Make sure to be prepared for eventualities while also not overburdening yourself with too heavy of a pack.
Some items (such as a map and compass) can be distributed amongst your group while others (food, water, raingear, etc.) you’ll want for each walker.
You don’t need to bring all of this but might want to consider bringing:
- Snacks and treats
- Water bottle(s)
- Pack of tissues or small roll of toilet paper (& garden trowel)
- Shoes that are comfortable for long walks
- Fresh pair of socks
- Layered clothing (you may get hot while walking, cold while staying put)
- Raingear
- Medication / first aid supplies – band-aids for scrapes, tape and moleskin for blisters, gold bond friction defense for chafing, anything else that you might need
- Extra face masks (sterile/individually wrapped) and hand sanitizer for pandemic times
- Notebook & pens
- Camera (non-phone)
- Smart phone (with map of philadelphia pre-downloaded for wayfinding help, GPS-tracker apps, emergency calls etc)
- Chargers and/or backup batteries for aforementioned devices
- Pre-downloaded digital map of Philadelphia (SEPTA PDF, Google-maps-offline, Google Map of perimeter)
- Cash + a credit card + ID
- Compass
- Flashlight / headlamp
- A lighter and/or matches
- Two medium sized plastic bags (grocery or kitchen, to keep your feet dry if fording a creek) plus rubber bands or tape to hold them in place)
- One larger plastic bag to keep your whole backpack dry if it rains (or to pick up trash along the route)
- Bright scrap of fabric or item of clothing for visibility when walking near traffic
- Trekking poles or walking stick for stability if desired
- A backpack is preferable to a shoulder bag for distributing your load evenly