5 Ways to Streamline Your Trip to the Trailhead

Sometimes getting out the door feels like the hardest part of going on a hike. We've collected some wisdom from our community and staff over the years, and here are some of the top tips for planning, packing and fine-tuning your exit strategy.

Plan ahead for the season

Planning ahead is classic advice. Steps you take at the beginning of the year or the season will eliminate barriers to getting out the door.

• Buy your annual parking permits, including the Sno-Park pass at the start of the season. You'll avoid last-minute scrambling (or confusion) about which pass you need. It's easier than ever to get day and annual passes online, but there is nothing quite as satisfying as pulling up to a trailhead already knowing you have the pass you need.
  
  
• When it comes to camping or backpacking, nailing down any reservations or permits commits you to a place and a time. When that weekend rolls around, your plans are already dialed.
  
  
• Stocking your hiking and backpacking pantry is a great way to stay ready. For backpacking or hot lunches in winter, you can dehydrate a ton ahead of time, then bag and label them into portions. You can also stock up on instant coffee, hot cider packets, miso soup packets, bars and other shelf-stable hiking snacks. If you want to be extra, divide your hiking food into categories: drinks, lunches, snacks, etc., so it's easy to throw together a hiking lunch of weekend backpacking menu without a trip the store.
  

Stay ready, organize your gear, use a checklist

So you prepared at the start of each season, but prepping your gear ahead of time can be a big mental and physical lift for getting out the door on your hiking day. Your goal is to take day-of decision-making out of the equation. Here are a few specific packing approaches.

• If you don't use your hiking pack for other things, keep your packs ready all the time. Replenish packs during the week, change batteries on headlamps and charge up any emergency beacon or satellite messengers. Check and restock snacks. If you have to wash layers, pack them right back into your pack.
  
  
• Use a basics list. If you can keep most of the ten essentials in your pack at all times, you are 90 percent ready to go. Hang a pack list or use a list app and check off each item the night before, so you can throw in the last minute stuff (like food) on your hiking morning.
  
  
• If you can leave things safely in a trunk of roof box, stock your car with extras, especially for winter. Keep a backup set of cold weather gear, extra socks, flashlight. Things like passes and maps can even live in the car, ready to go.
  
  
• If you switch packs a lot or use your hiking pack for commuting, dedicate a box or drawer to outdoor gear, and ideally only the items you will for sure take with you. (Keep one warm hat, for example, so you aren't choosing which hat to wear.) Keep the ten essentials together.

The night before: Choose your hike, prep breakfast and your pack

If there is one piece of advice that comes up again and again, it is packing the night before. Also, have your hike dialed in so you know exactly when you want to leave. This is pretty basic advice, so below are a few suggestions of how this can look from the community:

• Pack your bag the night before, drink a cup of coffee, GO! —Tyler A.
  
  
• Pack the night before. The best thing for me is to make breakfast burritos the night before. Get up, put them in the oven to heat while taking a shower, you have a hot meal high in protein to eat on the way to the hike. —Meagan L.
  
  
• I am NOT a morning person, so I get everything ready the night before and set it by the door. My permit, directions to the TH, phone and wallet are set right beside my car keys if I'm driving. Then I set up coffee pot to start brewing, and make my lunch. The next AM, I just get up, grab a bite, throw the stuff in the car and go. —Linda R.
  

How to (literally) get out of bed

Do you spring out of bed with a twinkle in your eye, ready to bound up a mountain? Then this section is not for you. Even if hiking is THE THING YOU LOVE TO DO MOST IN ALL THE WORLD, that doesn't necessarily make getting out of bed easier. So, if you're inclined to trade your first-born for ten more minutes in bed, your more reasonable night-self may need to trick or bribe your morning-self into motivating.

• Make a plan that you are super excited about. If you need to, write a sticky note to paste next to your bed that reminds you why you are so psyched on your hiking plans: "Time with Joe!" or "Larches!" might be enough to bypass the snooze monster and get you to the good stuff.
  
  
• Set two (or three) alarms. Put one across the room or house.
  
  
• Make plans with a morning person. Sometimes accountability to someone outside your house is enough to get folks moving, but if you have a morning person hiking buddy, have them call you. Or they can pick up a special coffee or breakfast to have waiting for you for the ride to the trailhead.
  
  
• Sleep in your car. If your car has enough room to sleep in the back, you can drive out the night before and sleep at the trailhead.
  
  
• Lure yourself with baked goods. Getting pastries from the local bakery or a special spot along the way makes for great incentive to get in the car. Sure, the hike is its own reward, but a great donut doesn't hurt.
  

According to science, a week camping in the woods is also a great way to teach your body to wake up more easily.

Unpack, restock and repack

This makes perfect sense and brings us back to number one, but when you roll in from a day or weekend of hiking, packing for your next trip isn't always the first thing on your mind. By the end of hiking season, it's not unusual for WTA staff to say they have a heap of hiking gear in various stages of washing, drying and general disarray somewhere in our house or apartment. If you need a little motivation to take this extra step, turn your usual post-hike beer or meal into a post-unpacking/restocking treat. You'll thank yourself later.

• Don't forget to restock your first-aid kit, or swap out clothes and shoes if your kids are growing.
  

Remember, there's no right way to plan a hike

You might be trying to streamline your hiking routine, but not everyone plans ahead or uses checklists the same way. (An informal poll of WTA staff found that while spreadsheets and laminated checklists are essential for some staff, others have never used a written checklist to pack.)

As long as you check trail and weather conditions, take your ten essentials and tell someone where you will be, there's nothing wrong with waking up and seeing where the day takes you.