On the trail, I wore a completely different set of clothing, as my hiking clothing got much dirtier than my travel or casual clothing, and because hiking demands different clothing characteristics than most travel or casual clothing has. And as I mentioned before, I carried more clothing that I really needed, but I wanted the opportunity to test additional clothing.

Before we left each morning for our hike, I evaluated the weather, and also decided on what I wanted to test that day, based on the expected weather conditions. Also, I carried additional clothing in my daypack in order have more choices, should the weather change unexpectantly.

Mountain Hardware Extend Base Layers: Zip-T & Tights

Base layers are one of my favorite clothing because they are so versatile. Instead of wearing shirts on the trail, I wear a base layer top instead, pretty much no matter what the weather. I generally start wearing base layer bottoms when it gets colder (generally below 40 degrees), wearing them under my pants.

I often wore the Extend Zip-T during the day. During the early mornings, or on some mountain passes, I wore it under a soft shell or hard shell. But after it warmed up, I wore it by itself. The long sleeves protected me from the sun, and protected me from cool breezes. In some cases, it got very warm (when hiking up hill), but it wicked moisture very well, and dried relatively quickly when it turned cool again.

I found I didn't need the Extend tights when hiking, but I did wear them at night when sleeping, using them as part of my sleeping wardrobe.

The Extend Base Layers are one of my favorite because they are attractive, comfortable, midweight (not too light or too heavy), odor-resistant, and are easy to wash and dry. While I didn't have too, I washed the top out every night after using it during the day. It easily dried over night.

Marmot Silkweight Base Layer Crew & Bottom

Bringing along two different pairs of base layers is a little redundant, but I wanted to test the Marmot Silkweight base layers for the first time. As you might imagine, these are very lightweight base layers and are most appropriate for heavy physical activity, like alpine hiking.

To test these out, what I did was to wear both of these pieces, the crew and bottom, along with a pair of shorts. Yes, I know this looks geeky, but I also found that this combination was very comfortable in the quickly changing weather conditions during the trek.

One some of the days, it was just too warm to wear pants, but, as I watched others who only wore shorts, their legs often became chilled as it got cooler. But with my combination of the Silkweight bottom and shorts, it was not too hot for warmer weather, and when it did cool off, my legs did not become chilled. And if it did get tool cool, I could always quickly slip on a pair of pants or shell bottom, which I never had to do.

As the top was quite minimal, I had to wear a soft shell in the morning, but after it warmed up, the crew did a good job of protecting me while not getting to hot. It also did a good job of wicking away moisture when I was particularly active.

As I did with the Extend Zip-T, I washed both the crew and bottom every night that I wore them the previous day. They washed up well and dried quickly.

While I very much like both the Extend and the Silkweight base layers, if I could have only brought one set on this trip, it would have been the Marmot Silkweight base layers. If the temps had been cooler, then the Extend base layers would have been the better choice.

Mountain Hardwear Canyon Shorts

These were the only shorts I brought along on this trip, and they served me well. As I just mentioned in my discussion about the Marmot Silkweight base layers, I only wore these shorts when wearing the base layers.

I like these shorts because they are tough, lightweight, and are easy to take care off. They are very wrinkle-resistant and always look good on the trail.

Patagonia Talus Pants

I like the Talus pants because they are tough, lightweight, and wind- and water-resistant. But on this trip, they didn't fare all that well for daily hiking. The problem was that they didn't breath enough and were too warm for the existing temps and physical activity level. Of course, if the temps had been cooler, or the physical activity less, then they would have been great. This just goes to show that even though a particular piece of clothing is great, it not great for all circumstances.

Beyond Fleece Cold Play Pants

These versatile, custom-made, soft shell pants are one of my favorite, and for two of the cooler days on the trek, they served me well. On one of these days, in particular when crossing one mountain pass, it got down to about 40 degrees and wind gusts of over 30 miles an hour. These pants served me well under these conditions, considering I wasn't wearing a base layer at the time.

But on the other, sunnier, warmer days on the trip, I didn't need them, so they stayed in my backpack, just in case.

Beyond Fleece Cold Fusion Soft Shell Jacket

This custom-made soft shell jacket was my main protection during every day of the trip. I wore it every morning, when it was cold, and at night, as needed.

I am a soft shell fan because they are very lightweight for the level of protection they provide. They are also highly wind- and water-resistant.

One of the biggest features of this jacket are the optional pit zips, which can be used to easily regulate how much ventilation there is, helping you to adjust it to the current weather conditions and your level of physical activity.

While I often stuffed it in my daypack when it go warmer, it still looked great, day after day. While there is some wrinkling right after you unstuff it, the wrinkles quickly disappear after wearing it.

Marmot Meteor Jacket

I am not a big fan of hard shells, but sometimes they are needed, and that is why I brought along the Meteor Jacket. This windproof and waterproof, and somewhat breathable hard shell, is very lightweight and doesn't take up a lot of space in your pack. The jacket includes pit zips, a hideable hood, and plenty of pockets.

Fortunately, it only rained one day of the trek, and a hard shell was definitely called for. Without a hard shell, you would have been soaked with very cool rain (about 55 degrees) and would have been very miserable.

On the other hand, even though it was cool, the high level of physical activity built up a large quantity of moisture within the jacket, much more that the jacket itself could eliminate on its own. Because of this, I had to open the pit zips all the way open, and not use the hood. Even then, it was warmer than I would have preferred to have been. this is not to say the Meteor is a poor jacket. Actually, it is a great hard shell. The problem is that these particular conditions would have been tough for virtually any hard shell on the market.

Marmot Liquid Steel Pants

I didn't have any lightweight hard shell pants to bring with me, so I brought my heavier duty Liquid Steel pants. These are overkill for this trek, but it was all I had at the time of this trip. As you can imagine, they performed well, keeping my legs dry the one day it rained. And yes, they were a little too warm for the conditions, but understandable so.

Outdoor Research PS100 UnderGloves

To protect my hands during those cooler times on the trail, I used Outdoor Research's PS100 UnderGloves. These are made of a lightweight fleece, which Outdoor Research calls PowerStretch 100. These gloves can be used as a liner, or by themselves, which is what I did. The temps never really got very cold, so these lightweight liners were more than adequate. They also breathed very well, and were always very comfortable. They take up very little space, so there is no excuse not to always carry then with you, which is what I did.

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