How to prepare yourself for a mountain journey

How to prepare yourself for a mountain journey ( part 2 ) 

In the previous part of this article I was writing about the importance of having appropriate boots and clothes for mountain hiking, now I want to continue the description of the equipment. 

The "Holy" backpack, the landmark of a traveller 

Generally, the most significant part of a traveller's belongings is the backpack. It doesn't matter if you are travelling for 1 day or 6 days to the busiest city or to the wildest forest up on the mountains, you will always bring a backpack for carrying the things needed daily in order to have a much more beautiful, comfortable and safe journey.The backpack is the landmark of a traveller, it becomes like an extension and a symbol of a true traveller. 

The mountain backpack

When it comes to the mountain backpack, things are becoming a bit complicated, but not impossible and that's just because usually the adventures of this kind require various specific and useful objects. 

For my personal experience and also from listening to the piece of advice coming from some different professional people in the field, I have realised that the first aspect I should take in consideration when selecting the adequate mountain backpack is defined by the type of the journey I am about to have. More explicit, the hiking trips could be determined by the time that lasts and depending on this criterion the backpacks can be of several types, like so: 

• 10 to 20 liter backpack which I take in the short daily hiking journeys when I normally have to bring with me smaller quantities of  water, food and changing clothes or a raincoat, plus a headlamp and an aid kit 

• 30 liter backpack which I use in the longer daily hiking trips when I know that I should probably take more items like supplies, changing socks and clothes, raincoat and in case of emergency objects like a headlamp, aid kit, map with me just to make sure that everything will be as good as possible during the hike 

• 50 liters + backpack of which I will talk more because this is what I am currently using in my next travel to the "Școala de mers pe munte" 

The 50 liters backpack

For "The school of going on the mountain" I am preparing my 50 liters backpack because the journey would be spread over 5 days, of which 2 would be happening entirely on the mountain with sleeping in tents. The rest of the days I would stay and sleep in the "Tășuleasa Social" Camp. 

Anyway, all of this means that I need to take with me many things according to the time and also activities that I will be part of. 

I have been using my pink 50 liters backpack in trips that lasted for 2 to 4 days which included also sleeping in the tent or in a mountain cabin and I never had any problems carrying it because of its well made structure. The backpack strapes are wide, thick but soft and sit very well on my shoulders which I have learned on my own skin that is something extremly mandatory for a mountain backpack. 

In the past I had a negative and unpleasant experience with the backpack of a friend which had straps that were too narrow and uncoated causing her terrible pain in the shoulders and which I had to carry because she no longer resisted wearing it. 

My mountain backpack is quite light - when is empty of course, it has straps that I can tie around the abdomen and chest to further balance and distribute from the felt weight on the back to the front of the body, three large outer pockets, some elastic stuff that I don't know how to call it but with which I can attach my trekking poles and my sleeping pad on the backpack and, of course, a big interior with a seprate pocket. 

The disadvantage of this backpack is due to the fact that it does not have a rain cap included like my 30 liter backpack has. 

Now what I am carring in my backpack? 

Clothes 

For this 5 day trip I am taking with me many changing clothes such as T-shirt, leggings, fleences, socks, underwear. The raincoat is a piece which is never missing from my backpack even if the forecast announces only sunny weather, I know that the weather in the mountain is always changing and I choose to be ready for anything at anytime. My current raincoat is also new and I have tried it in my last adventure from Ceahlău Mountain and back then I was pretty satified with the protection that offered me when the rain caught us while trying to reach " The Duruitoarea Waterfall" . 

The objects needed in a mountain adventure

A set of mountain-specific objects that I like to have with me includes the following: 

• a head lamp
• a dynamo flashlight
• a compass
• a survival sheet
• a metal mug
• a whistle
• patches
• a nourshing lip balm
• magnesium with vitamins
• a monocle
• another pair of hiking boots
• and my little cat if there would be enough space in after I put all of the above 
• things for personal hygiene such as brush and toothpaste, soap, pads, toilet paper, deodorant

The plant based food

The food which I repeatedly eat while I am on the mountain consists in various snacks that are high in sugar and healthy fat content such as raw fresh and dried fruits - pineapple, cranberries, raisins, dates, figs - chocolate ( my favorite is the dark orange chocolate ), cereal bars, raw salted peanuts and sandwiches with peanut butter and jam. The water is present too as well as black unsweetened caffee. Due to the fact that I am vegan, all of my food is plant-based and I am also taking magnesium with vitamin B12 included for having high energy. 

Ready for "Școala de mers pe munte"

This time I am lucky because during my participation in "The school of going on the mountain"  I will be acquiring food from the camp which means that I don't have to pack with me a lot of additional foods. They would be offering us tents, sleeping mats and sleeping bags for the camping adventure we would have in The Călimani Mountains. This is another welcome convenience since I don't have to bring with me my own stuff of this kind. 

Right now I am excessivly excited and nervous about being part of  "Școala de mers pe munte" because I wished so much for this to happen and somehow I can not believe that the moment has come. 

Presumably, after arriving back home from this school and camp I would be adding  or changing things from my existing equipment and overall knowledges about how to go mountain trekking. I can not wait to write new articles regarding to this experience. 

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