Leavenworth Backpacking Pro Shares Her End-of-Season Checklist

Jenny Abegg, a Leavenworth-based gear tester and co-founder of BetterTrail.com, just wrapped up a stretch most backpackers only dream about — five nights sleeping outside out of seven, with trails, glaciers, and scree slopes stacked one after another before the mountains shut down for the season. "It's that time of year when the mountains go absolutely all-out before shutting down for a month or two, and I wanted to make the most of it," she wrote in a recent newsletter to subscribers.

Now she's home, and her gear needs real attention before storage.

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The Gear Prep Most People Skip

Sleeping bags need to dry fully in midday sun before going back into their large cotton storage sack — never the stuff sack you traveled with, which compresses the insulation over time. For bonus points, Abegg runs hers through a front-loading washer first, using a technical detergent like Nikwax, then tumble dries it with a few tennis balls tossed in to break up clumping, especially for down.

Technical apparel gets the same treatment, washed separately by type — down and waterproof layers each need their own gentle cycle. And this is the season for patching. "My future self will thank me for doing it now rather than discovering them on my first outing next spring," Abegg noted, referring to the inevitable holes granite leaves behind after a rough week on the rock.

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Fuel, Shoes, and Electronics Round It Out

Leftover fuel canisters don't have to go to waste. Abegg uses a FlipFuel device to consolidate near-empty canisters into fuller ones, then punctures the empties for responsible recycling. Hiking shoes deserve a good soak and a few hours of sun — nobody wants to open their gear bin next spring to a boot caked in last year's dried mud.

Last on the list: electronics. InReach devices, headlamps, power banks — all topped off and ready, so the only thing standing between you and next season's first trip is good weather.

For Washington hikers wrapping up their larch-season adventures, this is the window to get it right. A little effort now means grabbing fully charged, clean, dry gear next spring instead of discovering problems halfway up the trail.