Hiking/Camping Fanatics...Need Your Help!

My wife is taking a trip with friends to the Pacific NW in a couple months. Among the many things they are doing, one of them is hiking/walking around the Mt. Hood area. It wont be anything to technical, but Id like to get her a gift pack with a nice hiking backpack and any simple supplies she might need.

I would greatly appreciate any ideas, links, thoughts etc. on what I could get her for her trip. Im thinking along the lines of...

Backpack
Water bottles
Snacks (cliff bars etc)

I would assume thats a good start, but I could use specific instructions for useful stuff. Many thanks in advance!

 

For dayhikes I prefer a camelback with pockets and room for snacks and incidentals. Minimalist approach. I add a small hip bag if I am going for a long dayhike. I keep a compass, map, tp, fire tools, emerg blanket, tweezers, bug/sun screen, paracord, moleskin, motrin, etc. Most of the time i only need the water, food, sunscreen, and compass/map.

if you decide on a camelback, ensure you get a woman specific camelback since the male versions do unflattering things to the tatas.

 

CAMELBAK! Walmart has cheap knock-off's for $20 that work great. CAMELBAAAAAK

handiest thing ever

 

trekking poles! worth their weight in gold!

 

A handheld GPS, and cell phone is a must for hiking. If they will be doing any climbing on the mountain, ensure that they get the locator GPS from one of the lodges. Every year, there are folks that do get lost on the mountain, and every time, they would have been recovered quickly if they had rented the locator. I think it is like 5 bucks.

Hope she enjoys. Hood is a BEAUTIFUL area.

 

x2... You guys are giving good advice. I didn't realize there were female camelbaks, Spitfire.

Although I personally only use poles when i have a heavy pack.

 

Awesome thoughts so far guys. Thanks a ton!

 

Just make sure if you get her a camelback that it has enough storage space. Using that plus a hip-pack is a PIA. Don't get one that has only a tiny amount of carrying room (doesn't need to be huge either from the sounds of the hike). There are many other brands as well that hold a water bladder. I got my wife a small Gregory pack for Christmas that is really comfortable and holds water as well. In addition, it has nice pockets along the the hip strap for holding small items - as well as outside mesh in case you want to carry water bottles, etc. I was just looking at REI this weekend for one for myself... by far the nicest ones were the Gregory and Osprey brands - of course you can probably find much cheaper ones that work just as well locally.