At first, the idea of fitting our lives into two bags that we’d carry on our backs for five months seemed crazy. I think back to the original list of what we thought we’d bring and laugh at some of the items that we included. Now, packing (and unpacking) our bags just seems natural. After almost two months on the Trail, we have what goes in and where it all goes down to a system.

What you carry, and even what you carry it in, is a huge deal and a major conversation subject between hikers. And rightly so- it’s essentially your transportable house for five months. Because of this, the lightweight and high quality gear can be very expensive.

If your budget is limitless then you can have your pick of all the latest and greatest gear on the market. It was trickier for us though because while we obviously wanted to invest in high quality gear, we knew we had to stick to a budget.

After hours and hours of research & two months of hiking, the following list is what we have decided to carry in our bags:

The House

First and foremost – the bags. I started off with an older 70 liter REI backpack that I bought off Craigslist a few years back. I loved it, but it ended up being too big so I just recently switched to a 45 liter Osprey Kyte. Shawn bought a new 65 liter Osprey Aether before we left and loves it.

We also each have a raincover for our bag that we use overnight to keep the bags dry, and of course – when it rains.

The Bedroom

A few months before we left, I read a blog about long distance hiking with your boyfriend/significant other and it called the tent the “Divorce Coffin.” In an attempt to not despise each other after sharing a small, smelly tent for five months we opted for the REI 2+ Half Dome tent. This tent gives us plenty of room – the “+” stands for “plus your bags”, “plus your dog”, or “plus both!” While it is a bit heavier than the tents many hikers carry, keep in mind that the weight of everything we’re carrying is really split between the two of us.

Above is the size of the tent when it’s wrapped up and in the bag. We use a piece of Tyvek as our tent footprint- it cost a tenth of the price as the name brand ones and works just as good, if not better.

Our sleeping bags are 25 degree LL Bean bags. They take up a good section of the space in our bags (see pic below) but they don’t weigh too much considering their size. They’re extremely comfortable and can zip together for nights when it’s chilly (which we’ve only done once hahah).

Under our sleeping bags are our Thermarest  Trail Pro Sleeping Pads (below). They self-inflate and have held up really well thus far. Not to mention they are extremely comfortable and help us get a good night sleep every night.

All together, our room looks like this at the end of the day:

We carry travel size pillows, which a lot of people consider a “luxury item” on the Trail. We consider them a necessity. You can’t hike all day and be healthy without getting a good night’s sleep, so we knew that the Bedroom section of our bags needed to be warm and comfortable.

We put the fly on the tent and it gives us a covered space outside the tent to leave our bags overnight.

It’s also a good place to take a nap.

The Kitchen

We love our MSR PocketRocket stove. It’s tiny, light, and heats up water faster than any stove at home. It hooks on to a fuel canister, which we can buy in pretty much every hiker town we pass through. These fuel canisters last forever – we use our stove twice a day and buy a new canister maybe every two weeks. We’ve started carrying the 2oz canisters now to save weight in our bag because the 4oz canisters were lasting so long that they weren’t worth the extra weight.

We bought the GSI Pinnacle pot & dish set to cook with it, and all the pieces fit together during the day when we’re not cooking.

We typically get our water from streams, rivers, and ponds. To filter it, we use our Gravity Works 4L purifier. Unlike most other popular filtration systems, our filter does not require any pumping or squeezing. We just hang it up and let gravity do the work, which makes the nights (when we do most of our filtering) much more relaxing.

Our food is organized into three separate bags- one for breakfast, one for lunch and snacks, and one for dinner. We hang them from a line between trees at night to keep critters out (the bags are waterproof so they keep they food dry if it rains).

The Closet

We each have a hiking outfit, which includes a shirt, a pair of shorts, two pairs of hiking socks, and two pairs of underwear.

Our camp clothes, or what we wear when we’re not hiking, includes a pair of comfy pants for each of us and a long sleeved shirt.

When it was warmer out I had a tank top for my camp shirt.

We both hike in Merrell boots and have sandals for when we’re not hiking. Since the mountains in Maine and New Hampshire tore our boots apart, Merrell sent us each a new pair for no charge? thank goodness, because the bottoms were completely worn off of mine and Shawn had a huge hole in the toe of his.

The Bathroom

We carry travel size toothbrushes, toothpaste, and a hair brush in a gallon size Ziploc bag. Also, we carry a tube of baby wipes so that we can clean off at night when we’re not in town. We each take a daily multivitamin, too.

Our med kit has ibuprofen, moleskin, triple antibiotic, bug spray, afterbite, nail clippers, a tick picker, and bandaids. Luckily, we haven’t had to use it much (with the exception of the tick picker that I’ve only ever used to pluck my eyebrows).

Miscellaneous

To charge our phones, we use a four panel solar charger. It charges our phones extremely quick and it doesn’t weigh much considering it’s size. Most hikers carry a portable charger that’s commonly referred to as “the brick” but we didn’t think it was worth the weight.

We each have a Kindle and we typically read for an hour or so at night. To save weight, many people read using the Kindle app on their phones, but we prefer reading on the actual Kindles. We’re always taking suggestions for new books to read if anybody has one!!

Then we each have a headlamp, a small pocket knife, and a tool that has an emergency whistle/compass/and waterproof match canister.

So- that’s it! It seems like a lot when it’s all spread out but it somehow all packs together and fits into our bags nicely.

Anything different that you think you would pack, or maybe something we’re carrying that you would leave behind?

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And of course- pictures from our last two states! We hiked through Vermont and Massachusetts, for a total of 241 miles. A benefit of being so close to home is that we were able to have lots of visitors along the way?

400 mile marker

Sunset during dinner

State #3!

After we made it through the Whites, I started FLYING through those miles?

Murph joined us for Vermont!! Thanks, Graham, for being his chauffeur (and for visiting with us, too, I guess?).

Just your casual post-lunch homemade pie

Abby visited us in Rutland!

As you can tell from my Mile 500 face, I was exhausted at this point….so we took the rest of the afternoon off (and it looks like we all needed it, as you can see below).

Sometimes all you need is Chinese food and a marathon of Real Housewives.

Vermont had a couple of these creepy rock gardens that were full with cairns of all sizes.

Cris, Amy, and Ang visited us in Manchester!

We slept at the summit of Bromley and got to see the most amazing sunset.

And Mom got to hike with us for five days!

State #4!

Murph & Mom headed home after we got into Massachusetts

We ordered a “side of three pancakes” at this diner and the waitress laughed at us, like an entire pancake meal wasn’t normally considered a “side”?

Crossing over I-90!

Massachusetts has been so dry and it’s been stressful because we obviously can’t get far without water. At the end of one day, we were starting to worry because three steams in a row and a spring were completely dry and we were almost out of water. But then we crossed a road and came upon this Hiker Stand which was run by the kids that lived in the house there. It had jugs full of water to fill up with, sodas and snacks for sale, a power strip to charge our phones, and a trash can. It couldn’t have been more perfect and we were so grateful for it!

After a few days home to rest up and for some work appointments, Shawn’s Dad dropped us off at the trailhead to get back at it.

Next up, Connecticut!