HUT TO HUT, CACHE MOUNTAIN & TOLOVANA HOT SPRINGS DOG SLEDDING TRIPS

PACKING LIST

Welcome!

This packet is designed to help you come best prepared for your multi day dog sledding tour. For your safety and comfort, it is imperative that you come with the gear detailed in this list. Winter in Fairbanks can seem like an intimidating prospect, but with our packing list and professional guidance, you will be WARM on your winter dog sledding adventure in Alaska!

When you arrive at the kennel one of the first things we do is go over the packing list, and pack only the essentials into bags that we provide (35L BlackHole bags). Our packing list is thorough. If it doesn’t fit, you don’t need it.

In the packing list, I have linked out to items as examples. You are by no means obligated to purchase those items. We do not have affiliate links either. If you are shopping for this trip, feel free to consult with us if you have questions. There are many affordable options for base and mid layers available online or at Costco, for example. While name brand stuff is nice and usually lasts much longer, at Arctic Dog we use a mix of affordable and expensive gear to best suit our daily needs.

Generally speaking, bring the warmest gear you have, and we will supply the rest. All of the gear you bring needs to be able to be comfortably layered on top of itself under the cold weather parkas we provide. We layer in accordance with the temperature outside. The coldest temperatures (-25F) would possibly require all of your layers.

Please read through the list, and if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact us. We want you to feel prepared and excited for your trip with us.

Best,

Lisbet Norris

Owner/Lead Guide

Email: lisbet@arcticdogco.com

Should you wish to download and print a copy, please click ‘File’>’Print’ above. You may also use the ‘Download’ option to save a PDF copy.

PACKING LIST

You will need to bring 3-4 progressively warmer layers to fit underneath the outerwear we provide. Make sure all your layers fit on top of each other.  Arctic Dog Adventure Co. will provide all checked items.

LAYER #1: BASE LAYERS

Base layers are the first layers that sit next to your skin. They need to be warm and wicking. No cotton. A set of baselayers includes a long sleeved top and bottoms.

  • (2+) Underwear. Minimum 2, maximum: however many you need to stay clean and dry.
  • (2) Ladies: Sports bras are best, wool or synthetic. One to wear, one spare.
  • (2) Midweight to heavyweight base layers for top and bottom. Merino wool is best. Polyester blends and synthetic are good. One set to wear, one spare.

LAYER #2 +:  INSULATING MID LAYERS

A mid layer insulates the heat your body naturally produces. The insulation in the clothing traps air, thereby trapping heat. Air between layers is important, and tight layers on top of each other will compress the insulation and significantly reduce the garment’s ability to insulate so make sure your layers comfortably fit on top of each other - one or two will likely need to be a size up. Not tut e: mid layers are not outer layers. Avoid jackets and pants with thick shells and knee length jackets as they do not layer well.

  • (2) Insulating mid layers for the top - wool or down/Primaloft, down or synthetic insulation.
  • (1) Insulating mid layer for the bottom - wool, fleece, synthetic or down insulation.
  • Optional: A down or synthetic vest with a chest pocket. Make sure this fits comfortably either over or under all your other layers.

Tip: Mid layers do not have to be expensive! Your bottom insulating layer doesn’t need to be a fancy brand, just lightweight and quick to dry (ie. not cotton sweatpants). Fleece pants are commonly sold as “pajama pants.” Look for 100% polyester. 

Tip: How to tell how “warm” a jacket is … the higher the down fill # the warmer the jacket (ranges from 600 to 850). Similarly, Primaloft or similar synthetic insulations start at about 40 grams and range up to 90 gram.

Tip for those who are concerned about cold toes: Insulating layers on your legs is what is going to keep your feet warm. If this is a major concern, we recommend making the investment in lightweight down or Primaloft pants as a second insulation layer. We love Mountain Hardware Compression or Ghost Whisperer Pants, but you can also find more affordable down pants like these Baleaf pants. Rab, Sherpa and Skhoop are other recommended brands that offer synthetic and down pants.

Tip: 100% wool sweaters can often be found at thrift stores for mere dollars!  Look in both men’s & women’s sections. Layering a thick wool sweater over a down jacket is a great way to protect your down from the sled dogs.

OUTER LAYERS

Insulating, windproof, and dog/water resistant. Arctic Dog will provide you with all necessary cold-weather outerwear.

  • Optional: Windshell/Hardshell jacket
  •  Optional: Snow Pants

 ✔️ Expedition-weight Apocalypse Design Alpine Parka

✔️ Insulated windproof/water-resistant overpants.

