What to Pack for an All Day Walk In Wales?

Wales is a place I’ve visited on many occasions, mostly to go walking in Snowdonia.  I was asked by Visit Wales and Berghaus what I would pack for Wales.   To keep it fairly straight forward, I’m keeping this focused on what I would pack for an all day walk.

Packing for a walking trip does largely depend on the weather conditions, but generally this is what I pack/wear in my rucksack for an all day walk.

The weather at the bottom of a mountain compared to the weather at the top of a mountain can vary quite a lot so you need to be prepared for everything, but at the same time you don’t want your rucksack to be weighed down.  Having walked up many mountains I have learned and adapted my clothing and rucksack so I carry the least amount possible but still carry the essentials that I might need (hopefully I haven’t forgotten anything!)…

Clothes!

This is what I would wear on a typical day walking (obviously this would vary dependent on the weather, but if not wearing then I’d definitely be carrying in my backpack)…

x1 pair of walking trousers, x1 long-sleeved base layer one that’s suitable for hot or cold climates and a t-shirt to pop over the top (quite often when walking this is all I would be wearing) and a buff, x1 fleece type layer (possibly a hoodie) and a waterproof jacket.

This is my essential clothing list, but I would also carry in my bag a warm hat, a sun hat, a pair of waterproof gloves like Sealskins and some waterproof trousers.

Food & Drink!

If going on an all day hike I would plan to carry a couple of bottles of water or energy drink, I tend to carry less as I’m notoriously bad at drinking whilst out….I am working on that!

Same with food, I don’t tend to eat a lot so I don’t bother to carry too much and weigh bag down with food I know I won’t eat.  My go to foods are granola bars or flapjacks, bananas and sweets and chocolate (like wine gums and Mars bars – something that’s high in sugar basically).  And that’s pretty much it, again I’m working on increasing my food intake.

Everything Else!

I always tend to carry a few bits of first aid items, mainly a selection of pills (Paracetamol and Ibuprofen), plasters/compeed blister plasters and a pack of tissues…The mountain drip (nose) is quite common and it’s always handy having some tissues for when this starts!

So that’s my typical kit list for an all day walk in Wales (obviously this would apply to any place I would be planning on walking)…. What do you tend to pack?

*I was sent a Berghaus backpack and goodies in return for this post…All words are my own.