetheless, I still enjoy having something tangible to write in while on trail. Rather than carry my full size journal, I found this 48-page notebook from Field Notes is the ideal size at just 3.5″ x 5.5″ and a mere 1.1 ounces. Verdict: 👍
- Sunglasses. This gear change wasn’t a monumental one. My last set of polarized sunglasses were from Tifosi, this set is from Sunski. They are similar in price and style, and I love the clear frames. Verdict: 👍
- Rain Jacket. After my October thru-hike on Scotland’s [very wet] West Highland Way, I decided to carry my Patagonia Torrentshell 3L rain jacket instead of my ultralight Outdoor Reattach Helium rain jacket. I know from experience that Colorado’s monsoon season might bring some really heavy rain, and I wasn’t willing to risk a saturated jacket while deep in the backcountry. The Torrentshell is double the Helium’s weight (12.5 oz versus 6.2 oz), but it has some extra features (like pit zips), and it’s never wet out on me. Not in Oregon, nor Scotland, nor anywhere else. Verdict: 👍
- Ursack. I’m becoming a bigger and bigger adherent for taking my Ursack on all my long-distance hikes. Sure it’s heavier than a simple food bag, but the peace of mind is huge. And while I never saw a single bear while hiking on the Colorado Trail, there were plenty of “mini-bears” (i.e., marmots, pika, squirrels, and mice) scurrying around looking for easy pickings near the campsites. My food was safe, and the rodents went elsewhere for their hunger – like the handles of my fellow hiker’s poles! Verdict: 👍
- Foam Pad. When I hiked the Arizona Trail in 2022, I carried a 1/8″ foam pad to place under my air mattress to protect it from all the “pokey” things on the trail (i.e. cactus, pine needles). I thought I might need similar protection on Colorado Trail too. Once I’d committed to packing it, I reasoned that I didn’t need my small 2.5″ thick sit pad and this thinner, longer 1/8″ foam pad. I only needed one or the other. So I left my beloved sit pad at home. This decision was a major mistake. Verdict: 👎
Items I Didn’t use
- Layering Shirt. I packed this ultralight 150-weight merino wool base layer shirt to insulate against the cold weather I might encounter at high elevation. However, the only time I ever wore it was while I was in town and doing laundry. While on trail, my sun hoody with my wind jacket were adequate layers for the cooler mornings, and my long-sleeve wool sleep shirt was all I ever needed to stay warm inside my 10-degree quilt. So, in hindsight, I should have left this 3.8 ounce item at home. Verdict: 👎
- Leggings. Like my merino wool shirt, I never actually needed my Nike leggings as a warm hiking layer. On the handful of cold mornings, I just added my rain pants over my hiking shorts. That said, I probably still would have packed them. Having a warm bottom layer is worth the weight. I had plenty of other upper layers (puffy jacket, sun hoody, long-sleeve wool sleep top, and wind jacket) to choose from if the weather turned unexpectedly horrible on me. But, relying on just a pair of shorts and rain pants might be cutting it too close for comfort for me. Verdict: 👍
- Gloves & Beanie Hat. These items stayed tucked away in the pocket of my puffy jacket for the entire Colorado Trail. However, there was zero change I would have dared to leave them at home. It only takes one unexpected storm to come in (like this blizzard on the CDT on August 28th) to make you desperately wish you had a hat and gloves for your extremities. The weight is worth avoiding frostbite. Verdict: 👍
MVP Gear on this Trail
- Wind jacket. This one piece of gear is a total luxury item, but I found so many uses for my Patagonia Houdini wind jacket on the Colorado Trail. It was a great ultralight (3.5 oz) layer to protect from mosquito bites during summer evenings. It’s the perfect second layer on cooler mornings when you don’t want (or need) to wear a heavy rain jacket. It’s just the ideal ultralight mid-layer over my sun hoody, that’s significantly more convenient than carrying a heavy fleece or a Mellie. Verdict: 👍
LESSONS LEARNED
- A sit pad is critical. I’ve carried a 2.5″ foam sit pad on all my backpacking adventures. Yet, for some crazy reason, I convinced myself I didn’t really need this item on the Colorado Trail if I was already hiking with my 1/8″ foam pad. Unfortunately, the thinner pad just wasn’t durable enough to sit on – even when folded up – and I had several holes in the fragile pad when I got to Durango. Trying to make one piece of gear do multiple things isn’t always a winning strategy. I’d much rather have the extra cushioning, comfort, and durability of my sit pad every day! At a mere 2 ounces, it’s 100% worth its weight in my pack.
