17 Must Have Items to Trek in the Himalayas of Nepal

HIMALAYAN MOUNTAIN RANGE

When you think of the Himalayas typically you go straight to thinking about the massiveness of the mountains, and you’re not wrong. The Himalayas consists of 10 out of the 14 highest peaks in the world. However, they are not just massive mountains of perennial snow and ice, they’re full of biodiversity and you’ll find plenty of different climates while trekking through.

This being said you’re going to need a diverse set of items for a successful trek through some of the most magical mountains in the world.

HIMALAYAS OF NEPAL

There are 5 different regions for trekking in Nepal; The Everest Region, Annapurna Region, Langtang, Helambu, & Manaslu, Eastern Nepal, and Western Nepal. The following information I have written is based on my experience through the Everest Region, however through my travels I have talked to people who have trekked through other regions of Nepal and the necessary items are the same.

To help you best prepare for everything mother nature can throw your way while in the Himalayas of Nepal I have created a list (in no particular order) of the most important items to have with you while trekking, along with a link if you wish to purchase any of the items.

HIKING BOOTS VS. TRAIL RUNNING SHOES

Having the correct hiking boot/shoe is key to having an excellent trek, you want to make sure they fit correctly (with enough extra room for swelling of the feet in higher altitudes. The pros at REI are excellent help when trying to decide what boot or shoe to get for your trek. Just make sure you break them in before you head out.

Typically people purchase hiking boots for trekking because they protect your ankles from twisting on the uneven terrain. On the other hand they take up an obscene amount of room in your bag. So if you’re like me, traveling around to a few different countries and just don’t have the extra room for boots, the alternative are trail running shoes. They are much more compact and lightweight but they do not provide any protection for your ankles. If you’re traveling to Nepal specifically for trekking I definitely recommend ankle boots. Not only do they make maneuvering the uneven and slippery terrain without twisting an ankle easier, they also keep your feet warmer in the cold mornings and nights.

That being said, I survived the trek to the Base Camp of Mount Everest (in February) with my pair of La Sportiva trail running shoes I bought from REI. So if you’re out traveling for longer than a couple weeks or visiting more than one location, trail running shoes are the perfect solution! Although they don’t protect the ankles as well and don’t provide as much insulation, I succeeded and had multiple comments from people how they were going to buy a pair of shoes like mine once they got home.

PROPER SOCKS FOR TREKKING

It might seem like common sense to bring plenty of socks with you on a trek, but you would be surprised. I went on a 12 day trek to the Base Camp of Mount Everest and someone in my group decided that 2 pairs of socks was enough. It was not. Not only will your feet suffer from having to constantly put on the same dirty socks, everyone around you will suffer from having to smell that stench.

Any thick knee high or crew length sock will do the trick, but I recommend polyester/wool blend socks since they are quick drying and create great insulation. I chose to get mine from REI, but most sports stores will sell them. Since the thick socks do take up so much room, one pair for two days does the trick plus one for hanging out after a day of hiking.

Personally I would only wear the thick socks during the morning portion of the hike because after a couple hours of hiking it was time to cool my feet down. For this specific reason I brought no-show socks (KB from Costco) to hike with for the duration of the day. I brought 12 pairs of these socks, since they do take up less room and I hike for longer periods of time in them. That being said I do not recommend using no-show socks if you have boots that go over your ankle, bring a thinner high sock.

TREKKING PANTS AND LONG JOHNS

In the high altitude the climate is very fickle and layers are the best way to deal with the abruptly changing weather. For the lower half I recommend buying some waterproof pants, not only to protect against a random rain storm, but also help block some of the bitter cold wind. Despite the fact you will start your mornings off in freezing cold temperatures it does heat up considerably once the sun has breached the mountains. So instead of having one thick pair of pants, start your morning off with a pair of thermal long johns or leggings underneath your waterproof hiking pants. I got mine from Craghoppers before leaving and they have a wonderful assortment of trekking pants.

Before I began my trek I had planned on only taking one outer layer hiking pant, but the closer I got to leaving I decided that I should take two just in case something happened to one. Thank goodness I did. One day we came to a part of the trail, going downhill, where it was extremely muddy and slightly icy, needless to say I fell quite a bit making my pants a muddy mess. That afternoon we reached the teahouse we would be staying at for the night, and even though the pipes were frozen there was a river running close by. So a few of us went to rinse off our muddy pants, knowing there was no way our pants would be dry by the morning, yet since we did have an extra pair we weren’t worried about it.

