Summer Outdoor Style for Hiking
Quote of the day: “To be successful you must accept all challenges that come your way. You can’t just accept the ones you like.” Mike Gafka
Outdoor style for hiking or camping is probably not what you would expect from a fashion blog. Especially mine! But just like the quote above says, you must accept all challenges. So when I reached out to Terri to see if she wanted to join us on the blog, she threw me a loop with this category and a outdoor water post that you’ll see later!
Terri describes herself as having a casual California style, and about as fashion forward as middle-aged land-locked surfer chic!! I’ll let Terri give you some great ideas on the expert gear and items to benefit these activities, while the three of us, will have more of a novice approach! And as I was working on writing this post, I read Amy’s post how she went hiking in a skirt! It was a great example of it all depends on where you go and all of those details, about what you can and should wear!
Terri from Second Wind Leisure: Terri gives some great pointers on how she outfits herself for her hikes!
In her words: For my hiking photo, I’m wearing zip-off pants (in the short-style—bought from REI). Sporting a random tee-shirt (bought in Yosemite). I use a trekking pole for hiking. I use the backpack which has two water bottle holders. The shoes are hiking shoes with good support and can be bought at Big 5 Sporting goods. The hat is very lightweight and shields the top of my head and face from the Alpine sun! It can be hot in the direct sun in the Sierra’s, even at a high altitude, and these clothes are all very lightweight!
Jodie’s (50+), Nancy’s (60+) & Charlotte’s (70+) Outfits: The three of us will give a more basic approach to the hiking theme!!
Nancy is the only one of us three that used to hike on a regular basis. However in the last couple of years she hasn’t been out as much! But even if you’ve never been out hiking, I bet you could find some pieces in your closet that would work!! Heck, the 3 of us did!!
Since we traipsed around our state park on some well used trails for a short period of time, we didn’t need a huge backpack with a ton of gear! But I did try to give some variety for our outdoor style, in case you need some ideas!!
Hats
All 3 of us wore some head covering of sorts!! Nancy always wears a visor when hiking which keeps the sun off your face, but doesn’t cover your whole head!! These are perfect for many occasions than just hiking so let me show you this one or this one!
My mom wore a cap that has mesh in the back of it, so it’s not as hot! FYI, I had my mom cover the bill of her hat with different material so it would stand out against her face!! Otherwise the white just blended in too much! Just because we will be outside, doesn’t mean our gear can’t look good, right?
My cap is a baseball cap that my husband bought when we were visiting Colorado’s wine region! There are definitely some fun styles of these caps, if you don’t want to be sporting a team logo!
And don’t forget the sunglasses!! You may not need them the entire time if it’s a shady area. However, when it’s sunny, it’s nice to have them!
Shoes
Of course what you wear on your feet, can make or break your hiking time! Whatever you are wearing needs to be comfortable yet have some stability.
My mom had a pair of hiking boots hidden away in her closet, so she pulled them out for our adventure!! But if you read the book “Wild”, then you’ll know how important comfort is when you’re walking a ton!
That’s why wearing your work out sneakers could be the best option! Nancy put on her bright blue sneakers even though she thinks the colors are crazy!! I actually like that the colors stand out while we were out here, because unless you are trying to hide away, the brighter colors get seen!
I was planning on wearing my sneakers too, until I realized I had left them at home. Luckily my mom had this pair of water shoes with her that worked fine for our little escapade!!
Tops
My mom’s vest above is a travel vest that she made many years ago. These kinds of vests are perfect if you don’t love carrying a bag around! But beware, it’s also hard to remember which pocket holds what…ha ha!
Nancy is wearing a sun block top that even has a ventilation zippered area!!
I ended up putting on a long sleeve, workout shirt that has the Dri-fit as an element of the shirt!
Even if you don’t have special “hiking” tops to wear, wearing a t-shirt would work just fine, like Terri did in her example above!!
What to Take
Of course I’m sure every person realizes that a bottle of water is the primary important extra to have on a hike!! As someone who is always cold, I usually also take an extra shirt or jacket too! That’s the chambray shirt you see in my bag below!
I’m also a snacky girl—so there’s usually some kind of bar or bag of nuts with us almost anywhere we go! I’m a huge fan of Lara bars, but lately we’ve also been loving the Kind bars!! As long as there isn’t a ton of extra sugar in them, I’m all for them!
And just so you know, my wonderful mother actually added these mesh pockets on the side of this bag to hold the water bottles! I know many bags come with them already made with them, but Rob had bought this one many years ago before that was popular!
The other smart items to bring, could be sunscreen, bug repellent along with your phone!!
Pants
I know Terri showed some “real” hiking pants in her example above, but if you are like the 3 of us, you may not want to spend the money on something you may not use much! Therefore I’m showing us wearing what we already had in our closets!! And it even worked out that we are showing 3 different lengths for our pants!
I ended up throwing on a pair of capri leggings! These are a workout pair that I would wear to my bootcamp class and pilates! Luckily they aren’t too heavy in case it’s hot outside. The one time I did go hiking up in the mountains, I wore a full length pair!
Nancy put on a pair of shorts for our excursion this day!! You may not have a ton of shorts in your closet any more, but every once in a while they come in handy!! Nancy doesn’t wear this pair around much, but she just visited Palm Springs, CA where it was over 100 degrees every day!! I’d consider that a great reason to wear your shorts!!
My mom pulled out a pair of pants that she made many years ago. She chose these over her jeans because they were lighter weight and full length. She wanted to make sure she didn’t get bitten by bugs or encounter any poison ivy!!
Your outdoor style for hiking can certainly change depending on the location, weather and length of hike you’re going on!! But I think it’s safe to say, you don’t have to have a ton of extra equipment to enjoy the activity!! What else do you bring on your hikes?
Thanks to one and all of you for your support. It means more than you know!
The Facts
Even if you wouldn’t consider purchasing your clothing online, it can be helpful to look through my links to see what is available! It certainly doesn’t hurt my feelings, if you click on them but don’t like them. Just so you know, one of the ways I make money from this blog is through these linked items.
Keeping in Touch
Are you registered for my email reminders to let you know when a post goes live? I’d certainly love it if you take the time to sign up and make sure all your friends sign up too!! There are other ways to follow my blog. Facebook readers can see my posts by liking my page. Or my Pinterest page has all of our outfits in a nutshell! Then there’s also Instagram! I’m really trying to grow this platform, so if you’re on it, I’d appreciate the follow!
And if you’re new to the party, you can always see our outfits organized by categories, here! Don’t forget to check out the deals & discounts too, on this page!
I rounded up some products for your outdoor style if you wanted to add to your collection!
