Patagonia

We went to Patagonia for 8 days and Buenos Aires for 3 and fit in carry on luggage. Here are some tips so you can pack efficiently too. Note that we did not camp. We stayed in very nice hotels. People were still in their hiking gear at dinner. There might not be laundry in the park, ask your hotel. Patagonia is not a fashion scene. Only bring gear that keeps you comfortable.

The type of hiking we prepared for

On a typical day, we hiked 2-3 hours and then sat for lunch. We then moved to another hiking location. We were never three hours from our 4 x 4. Some hikes were difficult, most hikes involved elevation. I would have liked to do full day hikes, but I wasn’t in charge of booking this trip. I think if I were doing full day, 6-8 hour hikes, I would have had the same pack, just more water and snack bars. I probably would have added a rain cover for my backpack. When it rained hard, I left my pack in the car and wore all my layers on really rainy hikes.

Packing

Whether hiking short or long hikes, you need to bring layers and have a backpack that can fit layers if you get some hot weather. You don’t need a lot of each item. But I do suggest bringing all the items listed below.

My daily back pack included:

• Rain jacket and rain pants (fully waterproof, not water resistant)

• Puffy jacket

• Fleece

• Sunglasses

• Readers

• Sunscreen stick

• Bug stick (though no bugs bothered us, I hear this is possible)

• Lip balm

• Water bottle (they have filtered water at hotels that you can use to fill your bottle)

• Snack bar

• Warm hat (baseball hats blow off)

• Gloves (two pairs)

• Buff

• Didn't bring but wish I had

  • Rain cove for pack (didn't bring but wish I had)

  • Hiking poles (many hotels have these for loan. I have never hiked with poles. But our guide said that poles take 30% of the weight off your legs. Poles aren’t just for balance; I found this intriguing. If you have knee issues (which I do), or are going for long hikes, you might want to bring poles. Note, that when you use poles, your hands are exposed. Make sure your gloves are warm as well as windproof and rain proof -- or bring two pairs. Also, make sure your backpack has straps to accommodate the poles when you don’t want them.

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More Detail

Rain and wind layer. This is includes both pants and a jacket. BOTH MUST BE WATERPROOF! I suggest this layer be newer so it truly has fresh water protection.

Light rain/wind jacket. I suggest a nonbrand thin jacket with a hood that has pit zips. I used my zippers quite a bit. It gets hot in the jacket when you hike and it is nice to release the heat when weather allows. I bought mine oversized (a size up). This is great because it fits layers underneath. Also, a decent jacket should have elastic ties around your head so you can keep the sideways rain from entering your face and traveling down your back. I didn’t use the ties at the bottom of my coat to keep heat in and wind out, but I was very glad for the extra long sleeves with Velcro -- I appreciated the extra wet protection around my gloves. I sucked my hands into my sleeves when it rained and it kept my hands dry. It only rained sideways one day, but man – I was glad to be dry. The jacket was mainly used for wind protection. The wind can be very cold and damp. It whips down the valleys and glaciers with a Chicago level chill at times. Your jacket can whip around loudly so its nice if you can synch the hood down around your face to keep the wind out from rattling your hood around and off.

Light rain/wind pants. These pants are great if they have zips on the side so you can put them on and off easily. Mine had two-way zips. This allowed me to use open a foot-long gap if I wanted air or zip tops up or down so I could easily take the pants off over dirty boots. They were just elastic at the top.

Head

• Skull cap. You want a medium weight skull cap that fits in your pocket and can fit in your jacket hood. No pompoms.

• Buff. A light weight buff is a fantastic add. I thought there was no way in hell I was going to wear one, and I threw one in at last minute. I used it a lot. Bring the lightest weight one you can find. It took the edge off wind burn, acted as a cover for wind in my ears when I didn’t want a skull cap, added needed warmth, and could also act as a hat. I wasn’t winning red carpet awards, but I was comfortable.

Sunglasses. Bring glasses that fit in your pockets. You are constantly taking them on and off. It might be nice to bring a tiny glasses bag protector for you glasses so they don’t get scratched.

