Topo Designs x Camping Alabama Hills
Spring is here, and summer is just around the corner and that means for us at Women Who Hike, it is time for a gear and wardrobe refresh. The warmer temps mean hiking to higher elevations, backpacking trips and of course, camping. Earlier this month, I, Nicole, of Women Who Hike ventured on a three day camping trip with friends in the Eastern Sierras.
Alabama Hills is a expansive BLM land, an adventure packed area where anything goes. The best part of the land is dispersed camping, which means you show up in whatever set up you want, anything from RV to tents, and put down your camp pretty much anywhere, no reservations needed. With the Sierras and stacked rock all around, you won’t find a bad spot or view here along the Eastern Sierra range.
When packing for this trip, I had to consider cool nights and warm days. So, I packed some awesome and versatile pieces from Topo Designs: the Mountain Pants, Camp Shorts and Work Shirt. And two of my fave accessories, the Camera Cube and a new Camera strap that I’m really into that I strapped to my Sony Alpha.
The first night, we were met with a not too welcoming wind storm. We camped at the famous Meatloaf Cave but turned in early for the night after we decided we would set our alarms for 1AM to catch the early season Milky Way. At 1AM, we woke and the wind did not let up on us as we hiked to Mobius Arch and stayed until 4AM capturing the night sky.
The next morning started with breakfast burritos made on a Coleman stove and then we grabbed our climbing gear and set out for some routes. I pack much of my necessities in my Camera Cube, so before setting out, I conveniently packed in it: my camera, shoes, chalk bag and a couple of snacks.
That night, we opted to camp higher up and spent the evening hiking around our camp site, where these photos were snapped. In it, I am wearing the Camp Shorts, carrying the Mountain Roll Top bag and of course, using my camera with the Topo Camera Strap attached.
The Mountain Rolltop is a roomy bag with lots of different sized storage pockets for all kinds of gear and necessities. The Camp Short is something I think I will be wearing a lot of this summer. The shorts are made of a lightweight cotton twill with pockets all around and allow for plenty of movement on the trails or around the campfire.
The next morning we woke up for sunrise and then spent the rest of the day hiking, climbing and discovering more of the Alabama Hills area until the sun went down on us on another weekend well spent in the outdoors with friends.
Photos By: @MorganAyres & @NickRoushPhoto