- It was time to upgrade my power banks. When I first started backpacking, I purchased an Anker 10,000 mAh external battery. This was a great item to power my phone, headlamp, and Garmin InReach for those 4-5 day stretches between towns. Then I bought a 20,000 mAh battery for those trips when I needed 5-9 days of power. Over the past decade though, my battery packs have weakened with use and taking longer to fully charge up in towns. Meanwhile, new lighter and thinner batteries emerged on the market. So when Amazon Prime day rolled around, I decided it was time to splurge to upgrade my power banks to the NiteCore NB10000 ultraslim battery (5.3 oz) and Nitecore Carbo 20000 (10.5 oz) for my future backpacking needs.
- I could have mailed some of my contact lenses. When I’m hiking in the backcountry, I tend to wear single-use disposable contact lenses. The upside to these lenses is improved eye health (because let’s be honest – nobody wants to get pinkeye on the trail). The downside to this method though is the sheer number of lenses you need to carry (i.e. 60+ lenses for a trail like the CT). And since I need to make sure to protect them from adverse conditions or freezing nights, I sleep with all those extra contacts inside my quilt at night (along with several other cold-sensitive items like my water filter and electronics). In hindsight though, I could have mailed half my lenses to myself. I was already sending a partial resupply box to Twin Lakes General Store. There was no reason to carry this extra bulk from the start of the trail.
- A drink mix bottle is clutch. It wasn’t until I hiked the Arizona Trail, and looking for a way to carry just a little extra water, that I augmented my pack’s set-up with a third small water bottle. Before then, I just carried two 1L plastic water bottles (plus my 2L CNOC bladder) to get from one water source to the next. But during the AZT, I added a 20 oz. bottle to my shoulder strap to use for electrolyte mixes. This minor addition helps me stay better hydrated because (1) drinking flavored water is always more appealing than plain water; and (2) the bottle is right in my line of sight instead of tucked away in a side pouch with my taller plain water bottles. Plus, since I always opt for a bit thicker bottle, I can even use it to carry my coffee/Breakfast Essential mix on colder mornings and to keep something warm close to my core.
- Ramen doesn’t replace beans. Whether you’re a pescatarian or plant-based hiker, your protein choices on trail become very limited. I often rely upon dehydrated refried beans to meet my nutritional needs. They are high protein, lightweight, and very versatile. However, surprisingly few trail towns carry them. And since I only mailed myself one resupply package on the Colorado Trail, I was often stuck with ramen for dinner instead. Even after dressing these noodles up with some added protein (i.e., tuna, cheese, or peanut butter), those bricks of ramen got tiresome very quickly. So, in hindsight, I wish I’d added at least one or two more resupply boxes with beans for this trail.
- My warmer quilt was perfect. I sleep cold in the backcountry. Yet once summer rolls around, I’m almost always eager to swap out my 10-degree “3-season down quilt” for my 30-degree “summer quilt.” The weight difference between these bags is nearly half a pound (17.95 oz versus 25.52 oz.). But I was taking no chances with bad weather on the Colorado Trail and opted to pack my heavier quilt. This was a great choice because I was never cold, even when the inclement weather descended.
Final thoughts
As I look back on the Colorado Trail and my packing list, I feel pretty happy with the gear I brought for this adventure. I really had no idea how cold it might get when I was consistently above 10,000 feet elevation. But I felt prepared for whatever conditions the Colorado Trail was going to throw at me.
At this point in my thru-hiking adventures, I feel like my gear list is pretty much dialed in. My biggest regrets about my packing list were: (1) leaving my sit pad back home; and (2) not mailing myself more beans. I could have remedied the first omission by purchasing a sit pad on one of the trail towns, but I didn’t. I also could have mitigated my food boredom if I’d been willing to carry heavier dinner items, but I didn’t do that either. So obviously the inconvenience wasn’t earth-shattering.
If you’re curious to see how this gear list compares to some of my other backpacking adventures, check out my packing lists HERE.