This is a good post!! I am not sure if I in the spirit of the rules, but here is what I would take for a drop and hike type situation.

I would take:
CamelBak MULE with my larger PSK and FAK
Poncho rolled up and tied to the camelbak (even in the desert, it can provide you some shade)
Garmin Rino
EDC knife (spyderco milie) and swisstool
Ka-Bar
Nalgene bottle in hip pouch (I kow this can get heavy, but it is invaluable in water collection versus a camelbak)
Headlamp
Extra batteries (in camelbak)
Sunglasses

Clothing:
Cargo pants and my hiking boots
Long sleeved shirt and light jacket
beanie

Food:
Three MRE's broken down to get rid of the extra stuff in them.

That’s about what I take with me when I go hiking anyway, I just modify the clothing as needed, mostly because I know what the weather is going to be like.

Garrett