Annapurna

[woodsman]

Hi All
I am new here so please bear with me.
My wife is doing a charity trek for Dentaid next April.
Although we are fairly well travelled, she is starting to worry about the equipment she may need. Shes worried about clothes, sleeping bag, boots, day sack etc etc.
Does anyone have any thoughts on what is really needed. The Dentaid list seems a bit OTT. But I am sure being prepared for all situations is important.
Any help or advice would be much appreciated.
Thanks
Woodsman

[yakshaver]

Hi All
I am new here so please bear with me.
My wife is doing a charity trek for Dentaid next April.
Although we are fairly well travelled, she is starting to worry about the equipment she may need. Shes worried about clothes, sleeping bag, boots, day sack etc etc.
Does anyone have any thoughts on what is really needed. The Dentaid list seems a bit OTT. But I am sure being prepared for all situations is important.
Any help or advice would be much appreciated.
Thanks
Woodsman

What's OTT? Secondly, what trek? Please bear with me, too...

I would suspect you need clothes on any trek. Unless you trek in Germany in the middle of summer, where nudity seems to be ok. I would not try this in Nepal. Not even in summer.
Yes, you do need a good sleeping bag, especially if you trek higher than 3500m, even in April. For boots, see my comment on clothes.
The idea of the day pack is useful. I guess you would have porters carrying your main luggage. So you need a day pack for a wind jacket, a bottle of water, camera, dental floss (I imgine...).

*****
Ah, I see... OTT must mean over the top... No, not OTT. If the elements mentioned are clothes, boots, sleeping bag, day pack, there is nothing OTT about that. Even Ermenegildo Zegna and Armani make particularly good items for each category, these days.

[woodsman]

Sorry. Not made myself very clear. looking for advice on what quality of kit my wife may need. ie. type of boot etc etc.
She will be doing Ghorepani / Poon Hill trek.
If you are able to help, it would be nice to get some advice from those who have had experience rather than be sold the wrong thing thing by a spotty teenager. Hope you understand.

[Petrus]

Temperatures will be above freezing, the only exception can be the early morning climb to Poon Hill. So normal hiking clothes will be enough (long pants, long & short sleeve shirts, light shell jacket, fleece jacket). Lower part trails and afternoons are warm, like 20-25C, loose shorts and T-shirt are enough. Sleeping bag should be rated to -5C or so, can be helped by blankets at lodges. Trails are good but have a lot of stone steps. I use only trail runners on trails like that, some people insist on hiking boots for some reason. What ever she is used to wear while walking well maintained mountain trails will work there also. Basically this trek is just a few days on the hills, not worth investing huge amounts on specialist equipment. Few changes of underwear, fleece, light shell, almost any shoes, all set.

[yakshaver]

Yes, Petrus is thinking along the same lines I am. Another thing. If you do miss out on something important, some bigger lodges would have shops where you can purchase basic items (including sleeping bags, wind jackets, even boots) from.

[Oli]

Yes, Petrus is pretty much spot on - trekking to Ghorepani and Poon Hill is a very straight forward hike in the hills, no special/technical equipment is required. As its an organised trek I would expect that Dentaid would provide a recommended equipment list that should be a good guideline.

It might be the accessories rather than clothing that make the most useful pieces of kit. Top of the list is an LED head torch...

(Dont even think about buying a sleeping bag in Ghorepani!)

[yakshaver]

It might be the accessories rather than clothing that make the most useful pieces of kit. Top of the list is an LED head torch...

(Dont even think about buying a sleeping bag in Ghorepani!)

Oli, I guess for you the lead head torch enables you to use both hands when you go out at night. Is that really necessary? Some of us might get envious.