Equipment
Personal Items
Some of these items are not necessary to a safe hike or backpacking trip. However, they can add enjoyment to your outdoor experience and should be considered. When preparing for a hike, choose only those items that fit your current need. There is little sense in taking excess weight. Your shoulders and feet will thank you for going light.
Since, when car camping, you don't have to worry too much about weight and space (in most cases) you can bring along a few extra comforts if you're so inclined. Items in this category include comfortable lawn or beach chairs for relaxing around camp, lanterns (gas or battery) for evening reading or late cooking, extra clothing for cool nights or a quick change after a hike, reading material, table games, hobby projects, or whatever suits your interests. Binoculars or telescopes are fun if you are into watching wild animals or the night stars. Books for identifying wild critters, plants, rocks, insects, or historical sites are great to have as you run across the stories told by nature. Sometimes just getting out into the open spaces is reward enough.
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Book
If you plan to spend some time in camp you might want to consider taking along a lightweight paperback book. Any subject is fine, but often a natural history selection or a philosophical work fits in best with the setting. Also consider nature and trail guides.
Camera and Film
You'll be seeing lots of interesting landscapes, plants, and animals. Take along your 35 mm camera, pick up one of those disposable panoramic or underwater cameras, or, use some modern technology and take along your digital camera, and snap away. Just remember to take along extra film, batteries, memory cards, and the appropriate equipment necessary to clean lenses. It does get dusty on the trail. Also take along a flash if you plan on heading out before dawn or staying out after nightfall. Remember, many digital cameras do not work well in either extreme cold or heat. Battery life can be affected as well. Protect your camera, keeping it out of the heat and dust, until you're ready to use it. Electronic cameras are especially susceptible to the fine dust that is often encountered along a desert trail.
Money
Even though, generally, there are no vending machines along the trial, there might be situations where cold drinks or snacks are available. For example, at Phantom Ranch, in the bottom of the Grand Canyon, there is a canteen that sells ice cold lemonade, beer (no matter how good it sounds, don't drink it, you'll dehydrate), and a small selection of snack items, for reasonable fees (considering the location, how the supplies are packed in, and the 100 plus temperatures). At one time, the kids of the pump house attendant, just north of Cottonwood Camp, had a lemonade stand. And most national park visitor centers have soft drinks and water vending machines. So bring along some small denomination bills and some change, if you can find the room.
Note Book and Pencil
A small notebook and a pencil (or pencils) can come in handy for making notes about the photos you've taken, side trails you've explored, for making a list of the critters you've seen along the way, or for capturing your impressions of the landscape surrounding your journey. A few sheets of note paper can also come in handy if you run out of TP.
Contact Lenses and Glasses
Make sure to take along a spare pair of glasses or lenses. You never know when you might drop them over the edge of a cliff while staring at the view below, or drop a lens in the dirt. If you wear contacts on a backpacking trip, either wear disposable lenses (and bring extra pairs) or take along your some of your usual lens cleaning solution and a lens holder. You may also want to bring along a small bottle of eye drops if you're prone to dry eyes. The humidity in canyon country can be very low.
Remember glasses for general seeing, reading glasses, sun glasses, extra contact lenses, storage containers, lens cleaning solutions, and eye drops.
Walking Stick
A good walking stick has been shown to reduce stress on your knees as you hike along. It also provides balance in loose rock and on steep descents. A long stick can also provide support for your pack during rest periods, a brace for a corner of a sun shade made from a tarp or space blanket, a depth gauge when crossing streams, a probe when walking through tall brush in snake country, and for many other uses.
In recent years a pair of collapsible hiking poles, similar to ski poles, have become popular. However, we prefer to use a single, long pole. Although you can find a nice selection of hiking sticks at local camping and sporting good stores, we make our own from closet poles which we bought at our local hardware store. We bought a pole that was at least as tall as the particular user so that as we hike down slope we won't have to bend forward to use the device. We sanded off the top of the pole so that it is rounded. The bottom takes care of itself and has become rounded through wear against the abrasive surface of the many trails we've walked along. We also oiled our poles several times to keep the wood from drying and cracking. We've used the same poles for over ten years now and wouldn't hike without them. They are slightly heavier than we would like, but they are very sturdy and have come in handy many, many times.
Books and Resources
Related Sites
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