One of the biggest advantages of a shorter trip in the backcountry is that it’s the perfect opportunity to try out some new gear. I leveraged my recent 42-mile backpacking trip into the Eagle Cap Wilderness to slow down a bit, hike fewer miles, and bring a few extra items from my gear closet that I’d been wanting to give a try.
My complete packing list for this 4-day adventure is below. Scroll to the end of this gear list to see what I named as my MVP piece of gear for the Wallowas, what gear I left behind, and my verdict on some of the new items I tried.
(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 summer long-distance hiking gear setup. 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 – Gossamer Gear G4-20 (42L pack)
- Pack Accessories – WEBO Shoulder Pouch
- Pack Liner – plastic 2 mm waterproof bag
- Tent – Nemo Hornet 2P tent
- Quilt – EE Revelation down quilt (30-degree)
- Air Mattress – Therm-a-rest NeoAir XLite (size: regular wide)
- Pump* – Flextail Zero Pump (battery operated)
HIKING CLOTHING (WORN)
- Hiking Bottoms – Patagonia Baggies 5″ shorts
- Hiking Shirt* – Mountain Hardwear Crater Lake sun hoody
- Undergarments* – Branwyn merino wool bralette & Jockey seamless underwear
- Hiking Socks – Injinji hiking socks
- Shoes – Altra Lone Peak
- Gaiters – Dirty Girl gaiters
- Hat* – Outdoor Research Swift Surplus cap
- Sunglasses* – Tifosi sunglasses with polarized lenses
- Watch* – Garmin Forerunner 165 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 – Outdoor Research Helium Rain jacket
- Rain Pants – REI Junction cycling rain pants
- Wind Jacket – Patagonia Houdini wind jacket
- Sun Gloves– REI sun gloves
- Warm Hat – Icebreaker pink beanie hat
- Warm Gloves – Smartwool liner gloves
EXTRA CLOTHES/CAMP ITEMS
- Underwear – Patagonia Barely underwear
- Sleep Clothes – Icebreaker 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 – Granite Gear “zippsack” stuff sack
- Pillow– Therm-a-Rest Trekker Stuffable Backpacking pillowcase
- Repair Kit – Tenacious tape & repair kit for air mattress
- Entertainment* – Paperback book
HYGIENE ITEMS
- Toiletry Storage – Ziplock bag
- Dental Care – Travel toothbrush/toothpaste + floss
- Vision – Daily wear disposable contacts & glasses
- Cleaning – Wet Ones (travel size)
- First Aid Kit – KT tape, Compeed stick (0.27 oz), bandages, 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 – 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 (+ back-up purification tablets)
- Water storage – 1L and 20 oz drink mixing bottle
ELECTRONICS
- Phone/camera – iPhone 15
- Earbuds – Apple Airpods
- Garmin InReach mini – GPS satellite communicator
- Power Bank* – NiteCore NB 10000 ultra-slim external battery
- Cables* – Braided 4-in-1 cable
- Navigation* – Gaia GPS app on my iPhone & paper map of the Wallowa Mountains
- Headlamp – Nitecore NU25 headlamp (360 lumens)
MVP Gear Item
- Navigation. My trek into the Wallowas was a choose-your-own-adventure, piecing together nine trails into a 42-mile loop with a detour up Eagle Cap (you can see my whole route HERE). In preparation for this trip, I purchased the Wallowa Mountains & Eagle Cap Wilderness map from Green Trails Maps. I also created my intended route in Gaia GPS so I could easily check it on my phone and make sure I didn’t miss a turn at any of the trail junctions. These two items were the ideal combination for this short adventure. I always enjoy having a map as backup, and I used it to get a wider view of my surroundings while at camp and up on some of the higher passes.
