2025’s Backpacking Packing List
Tent set up on the Wind River High Route
The Wind River Range Traverse has long been on our bucket list of big hikes we’ve wanted to do. When we finally decided to make it happen this summer, we immediately started in on our research. It didn’t take long to realize that this trip was going to be unique in terms of packing for a number of reasons…
Before we get into that, if you’re interested in the details of this hike and our experience on it, head over to our separate blog post about the Wind River High Route or watch our film Sideways!
I also want to thank our friends over at REI for gear support for this trip… And all trips we do! It’s an honor to have them in our corner as we venture out into the outdoors.
Ok, now let’s talk about packing & gear for this trip!
MAK packing gear for the Wind River High Route
When planning for the Wind River High Route, we decided we wanted to hike later in the season. We had a few reasons for this which are as follows:
#1 - The mosquitos in the Wind River Range are INSANE!
#2 - Even in the high country it can be hot for big climbs.
#3 - Summer storms can be intense in the mountains, towards the end of the summer these storms are less frequent.
Starting later in the season would mean that we could go after the bugs died off for the season, when it’s a little cooler and hopefully avoid the sporadic summer storms. However, there is another side to this coin.
Late Season in the High Country = Unpredictable Conditions
Even though we had good reason to start late, the weather in the shoulder seasons can be volatile. Could be summer one day, winter the next. Obviously we went out hoping for pristine conditions, but we went prepared for the worst which is something I would recommend to anyone spending days in the backcountry: Hope for the best, come prepared for the worst.
Early morning on trail, day 4
Conditions we prepared for:
Being that we were starting our hike in late August, we used these temperature averages as our guide for packing to give you an idea of how we were thinking about this.
Temperature Averages:
August : High - 55°F | Low - 30°F
September: High - 46°F | Low - 23°F
We started our hike in late August, so we felt we were likely in the middle of those two sets of averages. We’ve heard of people getting snowed out of the backcountry in early September so we wanted to be as prepared as possible for early winter storms. Because we straddled two seasons we had the unique task of needing to pack for both summer and winter conditions on trail! Another thing that we wanted to be prepared for is heavy rain. A lot of those early winter storms can vacillate between snow and rain at the drop of a hat.
Note: The packing list here is based off of extensive research on the conditions of the Wind River Range High Route when we were hiking it., our prior backpacking experience in the Wind River Range and elsewhere. Please note that all trails are different particularly based on when you do them in the year. Be sure to pack for your own trip, trail and experience level!
Additionally: Some of the links provided in this blog post are affiliate links. Thank you as always for supporting us and our work!
MAK’s Hiking Clothes
Owen and I had slightly different packing strategies for clothes on the Wind River High Route. I don’t know if there is anyone else in the crowd that feels this way, but I can go from being really hot to really cold in the blink of an eye. Because of that, I feel I have to pack more clothes than Owen does to ensure I can stay warm and dry on trail. Here is what I packed and a little about each piece:
Trail Long Sleeve Shirt - REI Co-op Sahara Shade Hoodie
x1 - Worn daily, rinsed nightly at camp when I had water access. Love this shirt because it strikes this seemingly impossible balance of not causing me to overheat but keeping me warm on cooler days. Drys fast and love the hood for sun protection.
Trail Shorts - Vuori Clementine 2.0 Shorts
x1 - Worn during the hot part of the day while hiking. I love the range of motion on these shorts. Soft waistband is comfortable to wear with a waist belt of a pack. Fabric can be a little sensitive to picking on rocks, FYI.
MAK clothes drying out on trail, day 2
Light Jacket - Arc’teryx Atom Insulated Hoody
x1 - One of the best jackets I’ve ever owed. Light weight but very warm for the size. Carried on the outside of my pack to ensure I had a warm layer easily accessible during the day. Worn as a layer on colder days under the jacket below.
Warm Jacket - REI Co-op 650 Down Jacket
x1 - Worn around camp in the AM & PM layered over my light jacket for extra warmth. Down is still warm even if it gets damp or even wet (ask me how I know). This jacket packs down so small!
Hiking Pants - Arc’teryx Gamma Pants
x1 - I wore these on cool/stormy days on trail & around camp. I got a size up so I could wear them over shorts if they needed to be put on in a pinch. Loved the fabric of these. Water repelling but will soak through in a heavy down pour.
Clean Camp Shirt/Base Layer Top - Arc’teryx Rho Crew Neck Base Layer
x1 - Worn at camp and to bed. I like to change out of my hiking clothes when I get to camp to let everything dry out. This is a part of my “camp clothes set".” Very warm, and very soft. I wear this as a base layer in day to day life when it’s cold too.
