Choosing what to bring on the Mission Peak hike last week ended up being more complicated than it had to be. Anyway, here’s a list of items I ended up bringing:
- Hiking Poles + Knee Straps. The combination of these two helped greatly in mitigating the roughness of the ascent / descent. For me, hiking with sticks actually feels like a full body workout. It was a little tough on my weak shoulders so occasionally I would put them on pause.
- Wool Gloves + QuickBooks Accountant jacket. Last time we went, it was cold at the top. This time, that was not the case. The day was bright + sunny and the winds were not strong. Almost immediately after starting the hike, our jackets came off. The gloves remained in the bag the entire time and never even saw the light of day.
- Water + Snacks. The snacks we brought were dark chocolate bars, Mizuho sweet heart cookies, bananas, and Nutri-Grain breakfast bars. The breakfast bars were the only items untouched by the end of the hike.
…and here’s a list of items I didn’t:
- Osprey Backpack. My over-protective mother refused to let me bring my own backpack and told me to store everything inside my dad’s. Next time around, I will be more insistent on bringing my own; after we stored our jackets, my dad’s High Sierra backpack quickly ran out of space. (Another possibility for next time could be my JanSport fanny pack.)
- Belt. On the way down, my pants started feeling loose. I found myself pulling them up every few minutes. Eventually I was able to stop the pants from falling so much by removing excess weight (aka my iPhone) from my pockets. In retrospect, I really should’ve worn a belt.
- Apple AirPods. Since this was a work event for my dad, I was slightly afraid that I would be left on the side twiddling my thumbs while the grown-ups talked. Anyhow, my lack of pockets was what kept me from bringing along the AirPods. That turned out to be the right choice; Dad barely spent any time with his co-workers.
- Sweat Towel. The amount of sweat produced during the early part of the hike was insane. My handkerchief quickly soaked up more than it could handle.
PS: it’s been a week, but Mom is still joshing with Dad about taking such a long nap after the hike (~5:45pm to ~9:15pm)
