We'd like to welcome Grace Shattuck to the Gossamer Gear Brand Ambassadors program! She shares with us her gear list for off-trail peakbagging adventures - here's a little bit about her:

"I moved to Colorado in 2013 from North Carolina. Prior to meeting Steven (Brand Ambassador Steven "Twinkle" Shattuck), I hiked the "W Route" in Chilean Patagonia. A passion for adventure and willingness to try new things have led me to try longer and more technical hikes over the past two years with the help and encouragement of my husband Steven.

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Grace Shattuck (on the right) with her friend Sarah in Dinosaur NM

I've climbed 22 of CO's 58 mountains over 14k feet with a goal of summiting the remainder by the end of 2018. Some of the most beautiful hikes I have done are the Alpine Loop around Lake O'Hara in Yoho National Park and the trek to Berg Lake in British Columbia.

Mount Smutwood in Kananaskis, Alberta, Canada. Gear List: 11.8 miles, 2,800 feet elevation gain

We arrived at the TH off Mt Shark Road near the Engandine Lodge around 10 am. The beginning of the trail was flat and beautiful, weaving us through a dense forest to a tall grass meadow. At the end of the meadow, we gained elevation very quickly to make our way to the top of Smuts Pass where we had a view of the two Birdwood Lakes.

At the pass we were hit with cold wind–both Steven and I were happy we packed some layers. I brought my lightweight but insulated rain coat, which was the perfect weight as we still had to gain the ridge to the summit.

From the pass we followed the natural ridge line to the summit of Mount Smutwood, encountering class 3 terrain. My La Sportiva Mutants helped my stability as we scrambled up on the loose rocky terrain.

The view of Mount Birdwood from the summit of Mount Smutwood might make it one of the prettiest mountains I've seen with the two lakes at its base. In total our hike to Mount Smutwood and back was 11.8 miles, gaining 2,800 feet."

Item Weight (oz)
Backpack
Gossamer Gear Type II 9
Water System
Platypus Big Zip 3.0 L bladder 1.6
First Aid/Hygene/Repair
Minimalist 1st aid kit 2.3
Poop Kit (Duece of spades, TP, Wet wipes) 3
Electronics
iPhone (with Gaia map downloaded for offline tracking) 5
Miscellaneous
REI Trekking Poles 14.4
Base Weight
Total 35.3
Clothes Items/Worn
Melanzana High Loft Hoodie 13
Helly Hansen Wind/Rain Coat 14
Nike Running Shorts 1
Champion Dryfit top 1
Darn Tough ankle length wool socks 1
Sunglasses 1
UNC Baseball Cap 2
La Sportiva Mutant trail runners 17.8
Total (oz) 86.1
April 19, 2017 — Brian Fryer