Base Layer Pants - Arc’teryx Essent Utility Leggings
x1 - More of a legging than a base layer. Wore at camp or as a base layer on cold evenings at camp. Carried them in case I also needed a layer under my pants on trail if conditions got really cold, but thankfully never needed them in that capacity.
Rain pants - REI Co-op XeroCloud 3L Rain Pants
x1 - I like these rain pants because they’re designed to easily go over whatever you have on when the rain sets in. These only came out on the really rainy days but work like a million bucks. Note to self: put them on as soon as it starts raining, not just when your pants get soaked through ;)
Rain Jacket - Arc’teryx Beta AR Jacket
x1 - Long standing trusty rain jacket. I wore it only while it was raining or really cold and windy. Love the pit zips to keep ventilated while hiking so I wouldn’t over heat.
MAK Pointing at a sign that should be there ;)
Trail Hat - REI Co-op Active Pursuits Cap
x1 - My daily driver hat. I love this one because the bungee cord strap on the back makes it easy to tighten or loosen when my head gets hot. I also can tuck all my hair into it!
Rain Mittens - REI Rain Mittens
x1 - We decided to take rain mittens instead of cold weather mittens. We felt rain was our biggest weather contender and that ended up being the case. If my hands got cold, I planned on wearing socks on my hands with these hard shell mittens over the top for maximum warmth. Comical to think about, I know. Things have to get crafty out there sometimes for the sake of weight and preparedness!
Trail Runners - Altra Lone Peak 9+ Trail-Running Shoes
x1 - These are long time favorites of mine! Fantastically technical shoes that are great in rocky terrain. I love that they dry fast when they get wet!
Socks - Injinji Trail Socks & Hollow Trail Socks
x2 - This is one of the few things I brought more than one of. I always take two pairs of socks with me. One to wear, another clean pair to change into for the night. Then I rinse the dirty pair and dry them out over night. Then I wear the clean ones on trail and the rinsed pair to bed the next day. The cycle goes on. I love Injinji socks, they keep your toes separated in your shoes can help prevent blisters! I also really love the Hollow socks, super soft and never stink somehow!
Sports Bra - Vuori All The Feels Bra
x1 - I only bring one bra with me and will rinse it at night any chance I get. I like a less intense of a bra because I want as little extra weight on my shoulders as possible. This is a fav of mine.
Underwear - REI Co-op Merino Wool Underwear
x2 - My underwear are on the same rinsing regimen as my socks (see above). On trail I only wear merino wool because it regulates body temperature, manages sweat, dries quickly and naturally resists odor! Perfect of on trail conditions!
Neck & Face Protection - Buff
1x - I love Buffs because they serve so many purposes! I wear one around my neck to keep it warm but also can pull it up over your mouth and nose if the wind or sun gets bad.
1x - I always carry a bandana with me on trail. I will use it to wipe after I pee or even blow my nose. I use a bandana instead of paper because that means I will have to carry it out. More often than not, I use it to blow my nose though, because the cool mountain air always has a way of getting my nose going!
Warm Hat - Warm Beanie
x1 - I wore this at camp as needed on cold nights or when my hair was wet. Often I am fine with a hood but you never know!
Sunglasses - Vallon Watchtowers
x1 - Over the years I have stopped wearing a wide brim hat because I started wearing shirts with hoods on trail, of which I heavily use. In an effort to cover as much of my face as possible I decided to start wearing a pair of sunglasses with more coverage. I love the color of the lenses on these glasses, they are light and comfortable to wear ALL DAY!
Owen’s Hiking Clothes
As mentioned above, Owen runs a lot warmer than I do. He also has a heavier jacket than I do so our packing lists are a bit different.
Trail Long Sleeve Shirt - REI Co-op Sahara Shade Hoodie
x1 - Worn Daily, rinsed nightly at camp when we had water access. We both love this shirt because it won’t make you overheat on hot days but will keep you warm on cooler days. Drys fast and love the hood for sun protection!
Trail Shorts - Patagonia Baggies
x1 - Owen’s trusty shorts, I kid you not when I say these are the only shorts he wears. He has 5 pairs of them but brought only one on the trail. He love them because they can double as a bathing suit, drawstring to be as tight or loose as he wants them, and they dry very quickly.
Owen in the tent during a passing storm
Warm Jacket - Arc’teryx Atom Insulated Hoody
x1 - Owen has a discontinued version of this jacket that is way thicker than mine is. This served as Owen’s only heavy warm jacket. Because he runs warmer than I do, he only needed a jacket on the cooler nights and didn’t need to layer like I did.
