Hike with Us: Pack your bags

Of course, a backpack is a must. Why? You might ask? Seriously, you do not want to have to do a hike, carrying even just your water bottle in your hands for four miles. This backpack was a gift from my family and has a chest and waist strap (highly recommend this if you do a lot of hiking), two side pouches for our water bottles, as well as plenty of pockets for stuff. 

Water, is of course, important. We usually have some extra bottles of water and/or sports drinks in our backpack, but we each have our own bottle (which we've covered with stickers from State Parks. I've loved these bottles and waited until they went on sale to grab them a couple of years ago. These hold 33 ounces, have a staw and are super easy to use while hiking. Whatever bottles you take, make sure they seal so you can put them in your backpack.

We also carry a multi-tool. We've used both the screwdriver and knife a couple of times. It's something you don't think you need...until you do.

No one wants to think they would forget critical things or things not go well. However, things happen. I always have a small backup of bug spray and sunscreen in our bag (though I usually use this bug lotion when I'm getting dressed for a hike) as well as gauze, bandaids, basic meds (triple anti-biotic lotion, hydrocortisone cream, Tylenol, Advil, allergy meds), tissues, and also some sanitary pads at times.

We also carry hiking polls. I use them pretty often. It's surprising how helpful they can be. We also always have some stable stack in our bag. We have used it quite a few times when hikes have gone longer than expected.