THE ULTIMATE PACKING LIST FOR KOM-EMINE IN BULGARIA

As we all know, the less you pack, the more enjoyable the hiking is. Especially, if you have to cover hundreds of kilometers like myself. I walked Kom-Emine in Bulgaria with a 10,5 kg backpack, and that is without water. Even though, I’m not ultra light yet, I’m quite happy with the progress I made since the last year, and the years before as well. In this blog post, I’m going to share with you the ultimate packing list for Kom-Emine, a 600-kilometre hiking trail in Bulgaria, which I had the biggest pleasure walking between June and July 2024.

FOOD & WATER

You can resupply on the trail, but it’s not always a given. As a general rule, you will walk through at least one mountain hut every day, but according to the official information, you cannot expect getting food there without calling beforehand. Luckily enough, I did not have issues with that, and got a warm meal every time I got to the hut with no prior request. Nevertheless, you do need to eat something throughout the day, before reaching the mountain hut. With that being said, I started Kom-Emine with 12 dehydrated meals and a few protein bars in my bag, and on top of that, I stopped in every town on the trail to buy some groceries and restock my supplies. For detailed information about how I planned my meals, go to a separate post.

HIKING & CAMPING GEAR

Even though I spent most of the nights sleeping in the huts, I still brought a tent on Kom-Emine. Wondering why? Well… according to the official information, you do need to call the huts in advance to announce your arrival. I couldn’t imagine myself calling the huts and trying to communicate in broken Bulgarian every day, so I truly didn’t know if I get a bed or not. In addition to that, there is very little infrastructure for tourists at the end of the trail, towards Black Sea. Chances are you will have to set up a tent anyway. For me, it turned out all good, no one refused me a bed, but it’s also worth pointing out that I did Kom-Emine just before high season. For more details about accommodation on the trail, check out a separate post.

CLOTHES & SHOES

Last year, before going to Corsica to walk the GR20, I was truly convinced that I packed an absolute minimum. This year, it turned out it’s actually possible to pack even less. I walked Kom-Emine with two sets of clothes, which means I didn’t take the third set dedicated for sleeping only. Was that enough? Yes! Every night I did my laundry in the huts and walked in a refreshed set the next day. Another thing is that this time I took hiking sandals as an addition to regular hiking shoes, and honestly speaking, that was a great decision. There are plenty of asphalt roads on Kom-Emine, and imagine walking on them on a blazing hot day. I’m pretty sure the sandals saved me from some nasty blisters. They were very handy in the huts too.

TOILETRIES & FIRST AID

There are a couple of things that totally surprised me in the Bulgarian mountain huts. First of all, every hut was equipped with toilet paper. Well… that’s not really common on long-distance trails. Second of all, most of the huts had showers with hot water. Another shocker! I know. Lastly, showers in Bulgaria hang above the toilet like in Asia. It’s not a big deal to be honest, just something that surprised me. When it comes to facilities in the huts, you can expect literally anything. Some huts are really basic, and some of them have comfortable double rooms with a private bathroom. Although, the latter doesn’t happen too often. For more information about the huts, go to a separate post. Details about my toiletries and first aid kit below.

ELECTRONIC GEAR

Here’s the heavy stuff! As a professional blogger and content creator I can’t imagine going on such an epic adventure without any photo-video equipment. Normally I would take a full-size camera and a drone, but this time, due to the number of kilometres to be walked, I decided to reduce the equipment and take only the drone. The electronic gear added up to 2 kg anyway, so it’s still a lot. When it comes to recharging devices on Kom-Emine, it wasn’t too hard. There were sockets available in almost every hut completely for free. Sometimes it was possible to plug in and recharge in the room, sometimes it was necessary to leave the devices in a common area. If you plan to go wild camping, charging may be a little more problematic.

SUMMARY

My goal is to be ultra light and I will definitely keep improving my gear and the way I pack for long-distance hikes in the future. For now, I’m pretty happy with what I have achieved in terms of my base weight. All stuff I packed was constantly in the use, maybe besides the first aid kit, which is actually a good thing. I wasn’t lacking anything either. At the beginning I thought that I packed too many power banks, but at the end of the trail, when I was mostly wild camping, I did need them. As a summary, this year my backpack weighed 10,5 kg with no water in it, and the progress was made mainly through buying a lighter sleeping bag and mat, and though taking less clothes comparing to the last years’ GR20. Can’t wait what next year will bring!

This is the ultimate packing list for Kom-Emine in Bulgaria. When are you planning to do this hike? Let me know in the comments!

Hey, it’s Karolina, the author of this blog. If you find my content valuable and helpful, I would be more than grateful, if you could support my work, and buy me a coffee. I do love writing my blog, and creating content for you guys. Thank you!