The Unita Highline Trail was the last of my summer thru-hikes for 2020. I’d already thru-hiked the Tahoe Rim Trail and North Umpqua Trail, so I pretty much had my gear dialed in for this adventure. Nonetheless, I did make some major additions and changes to the packing list for this trip.
During all of my 2018 and 2019 hiking adventures, I carried with a Nemo Hornet 2P tent. But, after 3,000+ miles of use, the rainfly had a bunch of small holes, and I knew it was time to consider a new shelter if I wanted to stay dry. After much research and teeth gnashing on which tent would fit my needs, I emptied my wallet for an ultralight DCF tent from Zpacks.
Another major difference between my earlier summer hikes and my UHT packing list is the addition of some substantially warmer gear that one would normally pack for early September. That’s because the weather forecast predicted a major temperature shift during the five days I was expected to be out on the trail. The first three days of my trip were supposed to be in mid-90s and low temperatures near 50° F. Then a massive cold front was supposed to move in on Labor Day and drop the high temperatures by 50+ degrees! And so, I needed to pack for both a typical late summer hike AND a bit of early winter one too!
I’ve placed asterisks next to all the changes/additions on my list. Scroll down to the bottom of the list to read about the gear I added for this hike (and why), my one MVP gear pick, and what I thought of the new tent.
BACKPACK SET-UP
- Backpack – Gossamer Gear G4-20 (42L) in electric blue
- Accessories – Gossamer Gear Hipbelt Pocket (which I use as a fanny pack)
- Accessories – Zpacks Shoulder Pouch (to carry my phone, headphones, and insect repellent)
- Pack Liner – Therm-a-rest NeoAir pump sack (also used to inflate my air mattress) & a black trash bag
- Emergency ID – Road ID attached to pack
SHELTER & SLEEP SYSTEM
- Tent – Zpacks Duplex
- Sleeping Bag – Western Mountaineering Alpinlite (20° F down bag)*
- Liner – Sea to Summit Reactor Compact Plus (adds up to 20° warmth to sleeping bag)*
- Air Mattress – Therm-a-rest NeoAir XLite (size: regular)
FOOD/COOKING ITEMS
- Stove – MSR PocketRocket2 + 4 oz. fuel canister & mini lighter
- Cook Pot – MSR Titan Kettle (0.85L) + homemade pot koozy
- Spoon – Toaks long handle titanium spoon (w/ polished bowl)
- Food Storage – Ursack lined with a 12″ x 20″ OPSAK
- Water filter – Katadyn Be Free collapsable filter bottle (20 oz.)*
- Water storage – 1L plastic bottle and Powerade bottle, plus CNOC Outdoor Vecto 2L bladder
ELECTRONICS
- Phone/camera – iPhone XR (128GB) w/ earbuds
- Garmin InReach mini – GPS satellite communicator
- External battery – Anker Power Core 20000 external battery* (w/ USB cables for iPhone & InReach)
- Navigation – Gaia App on my iPhone* + Trails Illustrated Maps #711 & #704
- Headlamp – Petzel e+lite headlamp w/ extra battery
- Electronics Storage – Sea to summit Ultra-Sil Dry Sack (size: XXS)
HIKING ACCESSORIES
- Trekking Poles – Leki Cressida Thermo women’s poles
- Sit Pad – Therm-a-rest Z sitting pad
HIKING CLOTHING (WORN)
- Hiking Pants – Patagonia Baggies shorts
- Hiking Shirt – NRS Guide shirt (long sleeve/snap front)
- Sun gloves – REI sun gloves
- Undergarments – Patagonia Barely sports bra & underwear
- Hat – Headsweats Performance Supervisor visor
- Watch – Timex Ironman waterproof watch
- Wallet – Roam wallet* (w/ ID, cash, and a credit card)
FOOTWEAR
- Shoes – Altra Timp 1.5 trail running shoes
- Hiking Socks – Injinji socks
- Gaiters – Dirty Girl gaiters
OUTERWEAR
- Puffy coat – North Face Thermoball hooded jacket
- Rain gear – Outdoor Research Helium II jacket & REI Junction cycling rain pants*
- Buff – full length*
- Hat & Gloves – North Face beanie & double layer gloves*
EXTRA CLOTHES/CAMP ITEMS
- Socks – Injinji socks (extra pair)
- Underwear – Patagonia Barely underwear (extras)
