My dear mother...

She is doing some hippie turtle bus 27 day camping trip from Seattle to somewhere in Alaska in June. I’m trying to help her source proper gear.

She is worldly and won’t have any problems, but I’m trying to gauge her clothing needs. She is from Florida. 65 degrees with a breeze is cold. Looking at Yukon climate, 45° mornings and 65° afternoons should be expected in June. But I don’t know what comes with that...lots of rain, wind, etc.?

She’s got wool baselayers, wool socks, fleece mid layer and some wool sweaters, a decent rain poncho (though I’m pushing for a better rain jacket/shell), rain pants, and a mess of other stuff. We went to REI today and she got some more stuff. Needs a new pair of boots probably.


I’m sure bugs will be miserable. She’s getting a hat net, and has permethrin and precardin (I’m spelling those on the fly, I’m sure they’re wrong), so I expect she will be as good as she can be on those.

They can sleep on the bus or in tents. She’s bought some quick deployment tent and a sleeping bag with an extra merino wool liner and she’s bringing a woobie.

Please...any suggestions or ideas on what to expect weather wise? They will be stopping at towns every few days, and will be in relatively populated areas.

Thank you guys. I know several of you have BTDT with this stuff.

I lived in Anchorage for 5 years and know South-Central pretty well. It’d help to know stops as Alaska is 2.2 the size of Texas.

It’ll likely rain 1/3 of the days but the good news is that it’s typically a mist or light rain. Typically light enough outdoor activities can continue so she’ll want good breathable rain gear (non-breathable sucks for this) and waterproof boots. As far as camping, the cold comes from the ground so a cot is great (foam and blow up pads had the cold come right through).

Agree with tatortodd about the cot, although more for reasons of a 70 year old getting up and down from gound level. Although the choice of tent may preclude this. (I'm 60 , still tent camp and plan to for a while, and getting up and down is more of a chore these days.) Don't forget the foam pad for the cot, also for tatortodd's reason.

Squatting in the woods can also be a challenge, so some sort of foldable "throne".

Otherwise, I think you've hit it. Layers, breathable raingear, wool/ synthetics

Chief nuisances will be rain and bugs.
She will thank you if you talk her into a good Gore-Tex rain jacket.
She has Permethrin so presumably will be spraying her clothes to keep off mosquitoes, that’s good.
A decent pair of binoculars (e.g. Nikon Monarch 8x30’s or 8x40’s) will give her close-ups of the plentiful wildlife.

You might warn her that insect repellents containing DEET (like OFF and Cutters) will pretty much melt/destroy anything made of plastic or rubber, and many synthetic fibers used in clothing. If she isn’t already experienced with that phenomemon.

birkenstocks, tank tops, shorts with big pockets that she can stuff bear treats into. Any thing else she needs her hippie friends can help her with. That should about take care of it. Should turn out to be a great trip

Maga hat?

Never been to Alaska and have always wanted to....I admire her at that age taking that trip...awesome! Go her! Sounds like a great trip to take...keep us in the loop and tell us how awesome it was!

Health insurance.

The Milepost
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https://www.themilepost.com/

Apart from what's already been recommended, I'll throw this out.

https://www.themilepost.com/

This book was worth more than its weight in gold when planning my trip up the ALCAN. It's considered, "The Bible of the ALCAN". Even though she's on a bus trip, this has got a lot of information about the areas and towns she'll be travelling through.

Thanks for the suggestions so far...

Here are the stops (I was wrong on the starting point, excuse the repeats I just copied/pasted):
San Francisco
Eugene / Portland / Seattle
Canadian Rockies
Canadian Glacier NP
Lake Louise
Banff
Icefields Parkway
Jasper
Jasper/Mt. Robson
'Ksan Village
Lakelse
Ferry / Juneau
Juneau
Juneau
Ferry
Haines
Kluane NP/Kathleen Lake
Kluane NP
Whitehorse/Takhini HS
Takhini HS/Five Finger Rapids
Dawson City
Dawson City/Chicken
Chicken/Chena HS
Fairbanks / Chena Hot Springs
Denali NP
Denali NP
Denali NP
Anchorage


We talked about DEET melting stuff. She has travel/evac insurance (and damn good regular insurance). I tried to get her to spring for GoreTex, but she didn't want to spend that much on a coat/pants. She got breathable pants, and I am loaning her a breathable rain jacket (I've got a Goretex coat but it's buried in the bowels of my storage unit).

