What to Pack (And I Overpack Every Time, So Learn From Me)
Okay, this is the lesson where I admit a flaw out loud.
I am bad at packing light. Every single trip, I haul stuff up the trail I never touch. Extra gloves I don't need. A second water bottle that comes home full. One time I brought an entire bag of trail mix for a two-mile loop like I was stocking a base camp. Faith has seen my pack by the door and just said "who's coming with you, six people?" No, Faith, it's just me.
So here's this lesson with that in mind. I'm going to tell you what actually earns a spot in your pack, and I'm going to try real hard not to talk you into my bad habits.
The stuff that actually matters
Water. Not as much as you think, but don't skip it either. You don't feel thirsty in the cold the way you do in summer, so people forget to drink and then wonder why they've got a headache by the car. One bottle for a short loop, two if you're out a few hours. That's it. I bring four. Don't be me.
A snack, not a buffet. Something with actual calories, granola bar, some nuts, half a sandwich. You're not backpacking the Wind Rivers. You're doing a foothill loop and you'll be back at the car in an hour or two most likely.
An extra layer you're not wearing. This is the one I actually stand behind every time. Whatever you've got on, throw one more light layer in the pack, just in case the weather does something or you end up stopping longer than planned. Doesn't need to be heavy. A fleece or a light puffy folded up small works fine.
Extra gloves. Just one pair, dry, in a plastic bag. If your hands get wet you want a backup and you want it to not also be wet.
Sunglasses or sunscreen, or both. People forget this one constantly because it's cold out and their brain says winter equals no sun. Snow bounces sunlight right back at your face and at this elevation the UV is no joke. Get sunburned in January, you'll feel dumb about it.
Your phone, charged, with the trail loaded or screenshotted. I've talked about my navigation gaps before, I'm not a map-and-compass guy, I lean on knowing the trail and my phone. So charge it before you leave the house, and if it's really cold, keep it in an inside pocket, not your pack, because cold kills battery fast.
Hand warmers. Cheap, small, and if you've got a kid or a reluctant friend along, having a spare pair to hand someone who's cold and grumpy buys you a lot of goodwill.
The stuff you probably don't need (that I bring anyway)
A full first aid kit for a groomed one-mile loop. A second snack "just in case." A backup hat when I'm already wearing a hat. Look, none of this will hurt you, it's just weight you're hauling for no reason. Run the experiment yourself. Pack what I said above, go once, and see what you actually open up out there. Whatever you never touched, leave home next time. That's the whole system. I wish I followed it better.
One real caution
If you're heading up for more than an hour or two, or the forecast is doing anything weird, don't cut the extra layer and the charged phone. Those aren't overpacking, those are the two things that turn a bad afternoon into a fine one. Everything else is negotiable. Those two aren't.
Less is more, most days
Honestly, my favorite trips are the ones where I barely open my pack. A clear cold morning a while back, Faith came with me, no kid that time, just the two of us on a quiet loop. We didn't talk much, just walked. I never touched my pack except for water. Two hours out there and it was better than any dinner out we'd had in months. That's kind of the whole pitch for this sport. You don't need much. You need the right little bit of stuff, and then you need to actually go.
Before next time
Lay out everything you're planning to bring on your bed before our next trail day and cut it by a third. If you can't decide what to cut, bring it and tell me what you didn't touch. I've got a guess.