Sam’s favorite gear from the Hayduke Trail
From an ultralight floorless tent to cozy camp socks, here’s the gear thru-hiker Sam Schild loved on his 850-mile trek through Utah
June 17th, 2026
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Sam is back from a westbound thru-hike of the Hayduke Trail, which runs approximately 850 miles across Utah from Arches National Park to Zion National Park. He's previously completed the Triple Crown of long-distance hiking, the three major long-distance hiking trails in the US (the Appalachian Trail, Pacific Crest Trail, and Continental Divide Trail), along with other US long trails.
The Hayduke Trail is mostly off-trail—traveling “cross-country” on non-existent paths between landmarks—traversing from one canyon to the next. It’s hot, dry, and regularly requires high-exposure slick rock scrambles to get in and out of deep canyons.
The Hayduke is often quite remote, and few people attempt a thru-hike each year; based on estimates from a trail angel who gives water to thru-hikers outside of Moab, there were about 40 thru-hikers throughout this spring. There are only a handful of places to resupply along the route, so Sam placed three food and water caches—and even then had to carry 5-6 days' worth of food.
Considering the key differences between the Hayduke Trail and other long-distance thru-hikes he’s done in the past, he put together an ultralight backpacking kit for the Hayduke Trail. Here’s the gear that stood out to him over the entire Hayduke.
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The Zpacks Hexamid tent is an ideal tent for the Hayduke Trail because it’s extremely lightweight and works well across dry desert mesas and buggy canyon bottoms. At its core, this is a Dyneema half-pyramid tarp with a bug net attached along the bottom. It weighs only 9.7 ounces.
Getting bug and storm protection from a shelter this light is pretty impressive. While it’s dry along most of the Hayduke, the route often goes deep into canyons, where bugs thrive off the small amounts of water pooling in shady corners. So, I appreciated the bug protection more often than I expected. I regularly fell asleep while dozens of flying insects futilely attempted to get at me through the no-see-um mesh.
Also, having a separate floor is ideal for a dryer trail, because I don’t always want to set up my shelter, but I don’t want to carry an extra ground sheet to cowboy camp. I used the optional Zpacks Dyneema bathtub ground sheet with the Hexamid. You can purchase this tent with or without the Dyneema ground sheet. On dry, bug-free nights when I didn’t set up the tent, I appreciated that I could use the floor for cowboy camping, unlike the sewn-in floor of most single-walled tents.
I weathered multiple rainstorms and a snowstorm in this one-person tarp-tent as well. It does great in high winds and is more stormworthy than expected—I never got wet during any precipitation, even when nearly six inches of snow fell one night.
Royal Robbins Salathe Hoodie
I wore the same outfit every day. The same sunshirt, the same running shorts, socks, shoes, and hat, too. The clothing item I liked the most from that one outfit is the Royal Robbins Salathe Hoodie. The Salathe is comfortable, keeps you cool and shaded in direct sun, and has a tight, durable fabric weave that prevents bugs from biting through it. And, it doesn’t tear when fighting through brush.
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The Salathe is loose-fitting, unlike most sun shirts, which fit more tightly. I find the looser fit more comfortable. It also has a quarter zip, which allows for more ventilation. And the loose fit, plus the quarter-zip, creates tons of airflow, thus keeping you cooler. Yes, that quarter-zip technically means you’re not as covered up in the sun. But sometimes you aren’t in the sun, so it’s nice to have the option to unzip it then. Also, I find it less restrictive not to have a shirt and hood wrapped around your neck all the time. It earned Best Lightweight Sun Shirt in our Best Sun Shirts guide.
It’s made with tightly woven fabric, which Royal Robbins calls mosquito protection technology (MPT). And while there weren’t tons of bugs on the Hayduke, my legs got all the bug bites because this shirt covered my torso and arms. That tightly woven fabric that successfully prevents mosquitos from biting through it is also very durable. I bushwacked through countless deep, overgrown canyons full of thorny plants that grab onto your clothing, and this shirt didn’t tear once. And over 50 days, I did laundry five times. This shirt never stank too bad, either.
I used the Outdoor Vitals StormLoft 30 Degree Down Quilt on the Hayduke and was impressed with its generous warmth rating and fast-drying capabilities. I experienced a few nights that dipped into the low twenties, which is 10 degrees colder than this quilt is rated for. However, even on those very cold nights, I slept comfortably.
