Cold Weather Camping and Cycling: Part 2: What I take when I go hiking!

Be Prepared and Expect the Unexpected!

When I go hiking any distance at all away from my campsite, I assume that something might happen that would keep me from immediately returning to my campsite and I want to be able to handle it.

I could slip and break an ankle.

I could get lost and have to spend the night out there away from my campsite.

Here's the minimum I take with me when I go hiking in any sort of cold weather scenario:

• Frogg Toggs - I've said it before and I'll say it again - I won't go outside in the cold without these.


• Good quality fanny pack, day pack or Camelbak with storage capability - the one shown here is a StrongBilt fanny pack I've had for at least 10 years - this thing will hold a ton and I can literally hook it around a tree limb and hang from it.... it really is StrongBilt.


• Rubber bands - I use these to hold things tight so they can be rolled up really small for easier storage - can also be used to hold thing so the fanny pack like the rolled up Frogg Toggs.


• Gallon Ziploc bags - keep things from getting wet or hold loose items - you can put clothes in them and compress the bag, force all the air out of it and seal it up and you can get twice as much stuff in the same space.


• Leatherman - I don't go anywhere without mine.


• Flashlight - I assume I'm going to be coming back in the dark - how you gonna do that without a flashlight?


• Pink or orange fluorescent trail marking / surveyor's ribbon - if I get off a marked trail I'll start marking my path about every 50 yards so I can find my way back - may sound stupid but you won't think so if you ever get lost - you'll have wished you'd've marked your trail!


• 24 oz Polar water bottle - depends on the weather but I literally won't walk away from camp without at least a bottle of water - when my wife and I were hiking in Canyonlands in 90 deg temps, we each had a 3 qt Camelbak and 2-24 oz Polar bottles each on a 14 mile hike and we came back out of water and dehydrated. Don't discount how much water you'll drink even when it's cold especially if you're exerting yourself by hiking strenuously - even if you're not sweating you're getting rid of a lot of water - in your exhaled breaths!


• Water treatment tablets - if I think I might run out of water I take these with me - it's cheap insurance - you get water out of any stream, creek, river or lake - drop a tablet into a quart of water - wait 30 minutes and you've got potable water.


• Compass - self explanatory - you're an idiot if you leave your camp on a trail without a compass - oh and don't give me the "but I've got GPS or I've got an Iphone or I've got some device that depends on batteries - OOPS! there it is - it depends on batteries - take the compass!


• Whistle - you get lost - start blowing the whistle - you can hear a good whistle a long way.


• Pen and pad - I've got the pad that's waterproof - Rite in the Rain - it's called. You can make notes on the trail - you can leave notes on the trail - you can use the paper to start a fire or for something else.


• Laminated survival cards - tips and techniques for surviving outdoors.


• Trail mix bars - light and nutritious - food of some kind - sandwiches - chocolate bars - anything you can eat - something you like - take at least 2 - 3 snacks with you.


• Lighter - yeah you can survive a very cold night if you keep a fire going and lay right next to it.


• A Map of where you're going hiking - don't go hiking without a map and review the map before you go - use your pen to make notes on your map throughout the course of the hike - I mark the time I arrive at certain junctions or landmarks on the trail so I know how fast I'm hiking.

I'm no Survivorman or Man vs Wild, but I'll tell you this - I've hiked, backpacked and overnighted in some of the most remote regions of parks like Yellowstone, Rocky Mountain, Canyonlands, Zion, Capitol Reef, etc. and I've never been lost or without what I needed..... because I was prepared!

I hope this will help you be better prepared for your next hike so you can get out and Discover America!