I recently went hiking in the Fagaras mountains. I spend a lot of time preparing before this trip, but I still managed to forget a couple of important things. I’m writing this article because this kind of information would have helped me a lot. I hope it will help you as well.
Preparing for a multiday hiking trip is obviously very important. You have to think about food, shelter, clothes, etc. The last two are especially important if the weather is unpredictable and possibly very bad. In the Fagaras mountains you can expect unpredictability and possibly a lot of rain. You want to be prepared for that. In this article, I will discuss how you should prepare for hiking in the Fagaras mountains. This will include a list of gear that you should bring along. I dedicated another article on mapping out your perfect trail in the Fagaras mountains.
Clothes
Let’s take a look at what clothes you should bring. The weather can be a little bit unpredictable and it can get pretty cold in the mountains. This means that we should prepare for both cold rainy days and warm sunny days.
Preparing for hot sunny days is fairly easy. A good hiking shorts, two t-shirts, sunglasses and a fitting hat should suffice. I like to have one tight t-shirt and one that is a bit more loose, this way I can wear both of them at the same time on a cold day. Additionally, bring sunscreen. The sun in the mountains can be very treacherous and you will get burned before you know it.
Preparing for cold days is a little bit harder. The coldest moments will be in the evening, after you stopped hiking for the day. If you are planning on sitting outside for a long time you might consider bringing an additional sweater.
Try to bring a lot of layers, you could consider bringing a thermal top and thermal pants. However, you don’t really need it because it will never go a lot below zero during the day. Bringing a tank top is never a bad idea because it does not weigh a lot anyway.
My suggestion would be to bring a tank top, two t-shirts, a lightweight sweater, a soft shell jacket and a rain jacket. On a cold day, you could wear all six layers. You don’t need to bring these exact pieces of clothes, but you should bring a lot of layers. Bringing a very heavy sweater that you will barely use is simply not worth it.
I also like to bring long pants on any hiking trip. This could either be used to keep your legs warm or to protect them from the sun.
For a complete list of what clothes you should bring on a mountain hike, check out this article: Mountain hiking clothes: complete checklist.
Shelter
In my other article Beautiful hiking trails in the Fagaras mountains I already covered the topic “where to sleep”. I will quickly go over your options in this article as well.
You basically have three options, cabanas, refuges or bringing a tent. If you decide to go to cabanas you do not have to bring any sleeping gear, there are beds and blankets at the cabanas.
However, going from cabana to cabana is very challenging (you will sometimes have to cover a lot of distance in one day). You might get in trouble because of the weather or because you overestimated yourself. Therefore, I recommend to always bring at least a sleeping bag. This way you can sleep in a refuge in case of an emergency.
If you want to be sure that there is a bed available in every cabana you will have to make a reservation. This might be needed if you go in July or August.
If you plan on sleeping in the refuges, bring a good sleeping pad and a good sleeping bag. Your sleeping bag should be comfortable at 0°-5° celsius at least. If you don’t have a good sleeping bag and have no idea what sleeping bag you should buy, I would recommend something like the Teton Sports LEEF Ultralight Mummy Sleeping Bag. When buying a sleeping bag, make sure to think about weight, size and temperature.
Your last option would be to sleep in a tent. I would advise everyone who enjoys camping to bring a tent. There are a lot of very nice camping spots. If you want to do this, you will obviously need a good tent, but you will also need a very good sleeping pad.
My recommendations would be to either buy the Therm-a-Rest Z Lite Sol Ultralight or Therm-a-Rest ProLite Ultralight Self-Inflating Backpacking Pad if you like a bit more comfort.
When it comes to buying a tent, I would recommend the quickhiker ultralight 2 as the best hiking budget tent. However, I’m not sure if you can buy them everywhere in the world. A good alternative would be the Alps Mountaineering Lynx Tent – 2 Person.
Food
Another very important thing to consider before leaving is food. You can buy meals at the cabanas. However, you can’t rely on cabanas when it comes to buying food that you will eat while you are on the trail. You might be able to buy something, but you can’t be sure. Only at lake cabana you will be able to buy something.
This means that you will have to have food with you before you start climbing the mountains. How much you should bring obviously depends on how long you want to stay without resupplying.
You can also find some wild edibles on the trail (mainly in the valleys), but this is once again something you should not rely on. However, if you want to know more about this topic you can read living off the land while hiking and camping.
When thinking about food you should consider bringing the right amount of protein sources, carbohydrate sources and fat sources. Additionally, you should get your vitamins. I devoted an entire article about how to eat healthy on the trail, feel free to check it out.
You will burn a lot of calories while you are hiking in the mountains. Therefore, breakfast, lunch and dinner will probably not be enough. Bringing the right snacks can make a huge difference. If you want more information about bringing the correct hiking snacks, you can read The 5 best hiking snacks.
