Every fall/winter I head to Southern Oregon to visit family for the holidays, and I always seem to find my way over to the North Umpqua Trail (NUT) for a quick hike. This 79-mile trail parallels the Umpqua River from its headwaters up in the Cascade Mountains down into the Umpqua River valley near Roseburg, Oregon.
Each time I trekked a few miles on this trail, I’d tell myself, “one summer I’m going to return and thru-hike the entire thing.” Well, 2020 was when I finally made good on that promise. I hiked the entire trail (westbound) from July 13-16, 2020. Here’s the complete list of everything I took on my NUT thru-hike.
Scroll down to the end of the post if you want to see what new items I added to my gear list, what I left behind (and why), and what I’d do differently if I were preparing for this hike over again.
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)
- Emergency ID – Road ID attached to pack
SHELTER & SLEEP SYSTEM
- Tent – Nemo Hornet 2P tent w/ footprint
- Sleeping Bag – Enlightened Equipment Revelation Quilt (30 degree/regular wide)
- 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 – Sawyer Micro Squeeze & CNOC Outdoor Vecto 2L bladder
- Water storage – 2 1L plastic bottles
ELECTRONICS
- Phone/camera – iPhone XR (128GB) w/ earbuds
- Garmin InReach mini – GPS satellite communicator
- External battery – Anker Power Core 10000 external battery w/ USB cables for iPhone & InReach
- Navigation – Umpqua Trail Brochure downloaded to the Kindle App on my iPhone
- 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)
- Undergarments – Patagonia Barely sports bra & underwear
- Hat – Headsweats Performance Supervisor visor
- Watch – Timex Ironman waterproof watch
- Wallet – Ziplock bag (w/ ID, cash, debit card only)
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 Jacket – Outdoor Research Helium II jacket
EXTRA CLOTHES/CAMP ITEMS
- Socks – Injinji socks (extra pair)
- Underwear – Patagonia Barely underwear (extras)
- Sleep clothes – Icebreaker merino leggings (150) & Under Armor t-shirt
- Sleep socks – One pair of $3 fluffy socks from Target
- Storage – Sea to Summit Ultra-Sil stuff sack (9L)
- 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
- Insect Spray – Sawyer Picaridin (carried in 0.6 oz bottle I scavenged from somewhere)
- Toilet – Deuce of Spades #2 trowel, bandana (pee rag) & TP
- Trash storage – Large ziplock bag + doggie poop bag (to carry out any used TP/feminine hygiene items)
POST-HIKE THOUGHTS
Having just completed the Tahoe Rim Trail only a few weeks before, my gear was pretty much set. So, I didn’t need to make too many changes. The one item I’d really hoped to swap out on this hike was my tent. Although I’m super comfortable with my Nemo Hornet, it’s coming to the end of its lifespan after 3000+ miles. I’ve patched numerous small holes in the rain fly and it was simply time to try something new. After much research and teeth gnashing on which tent would fit my needs, I settled on a DCF tent from Z-Packs. Unfortunately, their 2-3 week projected lead time to process my order was closer to 4 weeks. So, it didn’t arrive in time for me to try it out on this trip 🙁 I did make a few other minor tweaks to my gear though.
SO… WHAT GEAR DID I ADD FOR THIS HIKE?
- Bug head net. Ask any PCT thru-hiker about Southern Oregon and they’ll immediately launch into horror stories about the mosquitos. There’s no way around them in July. With this knowledge in mind, I added my Ben’s Invisinet head net to my packing list for this trail. Weighing in at less than an ounce, it’s a no-brainer to avoid the mosquitos. I’ll admit I didn’t like hiking in it for long periods. It obscured my vision just enough to make me feel like I was wearing a burqa (note the pained expression on my face in the picture below). BUT…I absolutely preferred it to the alternate of having mosquitos flying into my eyes, nose, and ears. And truthfully, I only needed to wear it for the first day of my thru-hike. Once I got west of Lemolo Falls, the mosquitos were far more manageable.
- Garmin InReach Mini. This is the second hike where I’ve added this GPS device to my packing list. Based on past experience, I knew cell service along most of the NUT was non-existent. And while I don’t mind a sabbatical from the outside world, I also had to be realistic too. I was also hiking alone on a remote trail with very few other hikers nearby. What if I had a medical emergency? The InReach was my safety net, and since my monthly satellite subscription was still active from the Tahoe Rim Trail, it cost me absolutely nothing to carry it on this hike. The only downside I encountered was trying to get a clear view of the sky for my InReach to send text messages (e.g., notifying my hubby that I was stopping for the day). The NUT is under a lot of tree cover, so finding an unobscured spot where your signal can reach the satellites in the sky requires a little extra planning.
WHAT GEAR DID I LEAVE BEHIND THIS TIME?
- Warmer clothing. Normally I carry a beanie hat, a pair of gloves, and a long-sleeved sleeping shirt to deal with colder nights or mornings. However, despite the moderately high altitude at the beginning of this summer hike, the weather that week was warm and dry – so I deliberately left these items behind. In fact, my final night on trail, I even opened my quilt up (using it like it was a down blanket instead of a sleeping bag) because it was so nice out.
- Sunscreen. That vast majority of this trail is in old-growth forests under tall trees. You are hiking in a virtual green tunnel of foliage. Accordingly, I opted to just wear a long sleeve shirt and sun visor rather than lathering up in sunscreen each day.
WHAT WOULD I DO DIFFERENTLY?
If I were hiking this same trail again under the same conditions, I can honestly say I wouldn’t make any major changes to my packing list! But, in an effort to identify two things I could have done differently, here’s the the advice I’d give others thinking about a future NUT thru-hike.
Rain gear. I know I had the rare fortune not to have deal with any rain on the NUT. Heck, most Oregon residents joke about having webbed toes due to the immense amount of rainfall we see year-round. So, if I was hiking the NUT in the spring or fall season (or even during a wet summer), I’d definitely be more aggressive about packing rain gear. I’d probably consider adding my ultralight umbrella, a pair of rain pants, and maybe even neoprene socks.
Trail mix. This one is a personal confession, not really advice – but here goes. I don’t know why I thought bringing trail mix was a good idea on this trail. I don’t normally like eating trail mix. I’ve certainly never packed it on any other trail. And I’m super picky about what goes in my trail mix (absolutely no peanuts, please). Yet, for some reason, those bulk food bins at the Thunderbird Market in Klamath Falls were calling my name. And before I knew it, I was making myself a giant mix of various trail mixes and granolas. In hindsight, I ate barely more than a handful of trail mix on my entire thru-hike, and that meant I spent my my time lugging it around as dead weight. I will never make that mistake again.