For a 12 day trek bringing just two pairs of outer layer pants, 4 thermal long johns (one per three days), and a pair of leggings for bed was just the right amount. It might not seem like enough but you are limited on space and weight, so less is more in this circumstance. Sure your clothes might not be the cleanest by the end of the trek and you might feel a little grimy as well, but I promise you that you are not alone. Everyone on the trek will feel and smell the same at the end.

LONG SLEEVES AND T-SHIRTS

I don’t know about you but my upper half gets much sweatier than my lower half, despite the temperature. For this reason I wear a ton of layers, knowing full well I will be stripping down to just my t-shirt as the day goes on.

On my upper-half I will wear; a sports bra, t-shirt, fleece long-sleeve, one more thin polyester long-sleeve and my jackets. This might seem excessive now that you’re reading this but once you’re up there you will thank me. I found that taking 6 t-shirts and three long sleeves, plus one extra for sleeping, did the trick to keeping me a little more fresh during the 12 days.

When purchasing tops for the trek I highly recommend dry fit material or a synthetic material such as polyester or nylon, because they dry faster and are lightweight. A wool blend is also a good option because its ability to keep you warm even when wet is incredible, however it does tend to weigh a bit more, so keep that in mind when packing. A few wool items will be nice to have, but you also don’t want to take up all your space and allotted weight limit with just your shirts. I’ve found that Nike and Under Armor have a ton of great options at affordable prices!

JACKETS AND SWEATSHIRTS

The morning and nights will have below freezing temperatures so it is important to bring a nice down jacket, a sweatshirt (or two) and a wind/rain jacket just incase the weather is not on your side. One bummer with down jackets is that the majority of them are not waterproof, which is why you should always bring a rain jacket in your day bag. It might start off as a beautiful crisp morning without a cloud in the sky, but the weather in the Himalayas is a fickle creature and a storm can pop up in minutes, so it’s best to be prepared.

My love for Patagonia comes out with my sweatshirts and down jackets. Their down jackets are so warm, super lightweight and don’t take up much space. My favorite down jacket from Patagonia is a little bit on the more expensive side, however it has lasted me years and I wear it in my day to day life as well. It also came with a protective bag, so when I was done wearing it on the mountain I was able to stuff it in the bag and hang it from the side knowing it wouldn’t snag on a branch and rip. There are less expensive options, however when it comes to jackets you want to make sure it’ll withstand the toughest of elements and wont fall apart when you need it the most.

The sweaters I have from them are some of my favorites to hike in and wear when I want to be cozy at home. I also love all the different fun patterns they have, although also on the expensive side, these sweaters will last a lifetime.

GAITERS: NECK AND LEGS

You will want something that will pull up and over your nose during the morning and evening parts of the hike, or if it ever gets windy. I found that a snowboarding (or ski) neck gaiter works perfectly and not only keeps you warm but it defends you from the intense sun exposure. A scarf would work as well, the only downside is that they are quite a bit bulkier than a neck gaiter, and remember you’re limited on space.

The requirement of leg gaiters really depends on the season you are in the Himalayas. On first instinct I didn’t want to buy any, because I, unlike many in my expedition group, was traveling and exploring through more countries than just Nepal, but after a lot of convincing from my guide I caved and bought some North Face gaiters.

Honestly, I never used the leg gaiters and at the time I was upset about buying something I had no use for. However, now that I look back on it I definitely preferred to have them and not need them versus not have them and need them. We met a woman who was on her way back down from EBC and she mentioned how she wished she had gaiters because the snow up ahead was really slushy and soaked her pant legs. By the time we made it to the location she mentioned it was fully refrozen and although difficult to walk on, there was no need for gaiters.

WARM HEAD COVERING

Now a beanie is not absolutely necessary but you do need something that will cover your ears. Personally I do not enjoy the way I look with a beanie on so I never purchase them, if anything I will wear earmuffs or a thick headband that will cover my ears for warmth.

Now most people on my trek were not as self conscious as I am when it comes to wearing a beanie, so they all had multiple and told me they would lend me one if i needed it. In the end truthfully I never needed one, my earmuffs were enough to keep my head warm.

My favorite one I have my aunt made, but when that one got a little too dirty I switched over to the one I bought before my trek on Amazon from Colombia, and it was just as warm and comfy.

INSULATED GLOVES

Remember your gloves!!! I’ve said before that I am a very sweaty person and so I dismissed my guides recommendation to bring gloves along on the trek, thinking “I don’t even use them when I’m snowboarding, why would I need them now?”.

Well I was wrong. Thankfully I had a pair of glove liners which helped keep my hands slightly warm during the morning and night but I still wished I had a pair of thick gloves to put my hands in, especially on our way down when the weather started to turn for the worse.

