Backpacking Trip Guidelines

We want you to have a wonderful backpacking experience from start to finish! This document shares a minimum set of gear guidelines and sets expectations on how most of our trips go from planning to driving away.

Before you RSVP to any of our hikes..

  • Did you check your schedule against the start and end dates?
  • Do you understand how far the start point is from where you live?
  • Do you have a way to get there?
  • Do you understand the hike distance and elevation?
  • Do you understand the required gear or special limitations of the event?
  • Did you sign the liability waiver? It makes a poor impression if we find you participate but didn’t sign it.

Do you have the 10 essentials?

  • Navigation
  • Flashlight
  • Sun protection
  • First aid
  • Knife
  • Firestarter
  • Shelter
  • Extra food
  • Extra water
  • Extra clothes

Required Gear (All Seasons)

  • Your leader may specify extra or different gear, please defer to that.
  • Pack that will carry all your gear that isn’t too heavy for you to carry over the distance of the trip.
  • Tent that is appropriate to the season you are camping in.
  • Sleeping bag comfort rated for 15 degrees below the expected low on your trip (see this video for more).
  • Sleeping pad (we recommend R5 sleeping pads during cold months). Adventure Alan has a great video on the subject.
  • A way to carry and manage your water. This could mean a filter or iodine or a way to melt snow.
  • Two of these oven bags at your local grocery store in your emergency kit. If you get your feet wet, you can put on new socks and keep warmer than you would without them.
  • Flashlight or headlamp. Rechargeable with a cord to your Extra Battery for the win!
  • Navigation – GPS on your phone that you know how to use and has a trace function, like Gaia GPS.
  • Clothing appropriate for the season. All synthetic or wool. Zero cotton.
  • Sun protection – Sunscreen, hat, shades.
  • Extra batteries for your phone/flashlight depending on your trip.
  • Rain gear. No matter what day it is around here, it might rain! Worst case, bring an emergency poncho (in summer) and the rest of the year bring a rain jacket and rain pants and a way to keep your gear dry, i.e. plastic bag inside your pack or pack cover or waterproof pack.
  • Food – bring appropriate food for each day, plus one day extra for margin. Don’t pack food till it feels right. Know your daily calorie needs and count that and the protein content of your foods out for each day. For example, the average person will need between 3000-5000 calories per day while hiking, so bring an extra full day of calories with at least 100g of protein.

Required Gear (Spring, Summer, Fall)

  • Thermacell bug machines are highly recommended on most of our backpacking trips during bug season.
  • Water Filter – recommend the Be Free filter and the HydraPak bags.

Required Gear (Winter & Cold Seasons)

  • Waterproof gloves – recommend these gloves (order one size larger) with this liner (carry an extra set of liners just in case one set gets wet. They weight next to nothing and are compact)
  • Gaiters to keep the rain and snow from seeping in at your ankle.

Required Gear (Technical Treks)

What you can expect from us:

Most trips are organized around Messenger Chat. Your leader will likely share a Google Doc with specific destination information, logistics, special to bring list, possibly carpooling information, map links, GPS traces, etc. We know there are a few people who don’t use social media. We don’t care if you use Facebook but everyone needs to be on the same page, that means everyone needs to be in one chat, and we have found Messenger is the best fit.

Often there is a video call at least a week before the event to say ‘hi’, talk about trip preparation, look over maps, and discuss logistics. If offered, please load GPS traces and waypoints into your phone. We expect everyone to take responsibility for knowing how to get back to your start point.

What we expect from you:

Have a positive and helpful attitude. We are not guides, and we do not get paid. We do this because we love going to amazing places, being with our friends, and making new friends along the way.

We work hard, and we expect you to, also.

Here’s what we expect from other members on these trips:

  1. Read the trip description to know the start location, elevation gains, and distances required before you RSVP. – DM the hike leader if you aren’t sure or have questions.
  2. Please only sign up for trips you are or you know you will be ready for both in terms of equipment and ability.
  3. We work hard to not cancel trips. If weather or other unforeseen conditions come up, stay tuned for a ‘plan B’. We know people take time off and anticipate going, and we respect that. In return, please make this trip your “plan A’. We know and understand that something important and unexpected might come up and cause you to pull out of the trip. It is a little disheartening as a leader to have people cancel last minute because they would rather go skiing or they RSVPed to multiple things and decide they wanted to do something else. Or even because the weather is not ‘ideal’.
  4. Some trips cost money upfront to help pay for permits or campsites. Please know and understand our refund policy. Basically we don’t refund. Please find someone qualified to take your spot and they can repay you. We will help if we can but it is not guaranteed to happen.

These trips are more dangerous than sitting on the couch. Please review and participate with our Liability Waiver. It makes a poor impression if we find you participate but didn’t sign it. Wilderness first aid knowledge is always good and here is a free online course on it.

Transportation

In general we encourage carpooling. Please do not RSVP with the expectation you will ride with the activity leader or that the activity leader will find you a spot with someone. We do a lot of trips and constantly finding someone a ride is not an enjoyable task.

That said, your outing will almost certainly have a chat group! Network and team up on rides. We ask that riders pay the driver a baseline of 10 cents per mile driven. – sometimes more depending on the hike leader and the current gas prices.

Social Expectations

The goal of this group is to create a community of friends that support and build up one another, primarily through outdoor adventures. For us, the destination is secondary to the relationships we develop while getting there!

We will encourage eating as a group (weather permitting, versus people vanishing off to their own tents to eat) and developing friendships on and off the trail.

We believe in learning from each other. Most events will have more than one hike leader in attendance and they will encourage participation, teamwork, and leadership from everyone – especially those new to the group.

This group enjoys adventuring with the same group of people and we hike/backpack/snowshoe four seasons all over the PNW

Dogs and Drones

In general we do not allow dogs on Hike’rizons events. Even well-behaved dogs can be a little unpredictable when in new places with new people and we have had enough issues to move to our current no dogs policy.

That said, we give activity leaders a great deal of latitude and they might allow their own dog or a dog they know well. If allowed on one specific event, it would be well disclosed to participants before the event.

Similarly, not everyone loves drones in the backcountry. If you wish to use a drone, please bring that to the event leader’s attention, and better yet, if there is a group chat for the event, get their feedback as well.