- Sleep clothes – Icebreaker merino leggings (150) & Ice breaker 1/4 zip baselayer top
- Warmer hiking layers – Nike tights & Patagonia Capilene long sleeve shirt*
- Sleep socks – Farm to Feet wool socks*
- Storage – Granite Gear Air Zippsack (16L)*
- Camp Shoes – Crocs Swiftwater sandals
HYGIENE ITEMS
- Toiletry Storage – OPSAK odor proof bag (7″x7″)
- Dental Care – Travel toothbrush/toothpaste + floss
- Vision – Daily wear disposable contacts & glasses
- First Aid Kit – KT tape, Body Glide (0.8 oz), bandaids, ibuprofen
- Knife – Swiss Army knife (w/ mini scissors)
- Cleaning – Wet Ones (travel size/20 wipes), 1/2 bandana
- Skincare – Chapstick
- Toilet – Deuce of Spades #2 trowel, bandana (pee rag), TP, hand sanitizer
- Trash storage – Large ziplock bag + doggie poop bag (to carry out any used TP/feminine hygiene items)
POST-HIKE THOUGHTS
As alluded to above, I planned for this hike to include a radical swing in temperatures. What I didn’t expect was that I’d also find myself trapped in a blizzard above 11,000′. After trying to ride it out for an entire day while my tent repeatedly collapsed on me and the snow began to drench my sleeping bag, I knew I was facing a potentially fatal outcome. And so, I reluctantly pressed the SOS feature on my Garmin InReach to trigger a rescue from the backcountry. If you want to read about exactly what happened or how nerve-wrecking failed rescue attempts can be, go over to my trail journal where I recount the entire awful experience. But now, back to the gear…
EXTRA ITEMS I ADDED JUST FOR THIS HIKE
- Katadyn Filter. Normally I carry a Sawyer Micro filter for my hikes. It’s never done me wrong. But, I decided to give the Katadyn filter a try just to see how I liked it. The Katadyn filter is a hollow-fiber filter similar to the Sawyer, and it tends to flow at a faster rate — if you’re getting your water from low-sediment water sources. My overall opinion, it was fine. But, I think I still prefer my Sawyer. I like having the option of being able to back-flush the filter. Plus, the Sawyer has the benefit of screw directly onto my CNOC 2L bladder or water bottle.
- Gaia App on my iPhone. The Uinta Highline Trail isn’t a highly-trafficked trail, so there aren’t any pre-made GPS navigation apps for it. That’s why I decided to purchase a subscription to Gaia GPS, a mapping software program/app you can use to design your own custom routes. With a little time and effort, I was able to create a GPS track for this trail and download it to my phone. This was absolutely essential to finding the trail when the next cairn was nowhere in sight and the snow completely obscured the trail during the blizzard.
- Roam Wallet. On other hikes, I alternated between a Chums Surfshort wallet and a ziplock baggie to carry my ID, a little cash, and a credit card. Honestly, the clear baggie option always left me feeling a bit uncomfortable for some reason. But, a heftier wallet with a zipper was unnecessary if I wasn’t carrying coins for laundry. So, I decided to try a Roam wallet after reading review. It was lightweight and made it easy to find my wallet in my pack’s hip pocket when I needed to fish it out.
- Bigger External Battery. One of the lessons from my Tahoe Rim Trail thru-hike this summer is that my Anker 10,000 mAh battery really only lasts five days in the backcountry. Even on airplane mode, I can drain my phone’s battery pretty quick just by checking navigation maps, taking photos, and listening to podcasts or audiobooks in the evenings. Since I also expected the cold weather to drain my battery a little quicker than normal, I packed my 20,000 mAh battery (aka ‘the brick’). This bigger external battery increased my base weight by 6 ounces, but I was so glad I brought it along when the $*!T hit the fan and I needed to start texting through my Garmin’s GPS. Running out of battery during this emergency would have been catastrophic.
