The Superior Hiking Trail: My Gear for a July Thru-Hike

I’ve been weeding, both figuratively and literally. Preparing to leave in less than two weeks and getting all the little things done, like yard work.

I’m taking less gear and more food than I’d ever take on a cycling tour, but this looks like the final pile of stuff.

For beginners like myself who are dreaming of/planning a long-ish hike, I thought a list of what I’m bringing could be helpful. I know I liked looking at others gear choices.

Do keep a few things in mind:

1. Much of this I’ve used on cycling tours for some time. I already own it. It might be older and heavier, but it’s paid for and I’m going to continue to use it.

2. I’m not listing weights of gear because I don’t know what anything weighs. I’ve been road walking 10-15 miles consistently with this gear. It’s fine.

3. I’m planning on a 3 week SOBO hike, covering 250 miles of the The Superior Hiking Trail.

4. I’ve never done this before and I’m not in the best of shape. That isn’t going to stop me from trying and it shouldn’t stop you either.

5. Dreams can become plans and plans can turn to reality.

Tent: Tarptent Double Rainbow
Sleep system: Big Agnes Lost Ranger (15 degree down) bag and Insulated Q-Core pad
Backpack: Granite Gear Crown VC 60 liter with Gossamer Gear Strap and belt pocket

Cooking/Water/Foodbag:

GSI Soloist pot/lid
Sea to Summit X cup
Homebrew alcohol stove
Homebrew windscreen and paperclip
Bandana
Pocket knife
Lighter
GSI Long handle spoon
1 liter and 700ml Smart water bottles
Stove fuel
Sawyer Squeeze
CNOC 2 liter bag
Granite Gear 16l Zipsack

Clothing/Footwear:

Crocs
Altra-Lone Peak 4 with Superfeet Green insoles
Altra gaiters
Ex-Officio convertible pants
Ex-Officio boxer brief (2)
Injinji liner socks (2)
Darn Tough Micro Crew socks (2)
Patagonia Hybrid Pocket T (2)
Marmot PreCip Rain jacket
Green stuff sack/pillow

Personal/Hygiene/First Aid/Electronics:

Z-Seat
Wet Ones/Toiletpaper in Ziploc
Bug repellant
Body Glide
Advil
Sunscreen
Small towel
Toothbrush/Toothpaste/Hand Sanitizer
Bug net
Petzl Headlamp
Battery/Charger/cables/headphones
First Aid kit
Paper maps
Red stuff sack

My phone is hard to take a photo of. I bought a Motorola G7 recently and I’ve found it to be all the phone I need. I have Google Fi. I assume it’ll work up there. I installed the Superior Hiking Trail app and saved the route to an SD card for offline use. I have paper maps as back up.

I have a single page spreadsheet I’m taking with me that has distances to campsites and towns for about the first 80 miles. After that I’ll just wing it. I’ll pay more attention to the maps/App after my second resupply in Tofte. I’ve purposefully not done a huge amount of research into this hike. I’m not going in completely ignorant, but I like to discover things in the moment rather than plan everything, create unreal expectations and then be disappointed with reality.

That’s about it. I’ve got my departure date set, Air B-n-B reserved in Duluth and shuttle reserved for early the next morning.

I still need to seamseal my tent and I’m going to treat everything with Permethrin. Ticks are pretty thick where I live and the mosquitoes are insane right now.

Here’s to trying new things and busting out of comfort zones.