Heat days; chilly nights. Rain downpours; blazing sunshine. The Inca Path has six completely different microclimates making the climate changeable and unpredictable. Packing for the Inca Path is a problem even for essentially the most skilled journey packers on account of altering climate and strolling circumstances.
This Inca Path Packing record is your complete record of all the pieces you want in your backpack for the Inca Path. After we accomplished our trek on the classic 4-day Inca Trail trek, we now have all of the insider information of what to pack (and what to not). We want we’d had this packing record earlier than our personal hike!
That you must pack gentle for the Inca Path. Nonetheless, you don’t need to end up with out important equipment — that may make your Inca Path trek depressing. There’s an Inca Path packing candy spot and we’ll provide help to discover it!
Earlier than You Pack
Backpack Logistics
There are two choices for the traditional Inca Path tour. The commonest is the place you will have porters to hold your baggage. The opposite choice is to hold all your individual baggage.
For many hikes, there will probably be porters who will carry as much as 7kg of your private gadgets in a separate duffel bag. This weight features a sleeping bag and air matt which you’ll be able to carry your self or hire from the tour operator. These two gadgets normally weigh 3.5kg, leaving you with 3.5kg for the remainder of your gadgets. Belief us, that is sufficient!
You will want to carry a backpack for the Inca Path to make use of as your day pack. 20L is the max dimension you’ll need for the daypack so that you’re not encumbered. You want house for 2-3L of water within the pack. Luke and I each carried 12L Camelbak daypacks with 2L water reservoir they usually have been implausible.
Wet Season vs Dry Season
While the wet season is extra wet and the dry season has much less cloud protection, the climate is unpredictable throughout each. That you must pack for each rain and shine whether or not you’re mountain climbing in wet season or dry season.
Through the wet season, we’re sorry to interrupt it to you however you’re more likely to expertise heavy downpours sooner or later in your 4-day hike. You will want extra rain gear than you assume to ensure you keep “comparatively” dry.
Inca Path Packing Listing
Your Passport
You can not enter the Inca Path with out your passport. On the Km 82 checkpoint the place the Inca Path trek begins, passports will probably be checked and verified alongside along with your allow. Your tour firm organises your allow, so that you simply want to recollect your passport. Additionally, you will want your passport to enter Machu Picchu.
Sadly, you can not carry photocopies and you have to carry your authentic. You will need to additionally carry the similar passport you used when reserving the Inca Path. Keep away from reserving the Inca Path with an outdated passport if you already know you’ll have to renew your passport earlier than beginning the trek. For those who do must, carry each passports.
Anxious about it getting moist? Yeah, we have been too. Convey a Ziplock bag or different waterproof cowl on your passport. You don’t need to find yourself with soggy passport pages.
Climbing Boots
The quintessential piece of equipment for the Inca Path. You will want waterproof mountain climbing boots. I’m severe — don’t be tempted to carry non-waterproof boots as a result of you’ll find your ft squelching round and you can be depressing.
Ensure that your mountain climbing boots are comfy too. Break them in earlier than the Inca Path since you don’t need any blisters or sore bits. We hiked within the Sacred Valley a number of instances to earlier than the Inca Path to interrupt in our boots and get used to the terrain and altitude.
Charlie wears the Lowa Womens Renegade GTX Lo Shoes. These have been totally waterproof within the torrential rain and comfy for the complete hike. Notice that the soles of those sneakers are laborious so I modified the insoles to softer ones beforehand. Luke wears Helly Hansen Men’s Switchback Trail Boots. Luke beloved the consolation and match of his boots.
You is perhaps questioning why we each selected to put on low-top sneakers when generally it’s really helpful to have high-top boots for lengthy hikes. The easy first cause is to optimise packing house, as low tops take up much less house. The second cause, is that while high-top boots are thought to present higher ankle assist, this isn’t essentially greatest for everybody. For those who get sore ankles in high-tops (like I do) then it’s higher to put on low-top boots as they permit extra flexibility and rotation on your ankle.
Don’t put on trainers on the Inca Path. A number of folks in our group did this and had sore, moist and chilly ft. Massive mistake.
Inca Path Clothes
You’ll should be a thoughtful packer to get the suitable clothes in your backpack. Too little clothes, and also you’ll find yourself damp and chilly. An excessive amount of clothes and also you’ll be carrying extra. Keep in mind that you’ll re-wear some gadgets too.