- Sleeping Bag & Sleeping Bag Liner. Normally I pack my Enlightened Equipment Revelation 30°F quilt. It’s the perfect hiking companion during most of my summer hikes, but the weather forecast for this trip was going to drop below freezing at night. That’s why I swapped it our for my Western Mountaineering 20°F bag AND a sleeping bag liner (to add a bit of additional warmth because I’m such a cold sleeper). This gear decision was a life saver – quite literally – when the blizzard moved in and I needed to stay dry and warm.
- Cold Weather Gear. I packed a bunch of additional clothing on this hike to help keep me warm, including extra tights and a long sleeved shirt to hike in, rain pants to block the wind/snow, and full-size buff to protect my neck and face. I also packed heavy gloves and a beanie hat, and upgraded my sleep socks to a pair of Farm to Feet wool socks. Honestly, I’m grateful for every single one of these extra items. In the end, they weren’t enough to get me through the blizzard because I didn’t have sufficient shelter. Plus, the gloves I packed got soaked and froze, providing inadequate protection that resulted in frost nip and chilblains on my fingers. Yet, I’m glad I packed as much cold weather gear as I did.
THE “MVP ITEM” ON MY GEAR LIST
- Garmin InReach Mini. There’s no way around this. The one item I will never, ever, EVER go on a long hike without is my Garmin InReach Mini GPS satellite locator. I never expected to need to use this item for an emergency. In fact, my primary purpose behind buying it was so I could text my family from the trail and let them know my status each night. Without cell signal in the backcountry, that is a pretty impossible task. And so, I purchased a Garmin InReach Mini in May 2020 with that texting purpose in mind. I never thought I’d need to use the SOS feature that it was designed for. Yet, when the situation on the ground turned potentially fatal, I was so absolutely grateful to had that lifeline. BEST. ITEM. EVER.
WHAT ABOUT MY NEW TENT?
Like so many other thru-hikers out on the trail, I really wanted to try to Z-Packs Duplex. At a mere 19 ounces, this shelter was more than a pound lighter that my prior two-person tent! How is that possible you ask? First off, it’s a single-walled tent – meaning it’s all one piece instead of a separate tent and rainfly. Second, it didn’t require any extra poles to set it up – I just used my trekking poles as the center supports. And finally, this tent is made from Dyneema Composite Fabric (DCF) – a lightweight alternative to the Sil-Nylon fabric used by most major tent manufacturers. The combination of those three factors allowed me to literally cut my shelter weight in half. That’s huge!
Of course, this thru-hike didn’t go according to plan. On my third night on the trail, I got a few inches of overnight snow. When I discovered this snow at 3:30 am, I simply knocked it off the tent and went back to sleep. But, then I was awakened at 5:30 am with snow literally blowing into the tent due to 20 mph winds! As I attempted to tighten down the tent, the small metal piece that holds the vestibules flaps together broke off. So then I had to jimmy-rig a solution with a carabiner to keep the vestibule closed. A few hours later, the second vestibule had the same issue. And, the tent kept collapsing in the wind!
I’m not faulting Zpacks for any of this though. Their ultralight DCF tents probably weren’t designed to withstand 16+ hours of 20 mph wind – with gusts to between 30-40 mph range – and several FEET of snow. No trekking pole tent could probably remain upright in that extreme weather. And then after the first failed helicopter rescue attempt from this blizzard, I had to literally wrap myself in my tent and wedge myself between two boulders to stay dry for the next several hours (Hint for anyone in that same situation: Turn the tent upside down and use the stronger bathtub bottom to shield you from the elements while sitting on the thinner top of the tent).
And then, after I returned home from this experience and started to sort my gear out, I discovered a big hole in the wall of my tent. This means I now essentially own a $600 DCF groundsheet! But, I did manage to stay alive out there, so there’s that! In the end, I think I’ll be returning to a traditional tent instead of using an ultralight trekking pole tent!
