Hiking Gear
With Emphasis on What Works in Southern California
Here you will find the gear I'm using to tackle the rugged Southern California hiking trails.
This area of the state owns a diversity of trail conditions on the extreme ends. There are arid, hot, jagged rocky deserts, just down the road from cold, wet, slippery granite sculpted, pine covered mountains rising 7,000 feet into the clouds. There are sandstone conglomerate driven trails running through dry, wild grass fields and coastal live oak forests.
You and your gear have to be adaptable to this broad set of ecosystems. Let's check it out...
Backpacks
Day Hiking Backpacks
My day pack is the Gregory Zulu 30. This pack has the free floating suspension to keep your back ventilated, during the hotter seasons at Topanga State Park, Wildwood Regional Park, and the like. I tend to pack a lot of stuff for day hiking, so the hip belt pockets and internal frame help take that weight off my back.
The Zulu also has dedicated ties for external trekking pole storage. These are helpful in the Angeles National Forest, where the trail can be flat and smooth, but then can have troublesome stream crossings, where your poles are helpful.
Check out my full review of the Gregory Zulu 30, after using it in Yosemite, Lake Arrowhead, the Backbone Trail, Santa Monica Mountains, and around Cambria, CA.
My other day pack is a Patagonia Yerba 24L pack, that is no longer made. It's been through 15+ years of weekly hiking, often with ten pounds of clothes and gear stuffed in it, and shows no signs of wearing out any time soon.
Backpacking Backpacks
I also use a Gregory Paragon 58L backpacking backpack. I use it for small hike-in camping trips, and it comes in handy for quick, easy car camping trips.
Check out this article on why I chose it over the lighter, more 'air-conditioned' Osprey Exos 58L pack, even though I'm based out of the Mediterranean climate region of So-Cal.
Latest Backpack Articles
Hiking Food
Dehydrated Commercial Hiking Food
Gluten Free Backpacking Food
Backpacking Food Info
Just out of curiosity, I did a survey of my local REI's backpacking food stock, and went through a bunch of expiration dates to get a feel for how long these bags are good for. There's quite a range, depending on the brand in question. Check out what I found about the longevity of these backpacking food bags.
At some point I will write an article on micronutrients and backpacking food, as I see an interesting phenomenon happening, regarding one particular commercial company. Stay tuned!
Jetboil Deep Dive
Latest Hiking Food Articles
Footwear
Day Hiking Shoes
The most comfortable hiking shoes I ever owned were from Patagonia, which no longer makes hiking shoes.
But my second favorite, so far, has been the Salomon X Ultra Low GTX series of hiking shoes. These are good for gripping a dry powder, gravel strewn dirt trails, as well as jagged, wet igneous rock that's been carved into a mountain trail. And they keep my feet dry both during downpours, as well as through shallow creek crossings, like there are in the Angeles National Forest.
2023 Review: Check out my review of my new Salomon X Ultra 4 GTX hiking shoes, which I recently used on a few bucket list hikes in Yosemite, CA.
Related: Also check out my article where I do a comparison between my new Salomon X Ultra 4 GTX hiking shoes and the old ones, concerning friction coefficients. I also compare these against some of the Merrell Moab waterproof hiking shoes I use daily.
Coming up in late 2023 I will be reviewing a set of Altra Lone Peak 7 trail running shoes which I bought for hiking through creeks in the Angeles National Forest, during the dog days of summer. Think Switzer Falls, and Eaton Canyon.
Winter Hiking Boots
Again I was a big Patagonia waterproof boot user in the San Bernadino Forest - Lake Arrowhead and the like. And I still love my boots from this company. It's just Patagonia sold their footwear division.
But if I ever need to replace them, or feel like testing out another company's boot, I'll report back here!
Hiking Shoe Gaiters
I've been using a pair of REI Backpacker Low Gaiters as part of a rain gear set. But they've also come in handy on coastal trails that involve beach sand, as well as setting up camp in high grass with foxtails.
I've yet to test them in the snow, but if you'd like to check out my review of them in summer conditions, click this link to get to the article.
Latest Footwear Articles
Hiking Lighting
Headlamps
As far as headlamps go, I use the fairly lightweight, waterproof, rechargeable Black Diamond Spot 400-R. It has a super long battery life, has three LED's for different applications, all of which can be set to their own level of dimness, based on your preferences. Check out the review and instructional for the headlamp here.
I also have a cheapo Everbright headlamp, which takes three AAA batteries but is much heavier, and less comfortable than the Black Diamond.
Lightweight Lanterns for Small Hikes
Latest Hiking Lighting Articles
Hiking Sunscreen
Environmental Working Group Sunscreens for Hiking
I painstakingly went through the EWG's list of best sunscreens to find the ones easiest to get your hands on, through Amazon. I've found ones for everybody - non-GMO, non-scented for hiking in buggy areas, all natural ingredients, etc...
I also did the same thing with facial sunscreens, which is a little more tricky, since no one likes that zinc oxide (one of the safest sunblock ingredients) shadow on their face. Check out my lists and do good for yourself and the environment.
Latest Hiking Sunscreen Articles
Trekking Poles for Hiking
Reasons for using trekking poles
Trekking poles can reduce the stress on your lower body joints, increase your stability on the trail, improve your endurance, improve your cardiovascular fitness, and increase your caloric burn when significantly involving your upper body.
I've been using my poles, not only for when I have a 25 pound pack on, but more recently for day hiking. I share with you my top 8 reasons I've been using my poles for day hiking in this article.
Cascade Mountain Tech Trekking Poles
My CMT trekking poles work just as well as their higher priced counterparts for my So Cal day hikes and backpacking ventures. They're aviation grade aluminum, which is stronger than carbon fiber, have cork grips which are great for hot So Cal summers, have adjustable wrist straps, plenty of accessories, are easy to operate, and any part of the pole can be replaced on the manufacture's replacement part web page.
I give you my full rundown on the Cascade Mountain Tech trekking poles in my review article of them, based on the first 50 miles of use.