We suggest the next:
- 1 x waterproof rain coat with hood (we swear by our light-weight Helly Hansens)
- 1 x totally waterproof rain trousers (they will not be fetching however you’ll be so glad you will have them)
- 2 x fleece (Ayacucho for Charlie, Craghoppers for Luke)
- 4 x t-shirts for mountain climbing. We suggest lengthy sleeves if you happen to’re mountain climbing within the dry season as there’s little cloud protection and through September when there are many mosquitos. Convey hi-wicking materials as cotton can get sweaty.
- 1 x t-shirt to vary into at camp
- 1 x heat prime to sleep in (I like to recommend a merino wool one)
- 1 x beanie for the chilly nights
- 1 x cap — yep you want each as a result of generally it’s chilly and generally it’s sunny
- 1 x pair of light-weight mountain climbing leggings (Charlie wears LNDR) or trousers (Luke wears these)
- 1 x pair of light-weight shorts
- 1 x heat jogging bottoms (fleece-lined are greatest) to sleep in at camp. Don’t put on these on the hike! They may soak up water and make you sweat. You would carry merino base layer bottoms as an alternative.
- 4 x mountain climbing socks
- 5 x underwear (add an area in case you get actually soaked)
- 1 x sports activities bra (I like Girlfriend Collective for good assist and no slips)
- 1 x pair of sun shades
- 1 x plastic rain poncho. It goes superbly with the rain trousers. Most tour firms gives you certainly one of these initially of the trek and it’s helpful in heavy rain for further waterproofing and to maintain your backpack dry.
Toiletries
There are two choices on the Inca Path: freezing chilly showers or no showers. By the point you attain camp, it’s normally fairly chilly and for a lot of (us included) the considered a chilly bathe is extremely unappealing. The bathe blocks are very primary and never cleaned that commonly, making it moreover unappealing. A few of our group braved the chilly showers on the third night time’s camp, which has the cleanest services on account of being near the tip of the path.
- 1 x toothbrush
- 1 x toothpaste
- 1 x sunscreen (we love Sun Bum)
- 1 x lip balm with SPF
- 1 x deodorant
- 2 x roll of bathroom paper (IMPORTANT: don’t forget this as a result of rest room roll will not be supplied on the path or at campsites. While 1 roll is sufficient, I’d personally play it protected and take 2 in case something unexpected occurs).
- 1 x journey hand-sanitiser
- 1 x insect repellent
- 1 x field of blister plasters
- 1 x pack of paracetamol
- 1 x pack of diarrhoea tablets (juuust in case since you actually don’t need to be coping with this on the hike).
- 1 x pack child wipes. Get biodegradable ones if you happen to can, because the plastic content material of normal ones is so excessive that they beautiful a lot by no means decompose. These are helpful to have if, like us, a chilly bathe will not be for you.
- 1 x quick-dry towel if you happen to do plan to courageous the showers.
Different Should-Haves
- Water reservoir. We talked about above, ensure you have a water reservoir sufficient to hold 2-3L of water per day. Our Camelpak backpacks had a built-in reservoir. Others introduced a reusable water bottle however we didn’t discover it obligatory as we had our Camelbaks throughout the hike and at meal instances cups are supplied.
- Packing cubes. We at all times use packing cubes they usually made packing for the Inca Path way more environment friendly. They compress your equipment down and you’ll phase your stuff so it’s simpler to seek out while you unpack within the tent.
- Head torch. I hate to interrupt it to you, however there are a whole lot of earlier than dawn begins on the Inca Path. On the final day, you’ll be beginning round 3AM. A number of the rest room blocks additionally don’t have good lighting, so that you want a head torch to make use of the toilet within the evenings and early mornings. Belief us, it’s simpler to be palms free so head torch > normal torch.
- Power bank. There’s no electrical energy or charging factors on the Inca Path. For those who’ll be utilizing your cellphone or digicam for photographs, an influence financial institution is really helpful to recharge. You don’t need to run out of juice earlier than Machu Picchu!
- Cash. There aren’t any card machines alongside the Inca Path so that you’ll want money to see you thru. There’s the chance to purchase snacks on the primary day and also you’ll need to carry cash for a tip. We’ve detailed how a lot to herald our Inca Trail Hiking Guide.
- Plastic ziplock baggage. While we dislike single-use plastics, if you happen to’re mountain climbing in wet season you want all of your equipment to be inside waterproof baggage. The best method to do that is to purchase a few completely different sizes of ziplocks. We packed all the pieces into ziplocks and it labored a deal with.
- Snacks. You’re fed effectively on the Inca Path however mealtimes might be 4-5 hours aside or longer relying in your mountain climbing time. The tour firms present snacks corresponding to biscuits and fruit, however we suggest bringing a few of your individual. Vitality bars and nuts are notably helpful to have.
For those who’re getting ready for the Inca Path, learn our Complete Guide to Hiking the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu.