Most of the people I went on my trek with had a pair of “Tough Outdoors” gloves they purchased from Amazon, but really any insulated glove would work

SLEEPING BAG AND LINER

You can definitely rent a sleeping bag/ liner from whichever tour company you book through, or even rent it from a local store before starting your trek, however, I do not recommend. Solely based on the fact that they do not wash the sleeping bags after every use (things may have changed now because of covid restrictions).

A fleece liner is also recommended to buy or bring with you to add a little extra warmth. Most of the tea houses will provide blankets, some will have them for a small fee, but once again those blankets are not washed all that often. I mean how can they when over half the year the pipes are frozen.

Originally I had planned on renting a sleeping bag because I had been traveling for a month prior and an anticipated 10 months after Nepal as well, but then I noticed that you could buy a nice one for relatively inexpensive (on the streets of Thamel). Just make sure you have them take the sleeping bag out of the packing sack, because they will show you a “-20 sleeping bag” but actually inside the sack it’s only -10.

I almost opted out of buying the fleece liner, being that I am a very sweaty person (especially when I’m sleeping, my boyfriend tells me I turn into a furnace). And despite the first few nights waking up very sweaty, the higher up the mountain the more thankful I became for my fleece liner.

BACKPACK

If you trek with a guided group, chances are you will not have to carry all your stuff, there will be porters who carry the majority of your belongings. Bringing a day backpack is nice to carry snacks, water, sunscreen, gaiters, and extra layers when you begin to strip as the day goes on.

Finding a bag that has a space for a camelbak and a rain protector is key. I got mine at REI, and the reason I would rather spend the extra money and buy direct from them is because the employees are always so helpful. I get easily overwhelmed when there are too many options and REI has an abundance of backpack options. When I told the employee what it was I was going to, without hesitation went and showed me 4 options that would be the best fit for my adventure.

I went with 20L Osprey backpack, and after my trip I definitely wish I had gone with the 30L(but no larger). I had plenty of room for everything, I just had to strap my jacket and sweatshirt to the sides of the bag, instead of being able to fit them inside. Thankfully the weather was kind to us those 12 days, but even if it hadn’t, the rain protector my backpack came with would have protected all my belongings.

SNACKS AND BEVERAGES

If you’re like me and are constantly hungry it would be wise to bring some snacks with you on the trek. There are frequent teahouses along the way to stop at and buy snacks, however the higher up the mountain you go, the more expensive the food becomes. For example, a single Snickers is $3 and a can of Pringles is $6. It begins to make sense once you see the porter struggling under the weight of the bag to carry all the necessary items up the mountain. Being on a budget I decided to plan ahead and buy snacks from a convenience store in Kathmandu the night before we began the trek.

I ended up buying quite a bit of food for the trek: trail mix, cookies, protein bars, dried fruit, dried oats and instant coffee. It did take up most of the room in my bag, but I was thankful to save money along the way. I figured hot water would be much cheaper than buying a meal and a coffee every morning which is why I bought dried oats and instant coffee. My guide was not the happiest I decided to do this, because tourist traffic is how the people who live in these mountain villages make their living. Don’t worry, I still provided. I could only resist those snickers so many times.

REUSABLE WATER BOTTLES

Reusable water bottles are very important to bring on this trek, because the higher up the mountain you go the less likely it is for them to recycle the plastic. Instead to get rid of it they will burn it. The guide recommends starting each day with at least 3 liters of water. While a 12 day trek with at least 3 bottles a day might not seem like a lot, but now multiply that by the thousands of people that trek to EBC a year and it starts to have a severe impact on the environment.

On my trek each day I would begin with two 1 liter reusable water bottles and my 1.5 liter camelbak, and by the end of our 6-8 hour trek all the water would be gone, filling up halfway during our lunch break. While out on the trek filtered water is very hard to come by. Thankfully with “water purification tablets” or having a “lifestraw” or “bacterial and virus filtering water bottle” it was easy enough to clean tap water. I used the tablets in addition to a filtering water bottle, because it never hurts to be extra safe, and I wasn’t going to take any chances on getting the stomach bug while on this trek.

One thing to keep in mind while on the trek, is in the morning before the sun comes up over the mountains and at night once the sun goes behind the mountains, it is freezing and any water left in the tube of the camelbak will freeze. So my trick when it came to drinking water from the camelbak was to blow all the water out of the tube back into the pack each time I took a sip. There was once that I forgot to do this, and I was really bummed when I went to take a sip and couldn’t get any water because my tube was frozen.

Another tip is to bring a reusable water bottle that can hold hot liquids as well, because it will act as a space heater in your sleeping bag when you go to sleep at night, or you can wrap your wet clothes around it to help them dry faster.