Rain Jacket - REI Co-op Rainier Rain Jacket
1x - Owen’s actual rain jacket has been discontinued but this is close to what he has. He only ever wore this jacket when the storms set in.
Base Layer Pants - REI Co-op Midnight Base Layer Pants
1x - Instead of bringing a seperate pair of pants for the cooler days, Owen brought these base layer leggings because they could serve two purposes. 1.) They can be worn under his shorts on a cool day. 2.) They could be worn as his pants around camp and to sleep in. He wore them that way for both occasions.
Owen all smiles on trail, day 2
Rain pants - REI Co-op XeroCloud 3L Rain Pants
x1 - I like these rain pants because they’re designed to go on over whatever you have on when the rain sets in. These only came out on the really rainy days but work like 1 million bucks.
Rain Mittens - REI Rain Mittens
x1 - We decided to take rain mittens instead of cold weather mittens. We felt rain was our biggest weather contender and that ended up being the case. If our hands got cold, we planned on wearing socks on our hands with these hard shell mittens over the top for maximum warmth.
Trail Runners - Altra Lone Peak 9+ Trail-Running Shoes
x1 - These are long time favorites of ours! Fantastically, technical shoes that are great in rocky terrain. I love that they dry fast when they get wet!
Socks - Darn Tough Trail Socks
x2 - Owen loves Darn Tough socks because they truly last forever. He does the same every other day rinsing schedule that I do.
Underwear - REI Co-op Merino Wool Briefs
x2 - Underwear are on the same rinsing regimen as our socks (see above). Merino wool because it regulates body temperature, manages sweat, dries quickly and naturally resists odor! Perfect of on trail conditions!
Neck & Face Protection - Buff
1x - We love Buffs because they serve so many purposes! We wear one around our necks to keep it warm but also can pull it up over your mouth and nose if the wind or sun gets bad. Owen always carries one, but wears it less often than I do.
Warm Hat - Warm Beanie
x1 - Only worn during cold evenings at camp.
Sunglasses - Ombra Classics
1x - Owen loves Ombras because they are legless and stand less of a chance to break when we’re out in environments like this. Owen loves his ombras for trails and river trips! If you take a pair on a river trip, be sure to get the float for the strap!
Hiking Gear
Now it’s time to talk hiking and camping gear! Most of this stuff we each brought though that will be noted by a x2 in the gear description.
Hiking Pack - Hyperlite 55L Pack
x2 - We each carried a hyperlite pack! They are incredible, durable, versitile and water resistant without the need of a rain fly. Check your pack before leaving on your trip to check for holes to prevent leaking… Another note to self on that one!
Owen hiking into the mountains, day 2
Hiking Waist Pack - REI Co-op - Trail 2 Waist Pack
x2 - We each like to carry a waist pack so we can carry a few small things on our person at all times. We like them for carrying things like snacks, a pocket knife, maps, cell phone, etc.
Satellite Communicator - Garmin InReach Mini 2
x1 - The more we do these big backcountry trips the more I realize how important a device like this is. We used ours in a number of ways on trail: Tracking our progress, sending check in messages with our family, used it to get weather reports based on our location, as well as reached out to friends to help understand a fire that broke out while we were on trail. Truly an invaluable piece of kit!
Hiking Watch - Garmin Instinct Solar
1x - I like wearing a smart watch when hiking to track our progress on trail as well as see our elevation gain and lost. It is also nice for understanding the quality of sleep I’m receiving on trail. Garmin watches also have a handy SOS feature, if you fall or your heart rate spikes in a way that could insinuate you’ve had an accident and it will automatically send an SOS to your emergency contact. Thankfully, if the SOS feature goes off while shaking your tent out, you have a few seconds to disarm the SOS!
Maps of Range - Nat Geo Wind River Range
x1 - These are our all time favorite trail maps. They are well made and water resistant. Perfect for tossing in the pack. We always hike with our maps saved offline, but we like having a paper map because you never know!
Microspikes - Kahtoola MICROspikes Traction System
x2 - We each carried a set of mircospikes for crossing a glacier on day 3 on trail. If we didn’t have a glacier to cross we wouldn’t have brought them with us. They are great for ice, but are not very effective on soft snow. They will save you in the right conditions!
MAK with the wildflowers, day 2
Dry Bags - Sea to Summit Dry Bag
x4 - We each carry at least one dry bag on trail. Historically that has been one dry bag each for our clothes and all other loose items we bring. Going forward after having a leaking pack on this trip, we will each start carrying at least two to be sure all clothes and sleeping equipment is protected.
