Hiking the Inca Trail was one of the most memorable vacations I have ever taken. The challenging trek and beautiful scenery intertwined with fascinating history and Peruvian culture made it truly a once in a life time trip. If you ever get a chance to go or have friends that suggest trekking the trail with you like we did, take it. You will not regret it, even if hiking isn’t your favorite hobby.
This was my first backpacking trip. I know what most of you are probably thinking. I am a native of Colorado, yet I haven’t ever backpacked before? Guess what? I also don’t ski in the winter. But I am active. I love hiking, camping, being outside, and working out. So, while I am a backpacking newbie, I am not a newbie to the outdoors and living at altitude.
Given that this was my first backpacking trip, I had a lot to learn about packing for my trip to Cusco. I owned a few hiking essentials (a small camelback backpack, hiking shoes, and hiking shirts) but really had no idea how to pack for 3 nights and 4 days hiking in another country. Thankfully, Pinterest, my more experienced hiking friends, and the travel company we used came to the rescue. I had about 6 months to prepare for my trek. Plenty of time to pack.
I am a notorious over packer. I like to pack a minimum of 4 pairs of shoes and two backup outfits per day. I couldn’t do that during this trip. After all, there is only so much room in my small day pack.
If you’re using a travel company and guide for your trek, you will not be required to carry big items such as your tent, basic sleeping pad, food, and utensils. You will however, be required to carry a day pack. Most people in my group carried a 25-30l bag that included: hydration system and/or water bottle, sleeping bag, extra sleeping pad, all clothes for the trip, toiletries, and snacks. On day two, our group was given the option to pay an extra fee for our porters to carry our day pack while summiting Dead Woman’s Pass. I opted out of this and carried my own pack, but several in our group chose this option.
Know Before You Go
Before packing for your trip to Cusco, it will be important to know what season you will be in while making the trek. Peru has two seasons: the wet season, which is in the summer months between January-May, and the dry season, which is in the winter months of June-December. I went in June during the dry season. We had perfect weather. The only rain we encountered was a light sprinkle for about 20 minutes on day four once we reached the top of Sungate looking into Machu Picchu (which was actually refreshing after that steep climb!) Another plus during my trek was NO BUGS. I repeat, no bugs! I was so pleasantly surprised by this, as I was expecting to fight off all types of insects during the trek.
Besides appropriate seasonal clothes, another thing that was important to me was style and color. I knew I would be sharing these photos with family and friends for years to come. I wanted a good mix of comfort, quality, color, and style. I did a lot of research on layering for hiking the Inca trail and had plenty of time to buy pieces here and there to round out my gear.
Packing List
Below is a list of all items I managed to carry on my small day pack.
- Sleeping bag
- Sleeping pad
- Toiletries (daily contacts, toothbrush, toothpaste, cleaning wipes, sunscreen, travel mascara, travel eyeliner, tinted face sunscreen, makeup wipes (cut into 10 individual squares) dry shampoo, hand sanitizer, chapstick, Kleenex, toilet paper)
- Two long sleeve shirts (one for hiking and one base layer for sleeping)
- One button up long sleeve shirt
- Two pairs of hiking pants (one for hiking days 1-3 and a fresh pair for day 4 Machu Picchu day)
- One fleece lined legging for sleeping
- Two pairs of wool socks and one pair of regular socks (I only own two pairs of wool but I’d highly recommend wool socks over cotton)
- Bug repellant wipes
- Rain jacket
- Puffy vest
- Puffy jacket
- Fleece pullover
- Travel journal
- Pen
- Sunglasses
- Therma heat beanie
- Therma heat gloves
- Therma heat ear headband
- Baseball hat (I was strongly encouraged to bring a wide brimmed hat for additional sun protection. I prefer my baseball hat and instead brought a UV neck band to protect my neck)
- Arlo (Alpaca travel buddy) keychain
- Trekking poles
- Adjustable straps for attaching gear to my bag
- Compression bag
- Snacks (Power bloks chews, protein bars, drink mix, a variety of nuts)
Tips and Suggestions
Things I did not pack that I wish I would have:
- Two more pairs of wool socks
- Sandals or flip flops for camp after hiking (wish I wouldn’t have removed them for room)
- Tape for my poor blistered toes!
- Runners massage stick
Here are a few tips from my experience:
- I read on previous blogs that you will not spend much time socializing with the other people in your group. This was not the case for our group. Our group was all connected by one couple and got to know each other during the trek. Our travel company set up a happy hour nightly with hot teas and snacks before dinner and we spent time after dinner drinking tea and chatting. While some nights we were more exhausted than others, we had much more time together than I read about. This might be unique for our group given that we all knew this couple as well as the specific travel agency we used (I highly recommend them!)
- Bring tape. Let me say that one more time. Bring tape. I consider myself to be in good shape. I go to the gym 4-5 days a week (and had been for a full year and a half before starting our trek). I was fine hiking uphill. But downhill was a different story. The Inca trail is full of rocks. A million rocks jetting out of the ground line the road for miles without any opportunity to step on level dirt. This varies somewhat by what day or leg of the trek you are on. I noticed these evil rocks the most once we began our decent from Dead Woman’s Pass on day two. While trekking poles helped my knees, my toes were constantly jammed into the tips of my shoes over and over while stepping down steep, narrow rock steps. This caused blisters on my pinky toes and my big toes. Thankfully, more experienced hikers in our group packed moleskin tape and saved me. Tape will always be in my bag from now on. Save yourself the pain and pack tape.
- One member of our group brought a small rolling massager stick that was targeted for runners. Every night after dinner, we passed this nubby, rolling stick around the table and massaged our arms, legs, and backs. Ahhhh MAZING. This simple 5 minute act relieved my sore muscles and broke up any lingering tension, preventing that awful stiffness the next morning.
- Bring a nice camera if you have one. Cell phones take ok pictures. But if you can manage to bring a nice camera, you will not regret it. Our group had various models of cameras and created one shared google album of photos of our trip.
- Make sure you bring a compressible sleeping bag (preferably waterproof) for added compression. Using my compression bag allow me just enough room in my day pack to add my toiletries.
- Consider a 25-30l bag. I bought a 20l bag because I was determined not to overpack and regret it while hiking four days with too much stuff. While I made a 20l bag work, it was at maximum capacity. I was told I won the award for the best packing with the smallest bag (and I didn’t even require the extra porter duffle bag!). Our company offered the opportunity to have porters carry up to 15 pounds for you every day for an additional fee. They will provide you with the duffel to fill up the night before you begin your trek and return it to you once you reach camp each night.
- Bring medicine. We had a few people in our group bring some basic meds as well as some antibiotics just in case. As a native Colorado girl, the altitude did not affect me much, if at all. About 30 minutes after I began my decent from Summiting Dead Woman’s Pass on day two, I noticed I had a slight headache. Thankfully, a few ibuprofen taken once I reached camp got rid of it. Another member in our group got a cold and one member required antibiotics for a GI issue.
Hiking the Inca Trail is a bucket list adventure. I promise it is everything you have read about and more. If you have hiked the trail, please comment with your own suggestions and tips. And, as always, have a Fit N Fabulous Day! -D