HEAD, FACE, HANDS & FEET

  • (1) A warm hat that covers your ears. Fleece lined works best for wearing a headlight & beanies work best for layering. Avoid long ear flaps.
  • (1) Goggles or sunglasses to keep sun/snow out of your eyes.
  • (2) Wool or fleece neck gaiter. One to wear, one spare.  
  • (3) Wool or wool-blend hiking socks. We recommend DarnTough Mid Weight Hiking or Heavyweight socks. Kirkland brand merino and wool blend hiking socks are also great.
  • Bama sokkets. Bama sokkets absorb the moisture your foot naturally produces and wicks it away from your socks. Dry feet are warm feet. Best practice is a midweight sock inside of the Bama sokket. Heavyweight socks are too thick. Break them in before you arrive at ADAC. It’s ok if you don’t, but this is best practice
  • (1) Camp shoes to wear in the cabin and run out to outhouse while your outer boots dry. Lightweight winter boots, house slippers, Uggs or similar. Something with a real sole works best— down booties are very slippery on snow.
  • Suggested: It’s nice to have an extra, lightweight, hat for sleeping/cabin lounging.
  • Suggested: Baseball/brimmed cap . Nice in the Spring (March onwards) to keep snow out of your eyes and sun out of your face. You will wear this underneath or over your warm hat.

✔️ Insulating mittens (large enough to spread your fingers).

✔️ Fleece gloves for working with the dogs.

    ✔️ Winter boots

    ✔️  Windproof over mitts

Tip: Layering socks. You cannot wear two pairs of the same kind of sock! It’s too tight. You will constrict your circulation and get cold quickly. If layering socks, make sure the sock going on top is a loose stretchy weave (like a homemade sock, or a large boot sock).

Tip: Wrist warmers (the tubes of worn-out wool socks make great wrist warmers when the foot is cut off).

MISCELLANEOUS (but still important!)

  • (1) Minimum 400 lumen headlamp plus extra batteries or external battery charger if no batteries. Batteries MUST be lithium as regular batteries do not work in the cold. Carry on only, do not check in airline luggage.
  • (1-2) Insulated water bottle or personal thermos, minimum of 32 oz. We recommend Stanley, Yeti, or Hydroflask. Nalgene bottles are not appropriate – they freeze quickly, even with their little jackets. We require you to drink at minimum .5 oz of water per pound of body weight per day.
  • Suggested: External battery pack if you will be using your phone for pictures (Goal Zero Flip 30 for example).

Tips for photographing the aurora: Most smartphones take pretty decent photos but the best results come from a GoPro on night setting or a DSLR camera on a tripod. A small travel tripod for aurora pictures (not a 35lb wind resistant tripod) helps keep your camera steady for best captures. Read up on the correct settings for your GoPro or camera so you know the correct settings to capture the aurora (how to adjust shutter speed, aperture, etc). We can provide some guidance, but are not experts in all the different types of cameras. If you do have a DSLR, bring a large Ziplock bag to prevent the camera lens from fogging up when going inside and outside of tent/cabin. If you do not take this precaution in the cold, you may ruin your camera.

TOILETRIES

  •  Sunscreen
  •  Chapstick
  •  Personal medications (divide out per day instead of bringing entire bottle).
  •  Toothbrush + toothpaste
  •   Tampons, panty liners, period panties, etc.
  •  Personal hand sanitizer. We like Dr. Bronner’s Lavender Hand Sanitizer the best.

✔️  Toilet paper

  • Suggested: Travel pack of wet wipes (human-grade, for your bottom or face, not Clorox cleaning wipes). Note these will freeze unless kept in pocket or thawed near woodstove.

Contacts/Glasses: In the backcountry, contacts are generally preferred over glasses (which fog up when nose is covered and when going in and out of cabins). Contacts & contact solution freeze & thaw well; you can also keep them tucked in an inner pocket to keep from freezing.

Ladies: We recommend Knix or Thinx leakproof panties for extra security and protection. These panties will give you an extra layer of security if you leak a little, or are on your period during the trip.

PERSONAL ITEMS

You are welcome to bring a personal item or two, such as a book, journal, Kindle, or set of PJs. Remember, the more you bring, the heavier your bag, the harder the dogs have to work, and the more you will have to help them 😅  While no one needs to cut the handle off their toothbrush, we do encourage you to pack only the necessities.

ITEMS ARCTIC DOG ADVENTURE CO. WILL PROVIDE:

✔️ Apocalypse Design Alpine Parka (outer jacket)

✔️ Gen III Level 7 Primaloft Puff Pants (outerpants)

✔️ Neos Overshoes with 9mm wool liners  (boots)

✔️ 1 pair of insulated fleece gloves for working with the dogs/mushing (gloves)

✔️ 1 pair Fox River wool mittens (insulating layer)

✔️ Army Surplus Windproof Overmitts (windproof outer layer)

✔️ Toilet paper + small trash bag

✔️ Snacks + Meals

✔️ Patagonia 45L Black Hole bag to pack your personal items in.

✔️ -30F Mountain Hardware Lamina Sleeping Bag

✔️ Exped DownMat 9 Sleeping Pad

DRESSING FOR COLD CLIMATES

“There is no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothes.”

                                — Norwegian Proverb

Learning how to dress for the cold is a skill.