We talked a little about binos. She has some but they aren't very good. I'm going to recommend some smaller ones. Also still trying to decide what hiking boots/shoes to get. I'm steering her toward Keens because of how wide our feet are and finding them to be most comfortable.

I think she has the book you guys suggested. She's got several she's been perusing.

I just got home from spending a few days helping her recover from a minor medical procedure. Packing up some things to send her. She's full of fire lol.

Like I said, my biggest concern is her getting cold from rain/wind at 50-60 degrees. She gets cold below 70 degrees. That'll be interesting.

Wool beanie to sleep in. It will keep her warmer than anything. Some good flashlights and batteries. Handheld and hands free.

quote:

Originally posted by ruger357:
Wool beanie to sleep in. It will keep her warmer than anything. Some good flashlights and batteries. Handheld and hands free.

She's got a beanie and a neck gaiter, plus we got waterproof lightweight gloves yesterday.

I've given her guidance on flashlights. She has at least one good one (AAA Streamlight) for around camp, and she has a headlamp that will probably work OK. 8 AA and 8 AAA lithium batteries for the trip. I've suggested a rechargeable flashlight as well (see my question at the bottom).

June in the north though, won't be dark too many hours of the day.


She wants a portable powerpack/recharger. Anybody have some suggestions for good ones? I've got a few cheap ones but would like to get a quality one myself.

quote:

Originally posted by chongosuerte:
She wants a portable powerpack/recharger. Anybody have some suggestions for good ones? I've got a few cheap ones but would like to get a quality one myself.

Goal Zero, available at REI. My research is dated, but I seem to recall that the cheaper ones throttle back their output when the sun gets dim (clouds, etc., yes I know the sun doesn't really get dim, unlike myself), then don't ramp back up when it gets bright again without a "reboot". But like I said, my research is dated.

You can get a good quality rain jacket that isn't Gore-Tex. All the major players in outdoor jackets make one. It's hard to stay dry in heavy rain no matter what but a good coat a huge help. So is wool layers.

I like wool better than other synthetics for multi-day outdoor trips because it doesn't start to smell.

Anker is the name in battery packs.

If they are stopping in towns every few days I would take a large enough battery pack to make it from town to town. Get a plug that will do a quick charge of the power pack. Solar sounds good but can be a PIA. FWIW everyone that through hikes the AT these days just brings power packs and charges them in town every 4-7 days. Just get a pack large enough to meet her needs.

Make sure she keeps a set of sleep clothes that stay dry no matter what. You always want a set of dry clothes to put on in your tent to sleep in. I've put on wet clothes in the mornings to make sure I always keep a dry set for sleeping.

Sounds like your mom is an amazing lady. I hope I can still do such adventures at her age.

Goal Zero--buy once, cry once. Go direct to their website. Solar power rechargeable packs.
Kuiu--again, buy once, cry once. Lightweight, breathable.

If she is spending time at Haines, Alaska I hope she can get to the Lutak Inlet--in 2007 I saw bears catching fish there. Also did a 4WD tour with the Takshanuk Mtn Trail group--included a great fish fry. Went to the Lutak Inlet in a 1939 Packard.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/...s/72157603186276458/

flashguy

Maybe I’ve lived here in Alaska too long. It’s hard for me to think of any gear that you “need”
For Alaska but wouldn’t “need” elsewhere...

Basic camping gear should be fine, boots that fit and some good rain gear.

Every year when my friends come up to hunt/fish/backpack it’s “what rifle should I bring for AK????”, what fly rod do I need there??? Etc etc and my answer is always to bring the same stuff you normally use.

quote:

Originally posted by Greymann:
Maga hat?

Will get you lynched in kanuckistan, but you'll be welcomed in 99% of Alaska.