Essential Gear for the Camino Portuguese
What's in my Pilgrim Backpack?
We are a couples days away from
striking out onto the Way, along the Camino Portuguese route. Key to this, and the part we have most
struggled with (the part everyone struggles with), is packing our bags. What to
take? What worked before? What didn’t work? What is different given our ages now and
experiences since? We hope to take our
packs for the entire length of the trail, and realistically we are only able to
carry so much comfortably. While this
seems easy, the desire to stay comfortable hiking while also being prepared for
a range of temperatures and weather types, being able to clean up, change at
night, et cetera makes it a little bit of a challenge.
Given the range of choices we all
face at this point, we thought we would share what is in our backpacks, perhaps
serving as something useful for what others might carry. Three things to remember here are: First, our
bags differ according to our own interests and needs. Second, please remember that not all that is
listed went into our bags, one set of clothes and either our hiking shoes or
sandals will be worn by us at any given time.
Third, on both previous Caminos – the Camino Frances across Spain and
the GR65 / Via Podiensis across France we took far more than we ended up
needing and donated a lot en route – we hope to avoid this scenario this time.
With all of that said, the list of things we are taking on the Camino Portuguese are almost identical to what we brought with us on the Camino Frances and Via Podiensis, save for the fact that I know own a lighter backpack (Osprey Xena) than I did two years ago.
As mentioned before this is neither a typical backpacking
trek, nor a traditional holiday – both realizations mean that the type of
supplies you take with you will vary from previous thru-hikes or holiday
ventures. Having completed two Caminos we pretty much know what works - for
us. With that said this is not an
exhaustive list on what others would take, nor should it be considered a
perfect list. As I posted last time,
pack what works for you. What do you
need? What makes you comfortable? What type of pack do you like? How much weight are you comfortable
with? All of these questions will lead
you in the direction of what is right for YOU. Listen to the the online commentaries and advice, but make sure to also listen to common sense, and what you know about yourself!
Our list, and many of the things we carry – in order
to blog, photograph a region, and keep in contact with friends and family
likely seem to be – and perhaps are – excessive to most pilgrims along the
Camino. But then again so much of the
Camino is about what we carry with us...on the trail and in life.
- 2 Icebreaker merino wool short sleeve shirts
- 2 Icebreaker merino wool long sleeve shirts
** This number of shirts is excessive – realistically you
only need 2 or 3, but I vary between staying warm, cooling off, or trying to
keep the sun off me to prevent getting burnt **
- 2 pairs of merino wool leggings
- 2 Columbia hiking skirts / skorts
- 1 pair Prada hiking pants
- 1 swimsuit
- 1 fleece sweater
- 1 sun hat (OR Helios)
- 1 hiking merino wool buff
- 1 pair of mittens
- 3 pairs of hiking socks – merino wool
- 2 exofficio bras
- 1 Sea to Summit Food Container - Medium
- Patagonia Down Jacket - packable
- 1 backpack rain jacket / cover
- Keen hiking boots
- Keen hiking sandals
** I decided to sleep in a Merino shirt and leggings - so
no night clothes were brought **
- camp towel
- headlamp (for early morning departures)
- 1 small bottle of camp soap - body wash and laundry soap
- first aid kit - Band-Aids, moleskin, Tylenol, Advil
- light weight summer sleeping bag
- 1 SIGG water bottle - 1 litre
- 1 pair of hiking polls – Komperdell with Cork handles
- overnight bag including deodorant, razor, hair brush,
tooth brush, travel tampons, nail
clippers, lip balm, and sun screen
- Brierley guide book – Camino Portuguese
- Brierley guide book – Camino Finisterre and Muxia
- Village to Village Guide Book – Camino Portuguese
- 1 Canadian passport
- 2 Camino Credential passports
- Scallop Shell
- small day bag
- phone
- tablet and keyboard
- 2 MEC Merino wool shirts, short sleeve
- 1 Icebreaker Merino wool shirt, long sleeve
- 2 pair hiking shorts
- 1 pair of hiking pants
- 1 swimming trunks
- 3 pairs of merino wool hiking socks – Wigwam
- 3 pairs of hiking liner socks - Wigwam
- 3 pair of exofficio underwear
- 1 fleece sweater
- 1 North Face Rain Jacket and Rain Pants
- Patagonia Down Jacket - packable
- 1 backpack rain jacket / cover
- 1 pair of Keen hiking sandals
- 1 pair of Merral Moab hiking shoes
- camp towel
- 1 baseball cap
- 1 sunglasses
- 1 Merino wool hiking buff
- overnight bag, including tooth brush, toothpaste, camp
soap, tweezers, lip balm, deodorant, razor
- summer sleeping bag
- 1 Sea to Summit Food Container - Medium
- 1 SIGG water bottle
- 2 Camino Credential passports
- Scallop Shell
- 1 Day bag
- Nikon Camera, 3 FX lenses (birding scope, portrait, and superwide angle)
- 2 camera batteries
- Lens cleaning kit
- Camera Battery recharging device, phone recharging device
- European plug adapter with USB slots
- 1 Canadian passport
- wallet, bank card, cash (enough for 2-5 days, often 500
Euros split between two of us)
We also each carried 3 large Sea to Summit Dry bags to put our clothes, electronics, and journals into while in our bags to keep them separate and dry.
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