Arctic Circle Trail: Tips, Thoughts, and Recommendations

For those interested, here is a list of my gear that I have found works well for me. This is, of course, an affiliate link and your enjoyment of these may vary:

100 Peaks Amazon Gear List

Please keep in mind this is from someone who went in June during a year with a somewhat later snow melt.

Your experience later in the year could be very different and drier than ours. All information was based on my personal experience on the trail in late June 2022.

I am also used to North American alpine environments, where fabrics typically dry very quickly and the trails are typically wider and maintained to a degree. I was originally scheduled for the end of July, but a scheduling conflict arose and I started on June 25, 2022, arriving in Sisimiut on July 03, 2022.

There was more elevation gain and loss than the numbers appear to describe

A very useful, but not perfect, guidebook

The descriptions in Paddy Dillon’s guidebook Trekking in Greenland - The Arctic Circle Trail: From Kangerlussuaq to Sisimiut did not exactly match what was on the ground. When he writes “undulating,” he means multiple climbs and descents that are akin to doing multiple passes in a day.

For instance, the description of the day from the Innajuattoq huts to Nerumaq, he writes, “Apart from an initial gentle climb from a lake, the route is mostly downhill, passing fairly easily through a valley flanked by mountains.” For us, it was a windy, rainy, and boggy climb at the end of the lake through the clouds, with the trail dropping and rising over several miles while staying high in the mountains. We navigated through snow patches, and eventually dropped down to the valley floor.

Perhaps it’s because we went early in the season, but the guidebook often under-describes the day’s trail.

I am used to trails that go to the lowest point between mountains, not head straight up them. It was steeper than I thought it would be. Google Earth made the ACT look almost flat most of the time, when it truly isn't. And the trail felt longer than the distances indicated.

Many of the trail descriptions led me to believe that the trail would be far easier than the Sierra Nevada trails that I am used to. Several of the days ended a long day on the trail with an uphill section, when you are the most tired.

Don’t get me wrong, the guidebook is very useful and is a must-have for anyone hiking the Arctic Circle Trail, but, like any guidebook, take the descriptions with caution, as the author is a prolific trekker and might pay attention to parts of the trail that differ from your interests.

Recommendation: Be prepared for long challenging days and a variety of climbs and descents.

The trail is narrow

The trail is often only about the width of two of my shoes side by side, which is not a normal walking stance. I felt like I was walking on a balance beam for much of the trail and my ankles would roll on the edge of the trail over and over.

Sometime on the way up the hill on the last mile to Eqalugaarniarfik, I had a sharp pain in my right ankle that didn’t go away. I limped to the hut and checked it out. Somewhere, at a moment that I don’t remember, I sprained my ankle, tearing something in there. I’ve never had this before. Since I was only 50 miles along the trail, I simply had to walk on it for the next 50ish miles.

It could have been the narrow trail, or it could have been the 5 or so miles in the broad boggy plain on the way to the bridge. Your ankles will be bent all sorts of way by this trail. I wore Altra Lone Peak trail runners, but, in the future for this type of terrain, I would wear a different shoe that had more lateral support.

Recommendation: Wear shoes that are stiffer with lateral support so your feet don’t roll and slide around as much.

It was boggier than I thought it would be

One of the many wet portions of the trail

All of the research I did, and I did a lot, indicated that there would be boggy sections and some river crossings. What I encountered was 80-90% bog, mud, or the trail was a flowing creek or a small pond. My feet in trail running shoes were wet all day every day. My daughter, who had waterproof shoes, also had wet feet for much of the trail, as she sank into the tundra over the sides of her boots many times.

The conditions may be wildly different later in the year.

Recommendation: Always keep a dry set of everything, including socks, safe from rain and water. That gave me something to anticipate at the end of every day.

The Arctic Circle Trail is muddy at times

The air was wetter than I expected

Typical laundry hang on the Arctic Circle Trail

My research indicated that the ACT is in a desert, where things dry pretty quickly. Again, this may be different a month later, but my clothes, both synthetic and “wicking” merino wool, only dried out when there was sun and wind at the same time. Most of the time they dried out a tiny bit overnight and I was putting wet socks on my feet in the morning. Which didn’t make a difference, as even dry socks would be wet within minutes, as there would likely be a squishy wet section mere feet from the hut.

The location of Nerumaq, situated at the bottom of a valley, made it the wettest hut on the trail. The windows were covered in condensation in the morning and I had to open the vents, even though the temperature was close to freezing.

Also, since it was so humid, my down jacket wetted out from the inside, as I perspired, even on a freezing cold day. I had to use my stove to dry it out in a hut, as it didn’t dry overnight. I used gas to do that, since it was my primary insulating layer and I wanted to make sure I wouldn’t be at risk for hypothermia.

Recommendation: Wear synthetic down for the Arctic Circle Trail.

There were mosquitoes along the entire trail

Only the wind determined whether or not they would be present. Again, this might be different later in the year, but I was told by locals that the biting flies come out later, and they can be worse than mosquitoes. I was also told by locals that the mosquitoes thin out the more west we traveled. This was not the case.

Again, for us, only the wind saved us from the blood-sucking parasites. The good news is that any mosquitoes that made it into the huts mostly left us alone. I was thankful that someone had left deet in one of the huts, since I ran out quickly. More good news is that we had 3 very breezy sunny days out of 9 that were spectacular. There were also mosquitoes in Kangerlussuaq and Sisimiut.

