Below is our complete what to pack for the 3 high passes trek + Everest Basecamp list. We have been fortunate enough to visit Nepal on two separate occasions and complete some iconic treks in the Himalayas. We have always gone unguided and without porter support. The first time we completed the Annapurna Circuit and the last time the 3 High Passes Trek + we added on the Everest Basecamp. The first trek we did we had no idea what to pack, but after some trial and error on the first trek we now feel confident with our 3 High Passes Trek packing list + Everest Basecamp.
We highly recommend trying to go as lightweight as possible by staying in the tea houses / guest lodges and purchasing food there so you do not need to carry a bunch of extra weight. The 3 high passes trek is very high up for the majority of it so everything will be much harder than at lower elevations. Note: most tea houses / guest lodges expect you to purchase dinner and breakfast there and factor that into their price they provide you.
There are MANY gear rental options in Kathmandu. You can also purchase gear at an affordable price there. So if you are on a long trip or would rather not pack a lot on the plane you can always rent or purchase gear in Kathmandu. NOTE: not all gear is created equal so be careful with your selections. One of our friends trekking poles that he bought in Nepal right before the trek broke on a sketchy steep downhill.
If you’d rather see this content than read it. We have a What to pack of the 3 high passes trek list + Everest Basecamp video on our YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6DF41hM6VE&list=PLCVLGxXUukdJljTa07Dwf9xA2OIvrZNpF&index=7
3 High Passes Trek Packing List (+Everest Basecamp) Unguided
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Bags
- 55 – 65 liter backpacks
- Rain cover for backpack
- Very light and packable day pack for little side treks (optional but nice to have)
- (Optional) Dry bags for important items you want to make sure are kept dry – we brought for camera equipment, but this probably isn’t necessary for most if you have a rain cover for your backpack
Other Gear
- MicroSpikes for Cho La Pass (these can be purchased on the trek at Namche Bazaar for ~$9 and passed along to fellow trekkers going the opposite way on the way out)
- GPS Watch (optional if you have tracks on phone, but really nice to track progress). Make sure to download tracks on phone app and/or watch. We are old fashion and always bring a map as well 🙂
- Trekking Poles
- 3 litter water bladders + extra caps
- Large Thermal Water Bottles (so you can put hot or cold water in them)
- Head Lamps (we always bring and extra one, because we’ve had bad experiences with headlamps dying during terrible times) + Extra Batteries
- Sleeping bags (at least 15 degree F, if possible even warmer would be better) – Even if you plan on staying in tea houses / guest lodges the whole time you will need these. The blankets they provide are not sufficient. It is FREEZING!
- Sleeping bag liners to add extra warmth and if renting a sleeping bag they provide an extra layer of protection (rental bags smell)
- We LOVE THESE:
- Water filter
- Carabiner / lightweight rope (These always seem to come in handy for us so we bring a couple)
- MicroSpikes for Cho La Pass (these can be purchased on the trek at Namche Bazaar for ~$9 and passed along to fellow trekkers going the opposite way on the way out)
Clothing
- Light Weight Packable Puffy Jacket
- Gortext Hardshell Jacket
- Lightweight Fleece Jacket
- Base Layer Tops and Bottoms
- One – Two T-shirts each (we personally enjoy soft lightweight quick dry shirts)
- 1 Night-time only t-shirt (Optional: if you want a clean shirt to wear each night)
- 1 Long Sleeve Shirt (for sun protection) or 1 pair of sun sleeves:
- 3-5 active underwear: quantity is a personal preference (you can wash in sinks etc along the way if you want but it will be very cold so may not dry well)
- 1-2 night time underwear (optional)
- 1-2 hiking pants
- Liz’s (Women) Favs: Prana Halle and Prana Kanab
- Alex’s (Men) Favs:
- 2 Buffs (these are an absolute must because of the dust) Note: can be purchased in Nepal for cheap!
- 2-3 Smartwool hiking socks
- 1 liner sock (optional)
- 1 night time sock
- 1 pair of flip flops (you won’t want to wear your hiking boots after each day of trekking)
- Hiking Boots – We opted for low top and they worked just fine for us
- Lightweight Fleece Gloves
- Hat to protect from the sun
- Optional (sleeping eye mask)
- Sunglasses (we always bring an extra one in case one breaks)
- Sunglasses case too!
Toiletries (highly personal but this is what we bring)
- Sunblock
- Chapstick: Regular and one with SPF (NEEDED to protect lips. Having sunburnt lips is terrible and very easy to get at high altitudes)
- Shampoo / Conditioner / Soap – only need a little as you won’t want to shower much in the cold
- We love THESE small containers for that
- Facial Wipes (to clean face when you don’t want cold water on it)
- Wipes (We recommend at least 1 pp/day to clean yourself. You are not going to want to shower much in the very cold temperatures up there)
- Contacts / Solution / Glasses: I personally always ask my doctor for a mix of monthly and daily contacts and only use daily on trips like this to prevent having to bring contact solution
- Facials creams, toothpaste, toothbrush, deodorant etc
- Feminine hygiene products
- Highly recommend a menstrual cup for adventures like this. I (Liz) switched years ago and won’t go back to regular menstrual products. Test it at least a month beforehand to get used to it. I would recommend bringing some liner pads for the heavy days as well.
- Extra hairbands (if applicable)
- Hand Sanitizer
- Toiletry Case
Miscellaneous
- Snacks
- We brought some nuts and granola bars for those times we didn’t want to stop and eat at a teahouse for a snack and for going up Renjo La. NOTE: When you go up Renjo La you will not be able to stop for lunch at a teahouse because there is none for that stretch so plan to have snacks to get you through.
- Personal Medicines
- First Aid Kit (we always include bandaids, antibacterial cream, alcohol wipes, cold medicines (SUPER IMPORTANT as having a cold at high altitude is the worst), Benadryl, ibuprofen and acetaminophen)
- Wallet with cash to pay for food / lodging
- Passports
- Kindles (we love these for travel as you can fit a lot of books on them)
- Card game (optional but nice for acclimatization time)
- Mini washcloths
- We love these:
- Lightweight microfiber towel for showering (If we did it again we might only bring one and share it because we showered only 2x during the 18 days we were up there)
- Toilet Paper (1 roll to start, you can purchase along the way but it is quite expensive ~$4/roll)
- Chargers + batteries
- Highly recommend bringing a charging brick as almost all lodges have no plugs in the rooms. Most lodges have very limited plugs in the communal area and will charge you quite a bit to charge your devices. WE have used this charging brick for years and love it: (just make sure to have it on your carryon and you are not able to check batteries like this)
- Camera gear (optional: we documented the entire trip on YouTube so had a lot of gear this us, but obviously this is not applicable to most). To see our complete camera gear set up look at here: (Note: you are not allowed to fly a drone anywhere on the trek).
Well there you have it our complete ‘ What to pack for the 3 High Passes Trek + Everest Basecamp’ packing list. Please let us know if you found this useful and if we missed anything in the comments 🙂
Thank you and happy Nepal treks and travels!
Liz (Pursuing Mountains)