The key to staying warm in cold climates is LAYERS. All of your clothing should be layer-able — meaning you should be able to wear all of it at once (and still be able to comfortably bend over to tie your shoes). Layers trap insulated air against your body, conserving the heat your body produces. Layers also allow you to more easily regulate your temperature by taking clothes on and off. Sweating in the cold is a big no-no... your clothes will become damp and you will quickly become chilled. You want to be warm, not hot! Act preventatively: if you are feeling chilled, don’t wait until you are cold to put more clothes on. Similarly, if you are feeling warm, don’t wait until you are sweating to unzip or take a layer off. Buy clothes in successively larger sizes; that way you can ensure that under layers are going to fit under over layers. For example: a M fleece jacket layered under a L down jacket.

Ideally, NONE of your clothing should be cotton!

This is very important! When cotton gets wet, it loses its ability to keep you warm. It also takes a very long time to dry out. The two exceptions are underwear and bama socks  — the breathability of cotton will help prevent chafing & the cotton in the bama socks absorbs moisture, keeping your socks and feet dry. That being said, wool underwear is still best :)

Cold Toes

This is the #1 concern of our guests! The easiest way to ensure warm feet is warm legs. Folks commonly neglect their bottom half, thinking if they keep the “core” warm, they’ll be fine. Wrong. There is a direct correlation between how many layers you have on your legs and if your feet are going to stay warm or not. If you are concerned about cold toes, we recommend down or Primaloft pants as a second insulation layer. We love Mountain Hardware Compression or Ghost Whisperer Pants, but you can also find more affordable not name brand down pants on Amazon. Sherpa and Skhoop are other recommended brands. Your feet will not stay warm if you do not have enough layers on your legs. Other important considerations are adequate hydration (when we are dehydrated, the vessels in our extremities (hands/feet) constrict) and movement.

Gloves

The gloves or mittens that you use while mushing need to be windproof and very warm. The best system allows for an insulated inner glove to be used inside a windproof outer mitt. We provide outer mitts, insulated mittens, and one pair of insulated fleece gloves to use working with the dogs/mushing.

Socks

Dry feet = warm feet. It is important to always be wearing dry socks when out on the trail. We recommend wearing 1 to 2 pair of wool socks, depending on the outdoor temperature. If it is colder than 15F, go for 2 pair, but only if your socks layer well and do not constrict your blood flow. One pair of good thick socks is better than squeezing a second pair on top of the first. Guides choice: one pair of Darn Tough medium hiking socks inside moisture wicking Bama sokkets (for more info on Bama sokkets see below) or one pair of super thick socks like Darn Tough Expedition Socks or WoolPower 800 socks. WoolPower socks layer very well over regular hiking socks.

Bama Sokkets

Guides' choice!! We HIGHLY recommend “Bama sokkets” in addition to a pair of socks inside your boots. They absorb all excess moisture inside your boot and keep your feet incredibly warm and dry. They are available for purchase at amazon.com (search for Bama sokket and your size in Men’s). Bama socks tend to be slightly thicker than a second pair of socks. They often feel tight at the cuff initially, but loosen with use. Sizing: Get the same size as your usual shoe. It is problematic when they are too long in the toe. Note that they only come in Men’s sizes. Men’s sizing is 1.5-2 sizes less than W’s. For example, I wear W 7.5 -8 and wear 5 and 6s in Bama Socks. You may consider getting one size up if you are going to wear thick socks inside of them. If you cannot find a pair of Bama socks, one super thick pair of wool socks (with one or two dry pairs on hand) will be just fine.

Boots

Arctic Dog will provide footwear for adults sizes 5-14. Good winter boots are at minimum 2-3x larger than your regular shoe size. Boots need to be big enough to allow you to wear two pairs of socks and still have room to wriggle your toes. This is KEY. In order to stay warm, your toes can NOT be constricted -- otherwise your blood flow will be impaired and your toes will get dangerously cold, fast. If you would like to bring your own boots, or invest in a pair for Northern travel, be sure they have a liner that can be taken out and dried at night. Sometimes we can put your own winter boots inside of Neos, but it is very rare that folks have winter boots sized appropriately. Rubber boots are to be avoided. Feet cannot breathe inside of them, so socks become damp, and therefore cold, much quicker than in a boot with a wool liner (which helps transport moisture away from the foot). Even in a pair of boots with a removable liner, the liner must be taken out every night to dry.

Lithium Batteries

Lithium batteries for your headlight are a MUST. Regular batteries do not hold a charge in the cold.

Feel free to call, text or email Lisbet to talk about any gear you may need outside of what we provide. We have owned and used a lot of outdoor gear, and may be able to supplement some of what you will need, give you recommendations on brands to buy or advice on items you already own. We want you to stay warm, dry, and comfortable on your trip with us.

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Questions? Concerns?  Please give us a call (907) 841-4694 or email hello@arcticdogco.com .