5 hiking essentials tourism expert and avid hiker Audrey Scott relies on

“I bought this backpack to hike the Camino in Spain and I used it for almost a thousand kilometers, 600 miles,” Scott says. “I love this backpack.”

What first drew her in was the comfort–which is important when you’re trekking with it all day on your back. “It was super comfortable and I still use it on most of my hiking trips,” she says. 

Part of what makes the backpack work for Scott is its women-specific design. “It's especially kind of geared towards women,” Scott says. “So it kind of sits on your hips and it's designed more for women.”

This size of the bag also fits her needs, whether she’s heading out for a day hike or a multi-day trek. 

“The one that I have is the 28-liter, which is bigger than maybe a traditional day pack, but smaller than a pack where you're gonna be putting in sleeping bag and other things,” she says. 

“It's a type of hiking backpack that you can use as a day pack or you can use it as a multi-day pack, but not if you're carrying camping equipment.”

Scott also has a system for organizing its single main compartment. She says “it's basically one big compartment that comes in the top. I usually put shoes at the bottom, and then kind of put my clothing cubes on top.”

She also says “[there’s] a compartment for water, so it also can take a water bladder. It also has a pocket on the side and holders to put your hiking sticks.

If the weather turns, Scott says “the rain cover is actually included and it’s incorporated into the backpack” to help keep the pack covered in wet conditions.

“Clothing Arts originally were developed as pickpocket-proof pants,” Scott says. “So they have all sorts of zippers and buttoned areas.” And they weren’t truly on her mind when she was looking for hiking pants. 

“They were kind of technically made more for city walking because you can protect all your valuables,” she says. 

“I probably would have never discovered these [if we hadn’t] spoke at the Adventure Travel and Trade Association conference years ago,” she says about her and her co-founder and husband, Daniel Noll. “The founder of this company ended up giving all the speakers a pair of his pants to try out. And since then we've bought our own.”

When it comes to hiking, all those extra pockets come in handy. “We both use them constantly for hiking because, especially for women, they have good pockets, which a lot of women's hiking pants are lacking.”

The pockets give Scott a place to keep her hiking essentials organized and secure. She says that the zippers and buttons mean “they’re secure, they’re not going to fall out.”

They’ve also proven to be remarkably durable for Scott. “The first pair we got as a gift we're still using and that's, I think, 13 years later,” she says. “Then we also bought another pair, and we've been using those for like eight or nine years. They last quite a while.”

Another huge feature for Scott? They’re easy to wash on the go. “If you do need to wash them, they dry really quickly,” she says. “You can wash them overnight and then if you don't have a dryer they usually dry by morning.”

“We've used them on some pretty strenuous hikes and peaks and they've held up,” Scott says about her Trekology trekking poles. She does make the important note, however, that “they're not going to make it up Everest.”

For the kind of hiking she does while traveling, Scott says they’re “durable enough in my opinion.”

Still, it’s the compact design that makes them a staple for Scott when packing her hiking bag. “The reason why we like them a lot and carry them on a lot of trips with us is because they are light, they fold up, and they come in a bag,” she says. 

They even pair well with her Deuter Trail hiking backpack. “The backpack that I mentioned, it's actually small enough for carry-on,” she says, “sometimes that means that I can actually carry the poles with me in my backpack on the plane, or if I'm checking the bag, the poles actually fit inside my backpack.”

This made the difference for Scott when she thought about what she was using before. “We had a couple other poles that we had bought locally,” she says. “They were fine and they still are fine, but they tend to be a bit bigger and heavier.”

Scott and her husband have even found that they don’t always need a full pair each. “My husband and I actually share a set,” she says. “When we go traveling, we usually each take one pole, and that's enough for us.”

“I like Oboz hiking shoes,” Scott says, and her brand loyalty runs deep, “I think I'm on my third pair right now.”

And, she found them while her sights were first set on another pair of shoes. “I discovered them actually at REI, trying on different shoes at REI, and immediately liked them because it just felt like it provided a lot of support for my feet,” she says. 

Aside from getting that support, they’re quite resilient in Scott’s opinion. “They're also quite durable, meaning they have quite a durable sole.”

“If you're on a lot of rocks or kind of inclines or kind of steep descents, they're pretty sturdy and pretty durable.”

She’s even found that they keep her feet fairly dry whenever the rain starts coming. Scott says, “if it starts raining and you end up going through a puddle or something they do protect the feet as well.”

Scott also says they’re versatile when moving from hiking to other activities at her destination. 

“The ones that I use are more of a sneaker cut,” she says. “I also think they look decent enough that you can also wear them out on the town. The ones that I have are purple, which I think are fun.”

That low cut does have its limits for Scott. “I do have another pair of hiking shoes that are a bit higher,” she says, which she reaches for when there will be “a really steep ascent or descent.” Still, she says, “I use these Oboz most of the time when we go hiking.”

Scott calls Smartwool her “go-to brand” for hiking socks. She says, “I've been using Smartwool from the beginning of my travels [for] around 20 years.”

For her, the choice came down to a simple preference. “My husband, he prefers a lighter sock, but for me personally I prefer a thicker sock,” she says. 

That thicker option gives her an extra boost of stability. “I find them comfortable in terms of [that] they provide the support,” she says. 

Despite that thickness, Scott says her feet don’t feel overly warm. “They're wool—Smartwool—but they don't make your feet hot,” she says. “In terms of temperature, they work well.”

Scott acknowledges that $23 for a pair may seem steep, but the price is worth it for her. “At one point [I] bought some that were less expensive and they didn't last as long,” she says. 

“The socks might look expensive on the surface, but they do last quite a while,” she says about the Smartwool. “They’re really durable.”

These socks also made the cut for the Camino hike in Spain as Scott says, “when I walked the Camino, out of all of us, I was the only one who didn't get blisters.”

Still, she doesn’t give all the credit to the socks. “I think part of that is related to my shoes, and I think part of that was related to my socks.”