The StormLoft 30-degree quilt feels warmer and loftier than most other 30-degree quilts I’ve used. Many ultralight quilts are temperature-rated for survival, not comfort. This means a 30-degree quilt rated for survival will keep you warm enough to not die at 30 degrees, but you won’t have a good night's sleep. I experienced temperatures 10 degrees colder than this bag is rated for and stayed comfortable. Yes, I was wearing a puffy, alpha fleece, wind pants, and socks, but it’s still remarkable that this 30 degree quilt kept me comfortable at 20 degrees.
This isn’t as relevant on a drier trail like the Hayduke, but it’s stuffed with Allied Feather Down’s ExpeDry Down. This down has gold particles fused to the down clusters. The gold particles prevent water molecules from attaching to the down, shortening the time it takes for the down to dry if it gets wet. This genuinely works, and seems to prevent the down from ever getting that wet in the first place.
On a cold, snowy night, sleeping at the bottom of a canyon, the inside of my tent was dripping wet with condensation. In the morning, while waiting for the snow to let up, I repeatedly brushed my quilt along the wet sides of the tent, but it never seemed to soak through. And if the down did get wet, it dried just as quickly before I noticed.
Note: The StormLoft is available in 0°F, 15°F, 30°F, and 40°F degree options. Sam tested the 30°F.
Outdoor Research Helium UL Jacket
The Outdoor Research Helium UL Jacket was another one of my favorite items on the Hayduke. This jacket is extremely breathable, durable, and lightweight. It only weighs 5.7 oz (size medium). And while I was rarely out in a rainstorm wearing it, I used it as a windbreaker nearly every day.
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It’s made with Toray Dermizax 3D 2.75-layer fabric. This fabric is very breathable. I often wore this jacket longer into the morning than necessary, well after the early morning chill had dissipated. This is a strong indicator that the jacket is very breathable. Even when I wore it until I was sweating inside, I rarely noticed any moisture buildup when I took it off.
The Hayduke requires a lot of bushwacking, and my puffy jacket has a few new tears I can provide as evidence if you don’t believe me. However, the Helium ultralight jacket never tore or snagged, even when I pushed through thorny bushes to climb out of a canyon first thing in the morning.
When I did use it in a rainstorm, it kept me dry, too. I’ll continue testing this jacket into the summer, when I hope to see more rain than I did during spring in southern Utah.
For another variation, the non-ultralight version of the Helium is our pick for Best Packable Lightweight Rain Jacket.
I’ve long been a fan of my Alpha Direct Hoodie, and this year I decided to try out these FarPointe OG Alpha Direct Socks as well. I’m sold. These are the perfect sleep socks.
A pair of these socks weighs 0.8 oz and is much warmer than wool socks (not to mention that a pair of wool socks weigh about 3 oz). Alpha Direct is a wonder material. You can’t do better in terms of warmth per ounce than this. I can’t believe I didn’t think to get socks made out of this material until now. But they’re not just warm and light, they’re also extremely comfortable.
Every night when I got to camp, I would set up my tent, sleeping pad, and quilt, then I’d sit down to cook dinner. But before I even started boiling water, I would pull off my dirty shoes and socks, then slide my feet into these cozy, clean camp socks that weigh about as much as the titanium spoon I used to eat dinner. During extremely cold nights, I was grateful for the extra warmth on my feet. But I still wore them to sleep every other night, too, because the ultra-fuzzy Alpha Direct material is so comfortable that I never wanted to sleep barefoot. Also, wearing sleep socks keeps your quilt cleaner, and I do like my quilt as well. It’s a win-win!
For more of our favorite socks, check out our Best Hiking Socks guide.
Why you should trust us / About the author
Sam Schild is a thru-hiker, trail runner, bikepacking cyclist, and mountain athlete based in Colorado. He has thru-hiked the Pacific Crest Trail, Continental Divide Trail, Appalachian Trail, Grand Enchantment Trail, Arizona Trail, Hayduke Trail, Pacific Northwest Trail, and the Colorado Trail twice. He has bikepacked across the country and all over the American Southwest, including on the Colorado Trail and Kokopelli Trail.
You can read more about Sam on his author page, website, or on Instagram.