New Items for this trip
- New Sun Gear. I am a huge advocate for sun hoodies, particularly at higher elevations and during the summer months. I discovered this lightweight Mountain Hardwear Crater Lake sun hoodie this winter while I was in Arizona, and loved the lightweight fabric. The Crater Lake hoody is rated at 50 UPF, and its moisture-wicking fabric was the perfect weight for this warm August trek. I also replaced my standard white running hat with this blue-and-white ultralight (2.5 oz) Swift Surplus cap from Outdoor Research. This brimmed hat has mesh panels on the sides for added breathability and is rated at 40 UPF to protect your scalp. Both items were the perfect mix of breathability and sun protection. Verdict: 👍
- GPS Watch. My go-to watch for most long-distance trails is the Timex Women’s Ironman Triathlon Transit (33mm). It’s simple. It’s indestructible. And it’s affordable. It’s the best watch for the backcountry and thru-hiking. However, given the short duration of this trip, I decided to wear my Garmin Forerunner 165 GPS watch. This $250 watch isn’t an asset on a backcountry trip. It needs to be charged regularly. And the only benefit it offers over my regular hiking watch is its distance-measuring capability. But I already own this watch as my daily running watch, and I recently wore it on the Via Francigena and Camino Primitivo, so I decided to try it out. Would I wear it again on a short multi-day hike like this? Yes. But this watch is really better for frontcountry adventures, where you have access to power each night. It would be the first item on the chopping block if I were on a longer trek or short on juice from my power bank. Verdict: 👎
- Hiking bra. Over the past seven summers of hiking, my favorite hiking bra has been the Patagonia Barely racerback bra. That lightweight bra wicks well and provides good support for low-impact activities like hiking. However, I recently tried the Branwyn merino wool bralette during my springtime Europe treks in Italy and Spain, and I was very impressed with how odor-resistant it was after multiple days of hiking. Of course, the weather was cooler during those trips, and the real test was whether this bra would get funky while I was hiking up big mountains in August with a heavy backpack on. Surprisingly, this bra held up equally well on this trek. After 4 days, there was still no odor (even though there were visible sweat stains). The wool material dried out very quickly each evening. At $52, this bra isn’t cheap. But it was worth every penny to avoid putting on a stinky bra each morning! Verdict: 👍
- Custom sunglasses. During one of my highpointing trips earlier this summer, I broke the frame on my Sunski sunglasses. I loved their clear plastic frames, but honestly, I always felt my Tifosi swank sunglasses fit my face better. So I hopped onto the Tifosi website to find some replacements. As I was perusing the different frame colors, I was somewhat disappointed. I really wanted UV polarized lenses, but the frames I wanted most only came with non-polarized lenses. Then I stumbled upon their custom build option, which allowed me to create the perfect pair of sunglasses! I got the exact frames I loved with the lenses I wanted. Chef’s kiss! Verdict: 👍
- Mattress pump. Have you ever arrived at camp completely exhausted and dreaded blowing up your air mattress? Yeah, me too. That’s probably why I was tempted to purchase the Flextail Zero mattress pump this past winter. It’s about the size of a roll of Lifesavers, weighs just 1.2 ounces, and it can effortlessly inflate my wide-width Thermarest air mattress in about 60 seconds. I’ll admit I enjoyed having this little toy in my pack for this short trip. It almost made me feel like I was glamping. But I also felt a bit guilty, too. There’s a big part of me that believes backpacking is supposed to be challenging, and it’s not supposed to be as easy as frontcountry life. So I’m on the fence on whether this little device really improved my experience enough to take it on a thru-hike. Verdict: 😐 Still on the fence.
