Kosciuszko - Part 6: Prepare - Gear

Your gear is the most important and the trickiest item to prepare for this hike.

Due to the unstable and sometime rapidly changing weather (ie cold, rain, fog, wind, etc.), you need to make sure you have the appropriate gear.  Rather than long explanations, just check the two pictures below:

Start of the track on Saturday  

  

End of the walk on Sunday

It started super sunny and finished cold as, raining and foggy. Better be prepared!

To make it easier for you to prepare, I took a picture of the gear I packed for the weekend:

You can buy most of the items in your local camping/outdoor store. Most of my gear is from Kathmandu and was perfect for this adventure.

There are 4 categories of gear:

• Clothes (white group)
• Pack (orange group)
• Personal  (green group)
• Food (red group)

As you can see, there is quite a lot of gear to cover. So please use the hyperlinks above to go directly to a specific group or section!

Clothes (white group)

1. Cargo / Zip-off Pants
2. Fleece 
3. Waterproof / Gore Tex jacket (compulsory)
4. Breathable / Sports top 
5. Socks /Undies
6. (Board)short 
7. Long sleeve thermal top
8. Skins / compression gear (optional)

     Not shown – beanie (compulsory)
     Not shown – hiking boots or trail running shoes

You need to take with you a Gore-Tex/waterproof jacket in case it rains or gets cold. The last thing you want is to be caught in the middle of the walk and suffer hypothermia.

Make sure you pack warm clothes (thermal, beanie) for evenings and also for cold/rainy/windy weather and light clothes for sunny weather. Zip-off pants might be a good idea to be used either as pants or shorts.

At night time, the temperature drops close to zero; make sure you wear a beanie to stay warm.

Also make sure your shoes are broken down or you have used them for long walks. I have used trail running shoes which was fine for the entire trail and great to run up to Mt Townsend!

Compression gear might be a good idea to accelerate blood flow, reduce build-up of lactic acid, stay warm and prevent chaffing. To be worn during or after the walk to recover.

Pack (orange group)

9. Big backpack (65L) 
10. "Camelback" bladder (2L)
11. Inflatable mattress
12. Tent
13. Sleeping bag
14. Day pack

A good backpack is paramount. The light daypack will be great after setting up the camp to go to Mt Townsend with only a few things with you.

The inflatable mattress will ensure you have a good sleep (especially after a long day trekking!) and ensure the cold is not transmitted through to your body/back. You do not need a full body length one, as long as your back is not against cold hard ground, you are sweet.

An easy to mount and light tent will be best to pitch at the end of the day.

Camping in the valley

 

Personal (green group)

15. Topographic Map – Perisher Valley 85252S ~$9.95 (compulsory) & Wildwalks Notes
16. Waterproof map case (optional) 
17. Compass (compulsory) 
18. First aid kit (compulsory) (here in waterproof bag) 
19. Purification tablets (preferable) 
20. Emergency matches 
21. Sunscreen (compulsory) 
22. Sunnies (compulsory)
23. Hat / cap (compulsory) 
24. Insect repellent (preferable) 
25. Cleaning wipes (preferable) 
26. Toiletries bag with what you need (contact liquid, etc.) 
27. Bepanthem (to prevent chaffing) 
28. Toilet paper 
29. Trowel 
30. Head torch 
31. Camera / GoPro!

Not shown – Telephone

Not shown – Towel

Ok lots of critical items here! 

First aid kit, map and compass are compulsory. Protection against the sun as well.

To find out where you can buy topographical maps close to where you live, click here. I went to Map Worldin Sydney CBD to purchase the map, and was really impressed with their customer service. Very helpful if you plan on going off-track. Otherwise you can buy a mini map for ~$5 from the visitors centre in Jindabyne. I also recommend reading/printing/taking the notes from Wildwalks on this trek, they are very useful.

There is plenty of water around but it’s preferable to boil/purify it before drinking. Make sure you have means to do either. Also you need to be able to create a fire in case of emergency, so equip yourself with either a small/light camping stove or emergency matches.

Bring a telephone. While in many parts of the national park you do not have coverage and you CANNOT rely on your mobile as an emergency communication device, I found that on higher grounds with Telstra I had several bars and could place a call. No idea what the coverage is with other carriers. If you go alone, it might be worth considering renting an emergency beacon from the visitors centre in Jindabyne.

Cleaning wipes are the bomb for your personal hygiene. They are cheap, do not take much space and are super refreshing. Again, take your rubbish with you!

Food (red group)

32. Metal Pot
33. Spork (a combined plastic spoon, fork and knife)
34. Leatherman / Swiss Army knife
35. Stove (preferably with piezo so you do not need matches to lit it)
36. Gas canister
37. Dehydrated food (Back country cuisine)
38. Snack bars
39. Lollies / dried fruits / nuts
40. Tins (soup / bakes beans / tuna)
41. Cup
42. Tea bags / Instant Coffee
43. Rubbish bags (compulsory) 

Not shown – Water

Based on my experience with this weekend trek, just get snacks, a medium pot and dehydrated food. The metallic pot will be good to boil enough water for your meal and to fill a water bottle.

Tins are cheap but bulky and heavy to carry, and after eating them, they are messy/sharp and still take a lot of space. Sandwiches might be a cheap option but it might be difficult to find time making them, keeping them from being squashed in the pack and staying fresh with the heat!

Dehydrated food is a bit more expensive, but just boil water, put it in the bag, wait a few minutes and you can then directly eat it from the bag (so no dishwashing!). I was happily surprised to see that it’s pretty good (though after a long day walking any warm food would be considered good ;). It is light to carry before and after eating it and it does not take much space. Your back will thank you.

As usual, take your rubbish with you!

Let me know if you found the above pictures and tips helpful and in the next post, we will see pictures and videos of the actual walk.