What you don't need to buy
We've spent a good chunk of this course on water, storms, socks, the paper map, and the pack list. Today I want to talk about the stuff you can skip. This is the fun lesson, honestly.
Here's the thing about hiking gear: the outdoor stores want you to think the mountain requires an outfit. It doesn't. Good socks, enough water, a real map, and a sensible start time matter about ten times more than anything with a brand name on it. I'd rather you spend your money on wool socks than on a two-hundred-dollar jacket. That's just my opinion, but it's one I hold pretty firmly after a few years of doing this.
So let's go through what's actually optional.
You don't need trekking poles for most Wasatch day hikes
Some people love them. If you've got a bad knee or you're doing a steep, loose descent, they can genuinely help. But for a standard summer day hike on a maintained trail, they're not required equipment. Try a hike without them first. If you find yourself wishing for them on the way down, then go buy a pair. Don't buy them because a gear list told you to.
You don't need a $200 hydration pack
You need water. You do not need a specific vessel for the water. An old daypack with a couple of wide-mouth bottles works fine. A hydration bladder is convenient, I'll admit, because you can drink without stopping. But convenient isn't the same as necessary, and bladders are a pain to clean and they can develop a plastic taste in our dry heat that'll make you drink less, which is the opposite of what you want.
You don't need summit-specific boots for a beginner trail
Stiff mountaineering boots are built for scrambling and snow and weight on your back that most of you aren't carrying. For the trails in this course, a supportive trail shoe or a mid-weight hiking boot you've already broken in is plenty. What you actually need is socks that fit and shoes that fit. That's it. That's the whole system.
You don't need a GPS watch to know your fitness level
This one I want to spend a minute on, because I got this wrong myself.
A few years back I was planning a longer route and I looked at the trail's total mileage, thought "I've done that many miles before, easy," and didn't look much further. Four miles, I figured, no problem. What I didn't do was look at the elevation profile. Turned out that four miles had close to 2,500 feet of gain packed into it, mostly in the back half, and it felt like ten miles by the time I was done. My legs were shaking on the drive home.
What I actually needed that day wasn't a fancier watch or an app telling me my heart rate zone. What I needed was to look at the elevation gain per mile before I left the house. Mileage lies to you. Gain tells the truth. That's a free lesson, and it costs nothing but two extra minutes of looking at a map.
So before you spend money on a device that tracks your effort, spend the two minutes actually reading the trail profile. Most trail apps and guidebooks show it right next to the mileage. If a four-mile trail has under a thousand feet of gain, that's a gentle afternoon. If it's got 2,500 feet packed into those same four miles, that's a serious climb, and you'll want to plan your water, your pace, and your turnaround time differently.
What to do instead, this week
- Pull up the elevation profile for a trail you're considering for later in this course. Just look at it. Notice where the gain is concentrated.
- Check your closet for shoes that already fit well and have some miles on them. If your only option is brand new, wear them around the house and on short walks before a real trail day.
- If you own trekking poles from some other activity, fine, bring them. If you don't, don't go buy them for this course.
- Skip anything marketed as "essential mountain gear" that isn't water, a paper map, sunscreen, and layers. We've covered those already, and none of it is expensive.
One real caution here: don't let a gear gap talk you out of going. I've heard people put off a hike for a month because they wanted the "right" pack first. Wrong order. Go with what you've got, notice what actually bothered you, and upgrade based on real information instead of a store display.
Before next time
Look up the elevation profile, not just the mileage, for a trail you're thinking about doing this season. Bring your notes on what the gain looks like, and we'll read a few together as a group.