SUN PROTECTION

SUNSCREEN

Sunscreen is so important!! I don’t typically wear sunscreen, except on my face (gotta protect against wrinkles) but when you’re that high up in the mountains the sun hits so much harder.

Everyone was pretty adamant on putting sunscreen on every day, especially Claire. She is very fair skinned and reapplied her 70 SPF every time we took a break, she however did not think to put sunscreen on the top of her hands, and by the end of the day they were as red as a tomato. I never would have thought to put sunscreen on the tops of my hands, but the way she was holding her trekking poles the tops of her hands were exposed to the brutal sun all day. After that day, sunscreen was applied to every part of my exposed skin.

Do be careful when applying it to your face, fair warning despite the cold, the trek is difficult at times and you will begin to sweat, and getting sunscreen in your eyes is not fun.

SUNGLASSES

Another very important item to remember to bring are sunglasses. They are essential, along with the same reason why you should bring and wear sunscreen, the sun is much more intense and you want to protect your eyes from the glare of the sun.

I only had my fancy Ray Ban sunglasses, but I wish I had brought a cheap pair for the trek. I was constantly worrying about dropping them or scratching them accidentally on a branch from a tree I didn’t expect to hang so far into the trail. I was happy I had something to protect my eyes, but I would have preferred not to have to worry about them.

HAT

Another item to bring with you to help protect you against the sun is a hat. I brought a regular baseball cap and it was super nice to have once the day warmed up and I took my ear warmers off, but any hat will do. Carl had an “Eddie Bauer Exploration Hat” from amazon, which was super nice because not only did it help protect your face from the sun, it also protected your neck and ears.

COMPOSTABLE BABY WIPES

As I mentioned before depending on the time of the year you decide to begin your trek through the Himalayas, the water pipes higher up the mountain may or may not be frozen, which makes showering impossible. If you’re like me and don’t like to go to bed dirty, baby wipes are the way to go!

Every night after my trek, before I changed into my clean pjs I would take a “baby wipe shower” and although it’s not the same feeling of stepping out of a shower, you do feel much better. Bring compostable wipes with you if possible, because as I mentioned before, the higher up the mountain the less likely the trash will make it back to the bottom for proper disposal.

FIRST AID KIT

I am a very clumsy person and my whole life my dad has carried a first aid kit with him because he knew I would hurt myself on basically every outing we had. Even though my dad did not go on the trek with me, I decided to follow in his footsteps and bring one for myself. I am so glad I did, surprisingly I didn’t hurt myself, but when Mark fell and cut his shin on a rock, I had the essentials to cleaning him up and make sure it wouldn’t get infected.

Along with the first aid kit I would recommend bringing medicine. If you have a doctor in the family and they are willing to write you a prescription for emergency antibiotics, awesome, but if not then bringing a supply of Dayquil, Nyquil, and Airborne will do the trick! I was unfortunate enough to catch a small cold while on the trek, due to the constant and excessive breaks our guide forced us to take. But the minute I noticed myself feeling off, I went into my first aid kit and took a Dayquil, I was not about to let this cold ruin the rest of my trek. Thankfully after a few days of Dayquil and Airborne in the morning/afternoon, and Nyquil and hot lemon ginger tea at night, I was feeling back on top!

CAMERA AND EXTRA BATTERIES

The views up in the Himalayas are some of the most beautiful you will ever see and being up there is pure magic, you’ll want to relive those moments over and over again. Although it is hard to capture the natural beauty of your surroundings with a camera, you’ll definitely want to snap a few shots, and you wouldn’t want your phone/camera to die right when you’re about to capture that moment.

Even though there are typically charging stations at each teahouse you stay at (in the common area), they charge about $5 for a full charge, and while that is not that much, $5 a day for 12 days adds up. This is why extra battery packs are highly recommended to bring on the trek, at least this way you can skip a charging station or two while knowing your phone/camera won’t die when you’re about to take that epic shot.

PORTABLE WIFI HOTSPOT

Being out in nature is the perfect place to leave behind your technological connection to the real world and simply live in the moment. However, if you’re traveling alone and your parents want to hear from you on the trek to make sure you’re alive, the tea houses do offer wifi for a small fee. I decided to purchase the wifi from the tea houses since I went on this trek alone, and there were really nice people in my group to chat with, but all I wanted to do at the end of the day was talk to my boyfriend and tell him about all the beautiful things I’ve been seeing.

The wifi at the tea houses was not the best, especially if multiple people were trying to use it simultaneously, which is why purchasing a personal portable wifi hotspot would be useful. A guy in my group brought a personal wifi and one night when the wifi was out at the tea house he allowed me to jump on and text my parents that I was in fact alive and well.