Travel Tips — What to Pack for the Mountain Hike
By: Geoff C
Tags: Travel, Informational, Backpacking, Travel Tips, Hiking

Clothing — Though clothing isn’t as heavy as the camping gear or food and water, the right clothing can still help make your pack lighter. You don’t want to have a different set of clothes for every temperature range, so go for layers instead. As you go up and temperatures drop, add a layer. Fleece and down are super light and thus are good options for cold weather. Fleece can be be really thick and take up a lot of space if you get the wrong kind though, so something thin with a fleece lining may be better. Avoid cotton. It’s heavy and doesn’t wick moisture easily (i.e. if it gets wet or sweaty, it will stay sweaty). If you’re going up the mountains into cold temps, a proper covering for your head can’t be emphasized enough. And if that also means snow, then make sure you have some sort of waterproof outer shell.

Footwear — Proper shoes are a must. If you’re heading up mountains on rugged terrain, make sure your hiking boots have enough ankle support and are durable. Make sure you’ve also broken them in before the trek, otherwise your feet will be absolutely miserable. My biggest tip, though, is Merino wool clothing, especially socks. Merino wool is strong, breathable, antimicrobial, and dries quickly. In my earlier hikes and treks, I used cotton socks, which just left my feet soaked in sweat and blistered. Regular wool is too thick and not breathable. But I went to Merino wool and will never wear anything else on my feet when hiking again. Never got a blister since. You can also get shirts made of Merino wool blended fabrics too! They’re great for traveling in general.

One last piece that is often overlooked is sunglasses. Sunlight, especially up in the mountains if you’re above the treeline or if the ground is snow-covered, can be blinding.

First Aid — First aid kits are one of those things that you may not use, but when you need it, you’ll be glad you have it. Don’t bring a hundred bandages and a liter of isopropyl. I usually just bring a small pack with a handful of band-aids, a wrap, a small tube of antibiotic ointment, a few sachets of ibuprofen, antihistamines, and antidiarrheals. Depending on how high you are, you may also need some Diamox beforehand to make sure you don’t get taken down by altitude sickness. It’s a prescription medication so you’ll need to consult your physician. Keep in mind that Diamox is a strong diuretic so drink a lot of water. Aside from these, I also bring a little bit of Woundseal. It’s a wound cauterizing topical powder. It’s burns like crazyyy but stops bleeding really quickly. I might over-prepare compared to other people, but I’ve had some bloody mishaps in the years of adventures. Maybe I’m just reckless.

Toiletries — One of the hard parts about trekking is how to keep yourself clean. And the answer is… maybe you don’t need to. I guess if you want to maintain at least some level of hygiene, biodegradable sanitary/baby wipes and hand sanitizer go a long way. And remember to pack out all your garbage, including those wipes. Bring a large Ziploc bag to store the used wipes. Otherwise, just some typical travel size tooth brush, tooth paste, and deodorant stick should be fine. If you’re at high altitudes and extreme cold, you may not be able to shower unless you find a shower station since heating the water would be a tremendous effort and there would be a high risk of hypothermia. At lower altitudes, using lake or river water to shower is fine but don’t lather soap into the water source as it can be harmful for marine life. Lastly, lip balm is a life-saver for me. When it’s cold and windy, my lips get destroyed so as small and insignificant as it seems, lip balm makes my life a lot more comfortable.

Misc. Gear — There are plenty of other things you should bring with you too. Some for emergencies, like a satellite phone, small compass, or GPS tracker. Some for fun, like a deck of cards or a good book. A few other things I usually bring with me are a headlamp, trowel, multi-tool (I use a Leatherman Wingman), a small flint-and steel fire starter, and a bit of paracord. I’ve had a hiking boot completely fall apart mid-hike and the paracord really saved me. I also use it to hang dry sacks up in trees away from wildlife. Lastly, I usually have a camera on me. It’s a very bittersweet relationship cause I hate how heavy it is but I always regret not having a better camera when I forego the DSLR and just use my camera phone or a mirrorless. Yes, I brought my DSLR with me in Kangchenjunga. At least in this case, I’m glad I did cause seeing those peaks at sunrise was just one of the most incredible things I have ever experienced.

So much warmer after the sunrise.

My packing list for that trip to Kangchenjunga looked something like this:

Clothing — 4 pairs of socks (3 merino wool and 1 cotton), 1 pair of light hiking pants for the hot weather, 1 pair of fleece-lined hiking pants for the cold weather, 1 pair of light sweat pants, 2 quick-wicking t-shirts, 1 long-sleeved heat-tech shirt, 1 cotton t-shirt, 1 pair of cotton boxers, 2 pairs of compression shorts, 1 light fleece jacket, 1 packable waterproof shell jacket, 1 synthetic down jacket, sunglasses, a baseball cap, a beanie, and a balaclava. We hit temps ranging from 65 F down to 15 F, and I was aware that we wouldn’t be able to shower or wash any clothing for the duration of the trip so I reserved one set of clothes for the post-trek trip back from India to the US.

Food and water — Some trail mix, some fig bars, a water filter, and 2.5 liters of water carrying capacity (a 1L Nalgene, 1L water bladder, and a 0.5 L water bladder).

Camping gear— 60L backpack, sleeping bag, internal liner, trekking poles, cup, first aid kit, wet wipes, a bit of toilet paper (not pictured), Leatherman, compass, paracord, trowel, headlamp.

Personal — small bag of toiletries (not pictured), medication (altitude sickness, antihistamine, antidiarrheal, antimalarial), deck of cards, reading book, camera gear (Canon T5i with 17–85 mm travel lens, gorilla tripod, and Peak Design clip)

Looking back I could have cut down on some stuff. I didn’t snack as much as I thought I would, so I probably could have cut the snack food in half. I didn’t really need a beanie since my down jacket has a hood anyways. I also didn’t wear my light fleece jacket much since most of the time it was either too hot for it or too cold and I just wore the down jacket. Live and learn.

There are a lot of other things to consider bringing with you and it really just comes down to your own personal preferences and where you’ll be. For example — will you need microspikes for your hiking boots? Or will you be trying the Matt-method of ascending in snow without spikes? Do you need to carry a first aid kit or is there someone else in your travel party who is carrying one?

Ultimately, the less strain there is on your back and shoulders, the more pleasant your trip will be. So make sure you have the proper backpack and find the right balance between packing what you will need and packing light. The goal is to enjoy your trip.