GR55 Alps in 2nd week of July staying in refuges gear list

[J K]

Hi,

I'm an early 30ies male from the UK with some back problems (hence trying to BPL). I am planning to do about 5 days of GR55 (Vanoise N.P., French Alps) on the 2nd week of July, staying in refuges in a group of 4. This would be my first multi-day hike ever, although I've done day-hikes in the area before.

I've put together a checklist, some of it what I already own and some of what I still need to acquire (in which case it sometimes lists the options I'm thinking about). I'm into photography, hence the 850g of camera gear.

I'd appreciate a sanity check – anything missing? Anything unnecessary?

Do I need more insulation for warmth (I'm quite inclined to have cold feet, etc.)? Right now when it is cold I just intend to use almost all the clothing that I have at once and hopefully get through it fine.

I will do a "test run" end of this month in Madeira for the stuff I already have, and probably will have a chance to test some in Britain too before July, but the climates and situations won't really match.

I will be able to share some of this, like shampoo/sunblock, with my gf, but don't hope for too much reduction from that.

Not sure about trekking poles, I've never used them and don't look forward to adding 438g to the weight, but perhaps they might come in handy if we encounter snow or even if not.

Clothing hot weather:
Long pants: Rab Easy Rider (300g)
Long-sleeved shirt: Helly Hansen HH Dry Stripe Crew 48800-001 M (143g)
Short-sleeved shirt: Icebreaker Tech T Lite or Smartwool merino (150g)
Hot weather hat: Tilley LTM6 Airflow Khaki 7 5/8 (105g)
Cool socks or liner socks: Some hot weather socks, not sure which (80g)

Clothing cold weather:
Insulation layer: Fleece – Jack Wolfskin Atmosphere (150g)
Cold weather hat: Extremities Power dry beanie (23g)
Long underwear leggings: Icebreaker 150 leggings (150g)
Warm socks: Smartwool Hiking Medium Crew L (96g)

Clothing wet weather:
Shell jacket: RAB Drillium eVent M (378g)
Rain pants: Rab Drillium eVent L (238g)
Waterproof socks: SealSkinz Mid Light Sock Large (118g)

Underwear:
Mens Underwear: Icebreaker Merino Beast Anatomica M (80g)
Mens Underwear: Icebreaker Merino Boxers size M (90g)

Footwear:
Hiking footwear: Inov-8 X-Talon 240 (540g)
Secondary footwear: Tyvek hut sandals (Shoe covers) (22g)

Documents, maps and essentials:
Maps: Topoguide FFRP#530 GR5 GR55 (140g)
Passport: (28g)
Insurance: BMC Alpine or Trek? EHIC? (4g)
Driving license: (5g)
Credit/debit cards: GBP + EUR (8g)
Local currency: Euros (30g)
Money belt: Jag Bag Double Pocket (31g)
Glasses: Existing optical (15g) – taking no sunglasses
Contact lenses: As backup if glasses lost (20g)

Tools, survival items and misc:
Knife: Spyderco Ladybug 3 PlainEdge (18g)
Flashlight/headlight: Petzl Tactikka 3 AAA battery with batteries (78g)
Fabric repair kit: McNett SilFix Fabric Repair Kit + needle and thread; Safety pins, gaffer tape (20g)
Emergency shelter: Light space bag, e.g., Lifesystems Thermal bag (85g)
Compass: TBD 20g

Food containers and medicine:
Hydration : Plastic tonic water bottles (100g)
Sunblock: Care Plus Skin-Saver – Gel Concentrate SPF 25 (80g)
Lip sun balm: Care Plus lip sunblock (14g)
Emergency purification tablets: Aquamira? Kaytadyn Micropur MP1? Aquaventure? (20g)
Medicine: Paracetamol/Ibuprofen? Activated carbon? Bepanthene??? (20g)
Towels: MSR Paktowel Ultralight (52g)
Toothbrush: Snap off end (20g)
Blister aid items: Compeed For Blisters (10g)
Napkins: 1-2 packets (20g)

Storage:
Backpack with cover: ZPacks Blast 20 (33 liter) (300g)
Zipper bags: Lifeventure aLoksak (50g)
Plastic bags: For clothing – TBD (80g)

Sleeping:
Sleeping liner: JagBags fine silk regular (101g)
Earplugs: TBD (10g)

Photography:
Tripod: Carbon fiber backpack stays + eBay mini-tripod (118g)
Camera: Panasonic GF1 (365g)
Spare battery: For Panasonic GF1 (54g)
Lens: Olympus 9-18mm (155g)
Lens: Panasonic 20mm (100g)
Filter: Polarizer filter Hoya HD 52mm (15g)
Filter: ND filter Hoya HD 52mm, with adapter for 46mm (18g)
Microfiber cloth: Spudz 18% gray (19g)
Memory cards: Have 4+4+2+2 = 12 GB (16g)

Communication, entertainment:
Mobile phone: Samsung Galaxy S 2 (?) (116g)
Mobile phone charger: Micro USB charger (100g)
Earphones: iPhone earphones (11g)

Total: ~5,150g excluding consumables

Consumables:

Probably 1-2 liters of water depending on how far the next refuge is. I intend to use water from 'fonts' mostly, with the treatment tablets only as emergency backup.
Don't intend to carry much food besides some dry saucisson and maybe a bit of bread, mostly intend to eat at the manned refuges.

I will be thankful for your advice.

[J K]

Bump. Anyone?

[Roger Caffin]

I think you may be carrying a bit more clothing than you need.
Europeans use ponchos rather than jackets for rain, but a UL windshirt of some sort would be good.
Silk liner is good, but you will probably need a pillow slip as well. (Hut rules.)
Camera gear – no comment.
Electronics – your choice.
Trekking poles – if you don't normally, don't bother.

See also
http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/caffins_4_month_gear_list.html
http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/caffin_gear_list_revisited.html
For what we took on the GR5 – tenting.

Cheers

[First Last]

Bring a pair of shades – if you need sunblock you need sun glasses.

You can probably skip the rain pants and the waterproof socks.

Keep the long sleeve sun shirt and skip the short sleeve shirt, wearing long sleeves and pants saves on sunblock / mosquito protection.

Sounds like a great trip – have fun!

[J K]

Thanks for your responses!

On the pillow slip, I was hoping to use my fleece as a pillow, as opposed to using the provided pillows which are usually too high for me anyway. Would that be permitted?

On the wind-shirt vs. eVent rain jacket and rain-pants/waterproof socks, I was thinking it might get quite cold out there, and if it rains at the same time as well I might be at hypothermia risk without them.

On shades, I have done without them and just a wide-brimmed hat on sunny days in the Alps before, although I guess they would be needed if there is a lot of snow. My glasses have some chameleon tinting, but it needs direct sunshine to kick in. I haven't figured out a lightweight way to keep the pair of glasses I'm not using safe from being squished (cases are heavy), so I was thinking of just bringing one pair.

On the skipping of the short-sleeved shirt, that would leave me with one shirt only, and no ability to wash it. Also, if it got quite cold and I had it, I could use the 4 layers (T-shirt, long-handed shirt, fleece, rain jacket) at once.

I'm also thinking of ditching the guide book which would leave us only with the maps on various electronic devices (my friend is lugging an Android tab with him and my gf the Kindle 3), as the paths are generally marked and well travelled.

[Author]

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