Going lighter as you go up.

Naaaa… I ain’t yet talking of going THE up, can anyone prepare for that! Going on a trek for mountaineering or camping is the UP I am referring here.

I pack big for all my travels. Like for 2 days of travel, I would consider all the possibilities. What if there is a impromptu dinner or so a dressy one has to be there and ofcourse shoes and accessories with it… what if I can squeeze in a workout in the schedule… so there goes in clothes for that… the bulky shoes for that… addition of protein drink and pre workout drink. So that’s how my packing goes.

One of my loved ones says… “aren’t you packing your house already? “ once I announce that I am travelling. Another loved one who often travels with me calls himself the designated porter of my heavy bags.

Over time, I have understood I should be more mindful of my packing at least on trekking trips. Recently, when I was going on a trek to Kang Yatse Base camp. This involves trekking of 5 days. A brief on KY 2… the distance we cover is approx 60 -70 kms, and it involves camp sleeping and pit pooping. Daily walking involved the maximum of 9 hours with a day pack on your back, of course. The main bag can go with a horse till the basecamp. Still, you have to be mindful of how much to go with them, too.

Did another trek a year back to everest base camp. In that trip in the horse pack, I even carried my laptop( what if office mails can be answered), journalling diary, novels and many more things, which were never touched.. which were packed with the same what-if thoughts.

Now learning from it, this is totally a womens perspective. My fellow male trekkers in this trip had a small bag and survived all the trek without qualms. I ain’t talking to those minimalists at all. If you still think you would like to change, occasionally at least the first few days and would like to take care of your skin while on the go these could be considered.

1. Medicines enough for the no of the days you are on the hills if you are on a prescribed routine. Would recommend a little extra to be carried in case you get stuck there. You are in midst of nature, it can be the case you could get stuck because of landslides, rain’s or something similar. Do discuss with your doctor about your trip and carry anything connected to your condition if need be for higher altitudes.
2. Then, the general medical kit. Essential not avoidable. For all the general conditions like stomach upsets, colds, coughs, vomits, et all, you need to carry medications for sure. In normal conditions, I would suffer through it and let my body heal, but on hills, we can’t take that chance. Your health could affect the schedule of others in a group, and there is minimal support around. On top you know your body the best, the other trekkers could have a medicine with them, which they willingly share, but you would never know what that composition can do to you. So, keep to tried and tested ones. The occurrence of pain is inevitable, so a good pain killer and pain balms which have worked for you need to be in day pack. I didn’t have one in this trip, don’t know what did I think of myself, as a ninja or so, but a kind co-trekker spared his tube with me and i was saved from a numbing headache. Shout out to all those compassionate humans you encounter who even share their last 250 ml water when you still have hours to go.
3. Dresses… you don’t get to change much when you are living in camps and when there are no changing rooms around. So you can’t have that dress for dinner and swimwear for that river stream which you might cross. Stick to basics, earthy coloured ones so that when you get dusty, you don’t look that bad. So keep aside that mauve, pink, purple coloured fancy active wears and grab the blacks, browns to carry. Lighter in weight but effective for that environments should be the ones to carry. Full sleeve ones as sun in harsh. The ones that cover the neck would be best to ward off the harsh sun, and tanning. Shorts could work, but in hills weather is very unpredictable, and there are thorny plants all over, its better to cover every inch be ready to crawl, walk through any crevice and bushy land and be fascinated by them than bothered.
4. Water is very very essential. Carry them in water packs or bottles. This would go in the day pack on your back. Be the camel that you can be, use it very wisely. From this recent experience, 3 litre water pack would have been best to carry with that pipe to drink, so you would drink it with less effort. Bottle inside the bag makes you lazy to do that effort to bring it out and drink. Weight management of day packet would be better with a water bag I feel so. Experts can confirm. To mix in water, please carry oft used ORS or other mixes which are pre tried. Don’t experiment with anything on the trek or on hills like in leh, there are very few big rocks or bushes to relieve yourself when the stomach acts up.
5. Snacks are essential, too. Some which give you energy like nuts, protein bars, and such. Would be good to carry those ones which remind you of your home or safe space too. When you nibble on them, it’s a great stress buster, just a feeling that it’s not all that bad would be a great feeling to have. These may not give much nourishment, but it’s great for the mind. But the portions in the day pack need to be smaller. You can keep reservoirs in the horse pack. So extra covers for these are good to carry and some rubber bands. The covers can burst by pressure in hills, and because of the handling of luggage by horse men, extras are always good.
6. All the clothes and essentials need to be put in covers in bag, there can be leakages while on trek with rains, streams or otherwise.
7. Periods, yes not something which we want to have then, but inevitable. There are disposable sanitary underwear available and many other options. Please make arrangements to carry the soiled ones back to base and dispose of your waste later.
8. The wet wipes for that essential face cleaning and also most of the days body too. No baths for days could be a norm.
9. Cosmetics, not that 9 level routine but the essential cleanser, moisturiser, and sunscreen need to be there handy always. No geisha,serums, and masks for these days that could wait at home for the after trek pamper. With the harsh hill sun, the essentials needed to be carry in day packs and applied often too for sun protection. The lip protector/balm is essential the lips get so cracked how much ever you take care.
10. Shoes, the trekking shoes need to be worn before and broken in. The most essential tool of yours that would be. If you get a shoe itch there on the hill, you could be doomed. Waterproof ones would be best to carry.
11. Then music could be downloaded and if you don’t have trekking companion that could be a great addition.
12. A small device to capture moments. Now a days we have great phones for these. But needs to take care to be at a position not to skid or topple while capturing these moments. Any misstep here could be a mishap.
13. Have enough space in daypack for the litter you create. I have thought to keep some space in my day pack in my next trek to pick up some litter from the hills. I could see litter at 5300 meters. We humans can be disgusting.

A warning at almost 5000m

14. Sunglasses and caps are essential.

15. Clipping nails (toe nails for sure, it can cause bruising when climbing down) and keeping hair short would also really help.

16. Fleece, down jacket, thermals, wind cheater, rain coat, gloves, and socks come under essentials. Of these wind ccheaters and rain coats, most days went on day packs. So is a pair of slippers to cross streams.

17. Trekking poles are needed, too. They are great support.

This is as light I can get to… girls. From a failed expedition of EBC and one successful one of base camp of KY2, these are my learnings. Let’s pack the backpacks and go to the mountains. They are fascinating.