The Sierra High Route was more challenging than we anticipated. We were out for 15 days, did 205 miles, spent most of the time off-trail, and experienced several intense mountain passes. The trip was rewarding, thrilling, tiring, and invigorating. Below is everything we carried with us.
This gear list was almost perfect for the trip, with one major exception. At the last minute we left our microspikes in the car. We had checked snow maps and talked to two different rangers in Kings Canyon National Park and decided we didn’t need them. That made sense for the southern portion of the trail, but when we got farther north into Yosemite National Park there was a lot more snow! Microspikes would have helped us on a few of the passes and maybe even enabled us to do a few that we decided to detour around.
Complete Gear List:
Backpacks: Zpacks Arc Air 50L DCF Backpack with 2 Belt Pouches (discontinued, replaced by the 50L Arc Haul)
Tent: Zpacks Duplex Tent
Quilt: Enlightened Equipment Revelation Sleeping Quilt (950 down / 20F / Regular / Slim / Draft Collar)
Shoes:
- Renee: HOKA Mafate Speed 4
- Tim: HOKA Mafate Speed 4
(NOTE: Great shoes, but they’ve been discontinued. The Mafate 5’s are a decent alternative)
Sleeping Pads: Nemo Switchback (Closed-Cell Foam / Short)
Hiking Poles: Black Diamond Distance Z Trekking Poles – Pair
Water:
- Water Filter 1: Sawyer Squeeze
- Water Filter 2: Lifestraw Peak Series
- Water Bottles: Smartwater or Lifewtr bottles (Two1-Liter & One 0.7-Liter each)
- Collapsible Water Bottle: CNOC Collapsable Water Bottle (1L), which collapses to be tiny when not needed.
Kitchen:
- Pot: Thruhikers hot/cold prototype (1.1-Litre)
- Stove: Olicamp ION Micro Titanium
- Spork: Titanium Spork x1
- Fuel: Olicamp Rocket Fuel (8oz)
- Handkerchief: PCT Bandana
Food Storage:
- Bear Vault BV500: We do not like this type of bear-safe storage, but this or something like it is required for parts of the Sierra High Route.
Electronics:
- Garmin InReach Messenger Plus
- Garmin Fenix 8 51mm Solar GPS watches (x2). Note that the Fenix 9 was just released.
- Anker Power Bank (20,000 mAh) x1, Anker Power Bank (10,000 mAh) x2, and a Nitecore Ultralight Power Bank.
- Nitecore NU25 400UL Headlamp (Tim). Renee lost hers a while ago and brought an old headlamp.
- Cell Phone for maps and photos/videos
- Two action cameras (An older Go-pro and a nicer DJI Osmo Action 6)
- Cables
- Tiny Anker Wall Plug
Renee’s Clothing:
- Shorts: Lululemon Synthetic Shorts
- Sun Hoodie: Patagonia Synthetic Sun Hoodie
- Underwear: ExOfficio Give-N-Go Bikini Brief (3)
- Socks: Darn Tough Micro Crew Midweight Hiking Socks (3)
- Gators: Dirty Girl Gators
- Base Layer Top: Women’s Classic All-Season Merino Base Layer Long Sleeve
- Base Layer Bottom: Women’s Classic All-Season Merino Base Layer Bottom
- Jacket: Enlightened Equipment Torrent Jacket (NOTE: This jacket is amazing, and the price is amazing too for the warmth it provides.)
- Rain Coat: Outdoor Research Helium Rain Jacket
- Buff: Buff
- Glove Liners
- Baseball Hat
- Sunglasses: Ombraz Viale
Tim’s Clothing:
- Shorts: Smartwool Men’s Recycled Polyester Shorts
- Sun Hoodie: Patagonia Synthetic Sun Hoodie
- Underwear: ExOfficio Give-N-Go 2.0 (2)
- Socks: Darn Tough Micro Crew Midweight Hiking Socks (2)
- Gators: Dirty Girl Gators
- Base Layer Top: Men’s Classic All-Season Merino Base Layer Long Sleeve
- Base Layer Bottom: Men’s Classic All-Season Merino Base Layer Bottom
- Jacket: Enlightened Equipment Torrent Jacket (NOTE: This jacket is amazing, and the price is amazing too for the warmth it provides.)
- Rain Coat: Outdoor Research Helium
- Buff: Buff
- Glove Liners
- Baseball Hat
- Sunglasses: Ombraz Classic
Toiletries:
- Toothbrush
- Toothpaste
- Floss
- Sun Screen
Toilet:
- Poop Shovel: The Deuce #2
- Hand Sanitizer
- Antimicrobial Pee Cloth (Renee only, like this one)
- Menstrual Cup: Diva cup (Renee only)
First Aid Kit (small amounts of necessary items)
Miscellaneous:
- Dry Sack: Zpacks Roll Top Dry Bag (10″ x 18″)
- Microspikes: We left these in the car but wished we had them at a few points. Ours are by Katula.
- Bug Spray: DEET
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Big fan here. This was such an epic trip you guys. You have done a lot of impressive things but this was next level. And it was fun seeing you as a couple doing it … I might be reading into it but you seemed very close. Agree on the EE jacket … love that thing. Can’t wait to see what else you have in store.
You two continue to amaze me. Thank you for not telling all the details of this trip before you went on it! It was scary enough reading all about it after you got back!❤️
thx for the insightful compilation!!
how come u guys went back to sawyer for filters? how’s your platypus doing?
The Platypus’s remain our favorite, but we happened to have a newer Sawyer as we headed out on this trip. Our experience is that all filters slow down over time, and the Sawyer we brought had slowed down less than the Platypus’s we had on hand (even though we tend to observe that the Platypus’s tend to slow down less).