Water Filtration - Sawyer Water System
x1 - We carry one of these water purification kits with us on trail. It can filter plenty of water for the two of us as many times as we need it. We filter our water into a clean vitamin water bottle we pick up at the gas station before hiking. Those bottles are light and can be recycled post trail.
Trekking Poles - Black Diamond Distance Z Trekking Poles
x2 - We carried a set of trekking poles. They are essential for any backpacking trip. PERIOD.
Food Storage Bag (Bear Safe) - Ursack Major XL Bear Sack (15 Liters)
x2 - This trial required that we have a food storage solution to prevent bears from being able to get at our food. We love these Ursack bags because they are far lighter and less structured meaning they are easy to pack compared to the hard sided bear bins. These are easy to string up into a tree and out of reach of bears. They also work perfectly on the ground when you are above tree line!
x1 - Owen was our designated bear spray carrier. Didn’t need it, but that’s how we want it!
Camping Gear
Tent - Nemo Dragonfly 2P Tent
x1 - Tent is pretty self explanatory! You need one, particularly one that you can set up fast when a storm sets in! We like this tent a lot because it has a vestibule on both sides, so we each have a place to stash our gear outside the tent freeing up space inside.
Sleeping Bag - Sleeping Quilt
x2 - We each carried our own sleeping quilt. The reason we prefer sleeping quilts over a sleeping bag is that they are less restrictive when you sleep. We find that after a long day of hiking, our core body temperature goes up. We like quilts because they are easier to allow for movement while sleeping and venting to keep your temperature perfect for sleeping.
Sleeping Pads - Therm-a-rest NeoAir XLite Sleeping Pad
x2 - These are the most comfortable sleeping pads we’ve had yet. We always inflate them all the way, then let a little air out to dial in the comfort right before bed. The fabric is a little noisy when you roll over in the night so we tend to lay extra clothes over the pad when we sleep.
Compression Bag for Sleeping Bags - REI Co-op Sleeping Bag Compression Bag
x1 - This is how we store our sleeping quilts in our pack. Great for making them as small as possible. Ours are not water proof as they are very old. We’d love to upgrade to a water resistant version eventually.
Camp Pillows - Sea to Summit Inflatable Pillow
x2 - We each use one of these pillows on trail. They pack super small and you can put enough air in them to dial them in for your personal comfort. I like to wrap mine in a jacket at night because I think the fabric is a little noisy to lay my head on.
Camp Towel - REI Co-op Microfiber Towel XS
x1 - We carried one towel on this trip for when we stopped to jump in the water or have a swim at the end of the day. Because this trail had little down time for swimming we only brought the one. On a more leisurely trip, we would each carry a towel because one wouldn’t be enough for a daily swim routine.
Camp Sandals - Bedrock Sandals - Cairn Evo C
x2 - At the end of the day after a long hike, all we want to do is kick our shoes off and let our feet breathe. These are our all time favorite sandals. They are designed for hiking and the backcountry and I wouldn’t think of taking anything else!
Backcountry Poop Shovel - Tent Lab DirtSaw Deuce #2 Trowel
x1 - I feel like I don’t need to explain this one ;) But with it, I brought half of a roll of toilet paper and enough baby wipes for us each to use one a day.
Cooking dinner at camp, night 4
Matcha stop on trail, day 2
Backcountry Cooking
This category is all the gear that we brought with us for cooking. In this blog post I will not be detailing the food we brought with us. The reason being is that I don’t think we did the best job with it this go round. However, we did shoot to consume about 200 calories every 2 hours.
Cook Stove - Jetboil Stash Cooking System
x1 - We love anything and everything Jetboil. We use the stash specifically for big backcountry trips because it’s the lightest version of their stove that they make. We tend to just do rehydrating rather than full blown cooking on the trail so this is more than enough for our needs. It doesn’t have an ignitor, so always be sure to bring one!
Fuel for Cooking - Camp Fuel
x1 - We always try to start a big backcountry trip with one fresh canister of fuel just to be sure we have all we need. Always try to do the math for the max number of boils you might need on trail, then ensure you fuel canister can produce that many boils. I always try to have at least 10% extra!
Tea Mugs - Backpacker Mugs
x2 - We stop everyday on trail for what we call a “siesta”. This serves as a longer break where to do our best to eat lunch, make some matcha and get a rest. We love these mugs because its graduated on the inside so you can use them for your beverages, but also for measuring out the water for our backpacker meals.