- Power Bank: My packing list rotates between three different types of power banks depending on the length of my hike. I pack a slim 5,000 mAh for frontcountry treks like the Camino de Santiago; a 10,000 mAh power bank for shorter multi-day hikes like this one; or a 20,000 mAh power bank for thru-hikes where I might be hiking 5+ days between towns. When I initially began thru-hiking, I used solidly built (but heavy) Anker power banks. However, when those needed to be replaced last summer, I upgraded to the Nitecore NB10000 and the Nitecore Carbo 20000. I was immediately impressed by the Nitecore NB10000’s compact, slim size and weight savings. It was perfect for this 4-day trip in the Wallowas. Verdict: 👍
- Cables. I loved this braided 4-in-1 cable during my Via Francigena hike this spring. It allowed me to charge my phone, AirPods, and Garmin InReach simultaneously, and carrying a single cable seemed more streamlined. It also worked great on those long trans-Atlantic flights, allowing me to easily charge my devices from the power outlet at my seat on the plane. Unfortunately, I didn’t love this cable quite as much on this backpacking trip. The five-foot length was just too long and bulky, and I was constantly untangling cords each night in my tent. In the future, I will continue to carry my individual shorter cables instead. Verdict: 👎
- Book. I love to read, so I regularly keep one or more library books in my Kindle app on my phone. This allows me to have reading material without the extra weight. Nevertheless, I still prefer to read a tangible book whenever possible. And since the length of this backpacking trip was so short, I threw caution to the wind and packed a paperback book to read in the evenings and during rest breaks. Did I enjoy it? Absolutely. Would I adopt this practice on a longer thru-hike? Not a chance. The weight of a physical book (even a paperback one) is for short, relaxed treks only. Verdict: 👎
Gear I Didn’t pack
- Journal. I journal on every hike. It’s how I record my routes, adventures (and mishaps), logistics, and my thoughts about a particular trail. Over time, my journals have gotten smaller and lighter. Now, I often rely on a small pocket-sized notebook from Field Notes, and combine it with observations recorded in my phone’s notes app. However, this trip was so short that I decided to try leaving my journal at home and rely 100% on my phone. This experiment might seem paradoxical, given how I increased my pack’s weight to carry a 352-page paperback book through the Wallowas, while leaving my compact 1.1. oz. journal behind. But I wanted to know whether I would miss having a journal on my hikes? By the end of my trip, I felk ok about the idea of leaving my journal behind for any trek lasting 4 days or less. But I also confirmed that I still 100% wanted it for my longer adventures. Verdict: 👍
- Sunscreen. This was a bonehead move on my part. I absolutely should have packed sunscreen. It was on my packing list. I brought a sun hoodie, a brimmed hat, sun gloves, and sunglasses. I knew the weather forecast showed daytime temperatures in the upper 80s or 90s during my trip. And this route through the Wallowas was going to take me over high passes like Polaris Pass and up to the summit to Eagle Cap – one of the highest peaks in the area. Yet somehow, I still managed to forget to put sunscreen in my pack. Verdict: 👎
Extra Logisitics For this trek
- Ursack. When planning this trip, I knew I wanted to camp at Glacier Lake on night two. It’s one of the two lakes in this wilderness area where you are almost guaranteed to see mountain goats (the other one is Ice Lake). But here’s the thing I know about goats. They are curious little clowns, and they are attracted to nibbling on just about anything. So to protect my food from their extreme appetite, I packed everything inside an odor-proof bag, placed it inside my bear-resistant Ursack, and tied my Ursack as high as I could reach in a tree. This process ensured that my food was safe and prevented the goats from equating hikers with easy snacks. Verdict: 👍
Final thoughts
Hiking through the Wallowas and the Eagle Cap Wilderness has been on my summer bucket list ever since I moved back to Oregon four years ago. This little slice of heaven in northeastern Oregon is so different from the popular Cascade Mountains that so many hikers experience on the PCT.
One of the reasons I wanted to hike up to the highest point in every county in Oregon was to explore the wildly diverse environments that lie in my own backyard. I feel lucky to call this wonderful, beautiful state home. If you’d like to read more about my backpacking treks throughout Oregon, check out the following trail journals:
- North Umpqua Trail – 2020 thru-hike
- Oregon Coast Trail – 2021 thru-hike
- Timberline Trail – 2021 thru-hike
- Pacific Crest Trail – 2023 section hikes
You can also read about my Oregon highpointing adventures in all 36 counties across the state HERE.
