The LORD JESUS is my rock,
and my fortress,
and my deliverer;
my God, my strength,
in whom I will trust.
from PSALM 18, 2 (KJV)

Equipment

• DEUTER AirContact Pro 60+15l Backpack
• Salomon Gore Tex Trekking Boots
• Big Agnes Seedhouse SL1 Tent
• Big Agnes Lost Ranger Sleeping Bag
• Big Agnes Insulated Air Core Sleeping Pad
• Camebak 2l Bladder plus 1.5l Plastic Bottle
• Food for 1 day plus emergency food (10 cereal bars)
• Quick Drying Camping Towel
• 2 T-Shirts, 2 Shorts, 2 light Trecking Socks, 3 Stockings, 2 Underwear, 1 Gore Tex Sweater and Long Hiking Pants
• Insect Repellent, Benadryl, Shampoo, Butt Buttr, Sun Screen, Tooth Brush and Paste, Shaver, Blister Patches, small amount of Laundry Powder
• Water Purification Tablets
• Cell Phone, iPod, Camera and chargers
• Hiking Maps (Kümmerly & Frey Wanderkarten 1:60,000)

Left behind to save on weight:
Flashlight, Leatherman (large pocket knife)

Self-supported Trekking
Since my hiking trips in Switzerland were self-supported, I was carrying my camping gear. As backpack, I used the DEUTER AirContact Pro 60+15 Liter, which proved as an excellent choice and even offered some spare room. Due to the items carried along, including water and food on remote stretches, the backpack weighed approx. 18 kgs (40 lbs).

Stealth Camping
I mostly stealth-camped in forests. Stealth-camping is not really allowed in Switzerland, but I have never been evicted from any site. It is best to search a forest on the map and stop in the last village before that forest to stretch, relax, eat, fill up drinking and showering water and then leave for the forest about 2 hour before it gets dark. Setting up camp too early only ties you to that spot (since you don't want to leave the camping gear behind) and increases the chance of being found and possibly evicted. In the mountainous terrain, it may proove challenging to find a flat spot to pitch a tent, but there is always a flat spot somewhere if you look long enough. In higher elevation (about 2,000 m and more), there are hardly any villages. The hiking trails are usually far from any road and finding a good camping spot is quite easy. Camping close to the trail is no problem in higher elevations, because the only people that will come there are fellow hikers, who have no objections about wild camping.