Spoon - Backpacking Spoon
x2 - These are our favorite backpacking spoons! But why do you need a specialized backpacking spoon you may ask?! This one has a really long handle to prevent you from getting your hands in the backpacker meal while mixing it.
Pocket Knife - Swiss Army Camper
x1 - I always carry a pocket knife with me because you never know when you are going to need it! I carry it because we’ve needed it to cut smaller lengths of paracord, open backpacker meals, etc. Always handy, always useful!
Owen working his way over a snowy pass, day 3
MAK & Owen on the last day on trail
Camera Equipment
Being that we filmed this trip, we brought a good bit of camera gear. I think we could have qualified as ultralite backpackers… until we loaded on the camera gear. But when you go into a place like this, obviously there is a draw to capture the experience. Here’s what we brought for those who are curious:
Cameras - Fujifilm XH2S & XH2
We each carried one of these cameras, the way it usually works is that Owen will carry the XH2S, the more video focused camera. Then I will carry the XH2, the more still focused camera. That way one can focus on photos and the other on video. Periodically we will switch.
Lenses - Fujifilm Fuji 16-80mm f/4 | Fuji 16-55mm f/2.8 | Viltrox 13mm f/1.4
In the past we’ve carried more lenses with us into the backcountry, however, we knew this trail was going to be really hard on us so we wanted to be as light as possible. Between these three lenses, we felt we could cover a lot of ground. We didn’t feel like we were missing anything!
Camera Mic - Rode VideoMic Pro
This mic lives on the video camera at all times. It’s our trusty mic and recommend it emphatically!
Lav Mics - DJI 2 Person Mic Set
In this film we did a few talking heads and recorded a podcast episode out there. In order to do that, we brought these mics with us! They are light and very handy!
Filter for Video - Nisi True Color Variable ND
Tried and true! No variable ND treats color better in our opinion.
Hiking Tripod - Peak Design Carbon Travel Tripod
x1 - This is our tried and very true tripod! We use this tripod nearly daily even when we’re not on trail! This is an incredible tripod that is really well designed, robust and perfect for carrying out on trail. Wouldn’t think of taking anything else.
Camera Clip - Peak Design Capture 3.0 Camera Clip
x2 - If we’re out hiking, its nearly guaranteed that this camera clip is on our bag. If you’re carrying a camera with you, into the backcountry you need one of these. This is the single best thing we’ve purchased that makes carrying a camera with us on these adventures not only comfortable, but possible. Gets the camera up and out of the way while also making it easier to use!
Camera Straps - Peak Design Camera Leash
x2 - Ok, so maybe we just have a love affair with Peak Design gear as a whole. These camera straps are very comfortable, fast and easy to remove if need be. The best!
Canon Auto Boy Film Camera - Film stocks used
This is the film camera that I brought with me. I was wanting to go as light as possible so I only brought a point & shoot. In the end, that was a mistake as the camera seemed to have focusing issues so about 50% of my photos are out of focus. The link above is to the film stocks I used.
Power Bank - Anker Portable Power
x2 - When doing a week long trip, we have to bring some form of a power source. We picked these up as our last Anker battery packs were getting old and not holding a charge, but we liked them enough to get the newest version of them. We used these to charge our phones, camera batteries, watch and garmin inreach.
What We Will Bring Next Time
So the weather was pretty much as bad as it could have been the second half of the trip… Aside from having a full blown snow storm. But because of that, we definitely had some gear issues that illuminated a few things that we will bring with us in the future.
Gear Repair Tape - Gear Tape
We’ll bring gear tape from now on. We sustained a few tears in our rain fly on our tent that I ended up repairing with bandaids. The bandaids worked fine, but gear tape would be a better long term fix. Then I found holes in by pack the hard way. On our rainiest day on trail I opened by pack to retrieve my rain gear to find three holes had been leaking water into my pack soaking some important gear. If I had tape I could have done something about it, instead all I had was bandaids.
As mentioned above, even though my pack was leaking, in the future I plan to keep all of the contents of my pack, that I don’t want to get wet, in dry bags. i had enough dry bags just for my clothes and camera. I could have really used a third bag for my sleeping gear. Next time.
We had paracord with us, but next time I will bring more. We used the paracord for suspending our bear bags at night as well as for additional support on our rain fly one windy evening. That was when I felt like we needed to have more paracord with us. I think we could have done a lot better in the wind if I had a few more feet with us to ensure we could add a few more “guy lines.”
Well that wraps up our entire packing list for the Wind River High Route! It never feels like we are taking that much until I type it all out like this! If you all have any questions or comments, we’d love to hear from you! Always happy to help you figure out the right gear for you and your trip into the backcountry!
