Today I did the Blevins Trail at Usery Mountain Regional Park. The Blevins Trail is named after the infamous Montague Horatio Blevins who blazed this trail with his sole Indian guide Saguarogawea in the late 1700's. Actually, that's all load of crap and I have no idea who the trail is named after but if I had to guess he was either very nice or a notorious outlaw. I'll Google it later. Anyway, it's an easy 3 mile loop.
So how does Daniel hike?
First of all, I take my sweet old time. Some people do it for their daily cardio workout or preparing for a race. I don't. I do it because the desert is beautiful and it gives me a lot of time for quiet thought. I enjoy it.
One really shouldn't have to qualify their personal pleasures but I only mention it because many years ago I was listening to a conversation between two people and the subject was about a man who was a recent paraplegic and he made the news by climbing El Capitan in Yosemite National Park. One of them said that the guy only did it because he was not willing to accept his disability and was trying to prove that he could do the same things normal people do. Of course this is bullshit because the guy was climbing El Capitan long before his accident and wasn't about to give up his first love just because he lost the use of his legs.
What I take with me depends on the duration and temperature.
For quickie hikes I just bring a simple water bottle belt with an aluminum water bottle. In the tiny zippered section of the belt there is enough room for a little Swiss army knife, compass, a whistle and an LED flashlight if it gets dark. For longer hikes, I have a larger hip pack that holds 2 one litre water bottles, food, small first aid kit, emergency poncho and all of the previously mentioned items. For full day hikes, I have my trusty Ultimate Direction Voyager fastpack which holds everything previously mentioned plus about a gallon of water in its water bottles and CamelBak insert. If I'm near water and it's hot, I also carry a water filter.
In each case I have a well broken in pair of hiking boots which I wear with silk liner socks and wool outer socks. Though I cannot remember the name of the chemical, the boots have something in it that makes them not slip on wet surfaces. They have excellent grip and I cannot remember ever sliding on even the most steep and wet gravelly incline. For balance I always have at least one adjustable hiking pole.
What do other people take? I really don't know but this has always worked well for me.