Feet

• Boots. I always just hike in sneakers. I find hiking boots to be too stiff. But I didn’t want my feet to be wet all week, so I took advice and got boots. You need your boots to be waterproof. My husband wore Salomon waterproof mid-height boots and those failed. His feet were soaked. My friend, her husband, and I went to Danner and bought boots. Our feet were dry. Both us girls got the military style boots, the men’s was a leather waterproof boot. I liked our boots because you could wear them untied to the ankle and they could get air. Or you could tie them tight for more support and weather proofing. They also allowed movement - they bent with our feet. Some boots are like wearing tissue boxes. I didn’t like that you had to lace the lace through the hole instead of a hook so it took time to fully lace an unlace. But, other than that, the boots were great. Leather and goretex I think are the best combo.

• Socks. I brought four pairs of Danner wool socks. I would also advise wool because they dried fast.

• Sneakers, I brought running shoes as well. I wore these in and around the hotel and during outings before coming to Patagonia. You want something to wear while your dirty boots are airing out.

• Sandals (these were for Buenos Aires, but I also wore them to dinner). These Mephistos are my favorite travel sandal. I was able to walk 15,000 steps a day in Buenos Aires in these things. They are ugly but I appreciated having my toes out. If you are just going to Patagonia, don’t bother with these.

• I don’t think you need flip flops. If the hotel had a spa, there were slippers.

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Layers

Top

• Waist-length down puffer. I have this fantastic light weight down puffer from Canada Goose that scrunches down to the size of a small loaf of bread. I wore that most of the trip. It has stretchy side panels which allow for unrestricted movement.

• Fleece jacket. I also wore this daily

• T-shirt. I brought 5 t-shirts. My friend wore the equivalent of long sleeve t-shirts but I think they were wool. This layer is rarely seen so wear what makes you comfortable.

• Bra. You don’t need yoga tops or sports bras unless that is your jam for hiking

Bottom

• Hiking pants. I brought 2 pairs of hiking pants. I think the best ones were the more heavy duty ones. There are quite a lot of pricker bushes when hiking and the heavier material repelled those.

  • I saw some people with reinforced Gortex or rip stop patches at the ankles. I truly think this is a way to go if you are going for full or multi-day hikes. 

• Lululemon light weight hikers. There were very thin and did wear them. But there were tiny rips in them by the end of the first hike. The rain pants would have protected from this, but it wasn’t windy or rainy our first hike. They layer felt fine from a temperature stand point, but the prickers had their way with my pants.

• There is no need to bring shorts. I brought two pairs (this was wishful thinking)

• I brought long underwear but never wore it. It was just a set of Lululemon yoga tights. My friend wore hers some days, but it gets warm under layers when you hike. 

• Underwear. I always pack an insane amount of underwear. It's tiny. I brought 10 pairs so I could change after hiking. I also did laundry.

Gloves

I brought two small pairs and recommend doing so. One was water resistant. The other pair was those cheap knit ones. I got mine at a Kraken hockey game; they were probably 30 cents. BUT I was glad to have both. The knit gloves are more comfortable than the rain resistant ones. And when the resistant got wet, I had my second pair that dried quickly.

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General wear.

• Jeans. I love jeans and always travel with them. My “dress up”outfit was a very lightweight relaxed fit, stretch pair of jeans. I wore these to most dinners.

• Sweater. I brought a fashionable cashmere hoodie loose-fit sweater that I could hike in or wear to dinner. I wore it almost every night.

• PJs. I just brought a small pajama set that was basically a t-shirt and boxer. It was warm enough at night and if I was cold, I could put on a fleece. I never had to do this.

• I brought a long sleeve under layer. I wore it once under my t-shirt on a particularly cold day. I am not sure I needed it.

• General outfits. If you continue to Santiago or Buenos Aires, pack a separate packing cube with 2-3 outfits. It is hot there. I would recommend a skirt because a couple nicer shirts and one easy travel dress. I wore my dress twice in Patagonia to dinner that I accessorized with a scarf and a long necklace. We stayed in very nice hotels the day before and after the park. Jeans would have probably been fine, however. The hotels just outside the park have cruise ship people coming from Antarctica and they tend to look nicer. I wore the dress two more times in Buenos Aires for our Michelin Star restaurant outings.