There is one big issue if you want to do the entire ridge without resupplying. You will need to carry a lot of meat for a pretty long time. Your food could spoil before you know it. The easiest solution to this problem is to dehydrate all the food you need before you leave for the trail. My personal recommendation when it comes to food dehydrator is the
Excalibur 3926TB 9-Tray Electric Food Dehydrator. I also reviewed this specific food dehydrator Excalibur 3926TB food dehydrator review.
Cooking material
Now that we have our food, we still need to be able to prepare it. I am assuming that you are bringing some kinds of cooking stove. If you really don’t want to bring one you could also consider cold soaking.
Except for a stove you should also have something to cook with. To make it simple, I would recommend buying the Gold Armour 17Pcs Camping Cookware Mess Kit. It includes a stove and all the required cooking material. Also, it is fairly cheap.
Another reason why a stove can come in handy in the mountains is that you can use it to melt and boil snow in case you need drinking water fast. You don’t always find water at the higher altitudes. When it comes to purifying the snow/water I would still recommend using a water filter instead of boiling it. It will take less time and you will save gas.
Backpack
Next up, what backpack should you bring to the mountains. I brought the Nomad Batura 55 with me, but there are plenty of options here. Let me go over what you should think about.
Think about the size of you backpack. I always feel like a smaller backpack forces me to bring less stuff. Which means I automatically have a lighter bag. However, don’t make compromises when it comes to the essentials.
Also, make sure everything inside your backpack is completely safe from heavy rainfall. There are a couple of things you can do to prepare for this. Make sure you have an excellent rain cover. These are not expensive and can make a huge difference. Additionally, put everything in plastic bags. Especially your sleeping bag.
Another thing you should worry about is packing your backpack correctly. You can find all the information you need about this topic in the following article backpack weight distribution.
Hiking gear
Let’s cover additional hiking gear. To be honest, none of these are absolutely required during the summer months. However, I would still recommend most of this gear anyway.
There is a good chance that you will encounter snow and ice in the Fagaras mountains. Especially if you go outside the summer hiking season, but even in the summer months you could find yourself surrounded with snow. Therefore, it is never a bad idea to be prepared.
A good rope is something that can always be useful when hiking in the mountains. Especially when snow could be an issue.
You can basically bring a good set of walking poles on any hiking trip. But it might even be more useful in the mountains. Note that this is definitely not required, only recommended.
If you plan on conquering the Fagaras mountains outside the summer hiking season, double check the conditions and consider bringing an ice axe and crampons.
Bear territory
If you are thinking about hiking in the Fagaras mountains you probably already knew that this is bear territory. If this is the first time you are going to hike in bear territory you might be a little bit nervous. However, there is really not that much to be nervous about. Bears will always try to avoid humans when they can. You should be aware that there are a couple of mistakes you do not want to make while hiking in bear territory.
The first thing to realize is that, in general, bears will try to stay away from humans. In certain areas, however, bears have become used to being around people. They started to link people with food. This is why you should never ever leave any food on the trail.
Make sure to constantly make some kinds of noise. If you hike in a group, you will probably talk with each other, but if you hike alone it is advisable to attach a bear bell to your backpack.
Some people like to bring bear spray on their hike as well. Chances are very low that you will need it, but it might bring you peace of mind.
You do not want to keep any food in your tent. This is probably the biggest mistake you could make. You can try to find a tree where you can hang your bag in. Make sure this tree is far enough away from your tent. Additionally, you should wash and cook at least 100 feet away from your sleeping area. You can find more information about this subject in this article https://www.princeton.edu/~oa/training/bearbag.shtml.
In the Fagaras mountains there will not always be a tree around your camping site. You could either camp near a shelter and put your food inside this shelter. Or you could bring a bear canister. This bear canister should also be stored at least 200 feet away from your tent. You should try to hide it in a bush or between the rocks. Even if this attracts bears, they should not be able to open the canister.
Note that you should not only put your food in the bear canister, but anything with a strong smell. This means you should store your toothpaste, soap and sunscreen outside your tent as well.
Reception and battery life
There is not always receptions in the mountains. Especially on the west side off the ridge there was often no reception. Your best bet is to get a signal is at the peaks.
You might be able to charge your phone at the cabanas. However, you can’t be completely sure. The cabana in Sambetei valley for example did not have power when we slept there. Even if you plan on sleeping in the cabanas it is probably better to bring a power bank on your trip.
There is no electricity in the refuges except for one new refuge at Caltun lake, but that one is built for emergency situations only.
If you want more information about how to keep your devices charged while you are hiking you can read this article How to keep your devices charged on the trail.
Conclusion
Preparing for a trip in the Fagaras mountains in pretty similar than preparing for any other hiking trip in the mountains. Bring the right clothes, make sure you have figured out where you are going to sleep (unless you have a tent of course), bring the right gear and bring food.
Oh and I haven’t mentioned good hiking shoes yet. However, this should be fairly obvious. For some good cheap hiking shoes, I can only recommend this link.
Make sure to read perfect trail in the Fagaras mountains if you have yet to figure out what trails you will follow.