Knowing what to pack and what to leave at home can make or break a long distance hiking experience. It is very useful to try to make a gear list in advance, think it through and than stick to it as much as possible.
We planned to do the trip self guided, each night sleeping in a mountain hut, chalet or hotel, thus we didn’t need to carry any camping gear (tent, sleeping pad or sleeping bag).In the last years we became used with hiking only with a trail running vest or a small and light backpack, so packing as light and practical as possible was high on our planning priority list.
Because we didn’t want to depend on a hotel for hosting some extra luggage (probably one of the things we would do different next time) while we were hiking around Mont Blanc, we also had to carry our “city” gear the entire time. After the trip we found out that many hotels in Chamonix allow you to store some extra gear while hiking, usually for free, if you stay there at the beginning or end of the trip, so you might be able to leave the non-hiking equipment and spare clothes there.
A few months before the trip we ordered the Cicerone “The Tour of Mont Blanc” guidebook, but it didn’t turn up in time for the trip so we had to buy another one in Chamonix. It is available in most of the bookshops through the town. The guidebook also comes with a small folded map, though it might be hard to read if you are not used to reading maps from a book-like format. A dedicated map of the area would also help (the one from IGN is especially good). There are other guidebooks as well, possibly just as good as this one, but I really liked the guides I bought from Cicerone in the past so I decided to go for that one.
For easier on route navigation, we used some apps on the iPhone (Gaia GPS and maps.me with downloaded topo and satellite maps). Gaia is very nice, as it also lets you upload GPS tracks and see them on the offline map.
Although many people recommend bringing cash that can cover the whole cost of the trips, we managed to pay by card almost everywhere, as more and more locations started accepting them.
Gear:
- 30-40L backpack with rain cover
- Trekking poles (highly recommended)
- Hiking or running shoes (waterproof ones are highly recommended)
- Hiking or running gaiters
- Running spikes/light crampons (not the big, mountaineering ones)
- Slippers
- Sandals
- Light small daypack
- Sun glasses
Clothes:
- 1 x waterproof jacket and pants (we used only the jacket)
- 1 synthetic isolation jacket (or light puffy jacket)
- 2 x merino short sleeve T-shirts
- 1 x merino long sleeve shirt
- 1 synthetic T-shirt
- 1 long sleeve shirt
- 1 pair of running shorts
- 1 pair of long softshell trousers
- 3-4 pairs of socks (mostly merino)
- 3-4 pairs of underwear (merino or synthetic, but not cotton)
- 1 pair of city pants (linen or jeans)
- 1-2 buffs
- 1 sun hat or visor
Cosmetics:
- Good sun screen (we used SPF 50+)
- Lip balm (ideally with sun protection)
- Deodorant
- Toothbrush and toothpaste
- Hair shampoo
- Concentrate multi purpose washing soap
Misc:
- Sleeping bag liner (mandatory for sleeping in mountain huts)
- E-book reader
- Battery pack (we never used it, as all the accommodations had power)
- GPS fitness watch + charging cable
- Mobile phone + charging cable
- First aid kit (painkillers, stomach pills, normal bandaids and blister bandaids – Compeed)
- 10 meters thin rope (2mm) with plastic clips for drying clothes – also good for tying things on the backpack or replacing shoelaces
- Multitool with knife, screwdriver (good for pole adjustments), corkscrew (we hiked through France, after all) and pliers
- Tweezers (good for removing ticks and splinters)
- Printed Cicerone guide
- Light towel