Recommendation: Do not underestimate how much deet you may need.

The post office in Kangerlussuaq is completely closed on weekends

My research indicated that it would be easy to ship my “hotel clothes” and other non-backpacking items ahead to Sisimiut. Just head across the street from the airport and they’ll do it for you. I completely neglected to realize that the post office would be closed on the day I was to start on the trail. I asked a local and he said it would be closed until Monday. I had way too much gear to carry the entire way.

Recommendation: Make sure to leave time to ship anything on a weekday.

The Air Greenland Cargo office in Kangerlussuaq had a new sign indicating it was only open 8AM-10AM on Saturdays

Air Greenland Cargo Kangerlussuaq hours as of June 25, 2022

I showed up at 10:30AM and a worker pointed at the sign and shut the door. I asked an Air Greenland employee at the airport and she said they should be open until 12 or 2PM. She called them and shared the bad news with me. She saw the anguish on my face as I was calculating my next steps and she offered to take my bag to Sisimiut for me. She was an angel and saved me from having to leave my bag somewhere in Kangerlussuaq and arrive in Sisimiut with no clean clothes.

Recommendation: Only bring enough extra things to carry along with you on the Arctic Circle Trail or call Air Greenland ahead of time for hours before you go.

Hotel Sisimiut can take up to two days to launder your clothes

While we loved everything about Hotel Sisimiut, their policy, even though they have a “Hiker Special” that offers laundry, is that any clothes given to them before 10AM on day 1, will receive it sometime on day 2. Well, the most likely scenario for any hiker is that they will arrive in the afternoon on day 1, thus getting their clothes sometime on day 3. So the benefit of clean clothes is not really a benefit for hikers along the ACT who plan to stay at Hotel Sisimiut and take advantage of their Hiker Special.

We dropped off a bag of laundry just after check-in, and received it when we checked out, two nights later.

Again, we enjoyed our stay at the hotel, especially the food at the restaurant, but this caused me to have to wait around in dirty clothes longer that I had hoped after leaving the trail.

Recommendation: Bring one set of clean clothes with you along the trail.

The Sisimiut Airport, and Air Greenland in general, is closed on Sundays

Even Air Greenland’s customer service line was simply closed on Sunday, the day I walked into town. I arrived at Hotel Sisimiut with only very dirty clothes, no quick way to launder my own, and with a bag at the airport that I couldn’t retrieve.

We washed our dirty trekking clothes in the shower and slept in the hotel robes, hoping our clothes would dry by morning. The wall-mounted hair dryer in the room did not work.

Luckily, my clothes were mostly dry in the morning. I took a cab in the morning and easily retrieved my bag from the airport on Monday, paying the cargo fee, which I think only came out to be $10.54 USD. I had clean clothes for the rest of the trip.

The staff at the both Kangerlussuaq and Sisimiut airports were extremely friendly and helpful.

Recommendation: Again, bring one set of clean clothes with you along the trail to avoid potential logistical issues.

The huts were nicer than I anticipated

The Canoe Center was a wonderful hut take a zero day

I frequently go on multi-day backpacking trips where I stay in a tent, so the huts felt like luxury.

Perhaps it was my level of comfort, or my expectations, but the huts, although somewhat dirty (They ARE huts, you know), were very comfortable and we looked forward to reaching them every day.

It was great to get out of the rain, wind, and mosquitoes. It was great to have a shelf or table to cook dinner and breakfast. It was great to have clotheslines to attempt to dry your clothes. It was great to have somewhere to sit down, often an entire picnic table. It was great to have a pad, in some of them, to sleep. It was great, for most of them, to have a toilet to use. Kattiffik has a brand new toilet now, too.

And, above all, the huts were a great place to meet other people on the trail. We met a Greenlandic woman doing the trail on her own and we became a team of three, each with our strengths and weaknesses and her presence became a highlight of the trip. We also met a couple from the UK who had to hop off the trail to catch a boat to Ilulissat.

Although we did bring our tent, it was really nice to see the red huts at the end of the day, getting closer and closer, giving us a tangible goal.

Recommendation: Lower your expectations as to how clean they will be and embrace the basic shelter and comfort they provide.

The snow on the last day to Sisimiut wasn’t as bad as we anticipated

We had great fun navigating between rivers, bogs, and snow fields. We climbed high on the north side of the valley and avoided most of it. It was an amazing day.

We heard about waist-deep snowfields, and encountered some of those, but had no real issues. People who finished the trail a week after us encountered hardly any snow at all.

These snowfields are typically gone by early to mid-July.

Recommendation: If there is a lot of snow, stay high on the adjacent ridges, wherever possible.

The river crossings, except Ole's Lakseelv, were easier than I thought they would be

We kept our trail shoes on and just went through them, since we had wet feet. The icy water soothed my sprained ankle and washed the bog water and mud from them. We hiked ~5 challenging and soggy miles through the rain through the bog to the bridge, as the big river was really high.

My wool socks would keep my feet warm, even when wet, and my synthetic pants and trail runners would dry quickly enough so I wouldn’t get cold. Our trekking poles help stabilize us on the deeper crossings.

We started to look forward to the river crossings on sunny days, as they were refreshing and fun.

This was the widest crossing we encountered, near Innajuatooq II (The Lake House)

Getting to the bridge that crosses Ole's Lakseelv can be intimidating

Map of our Day 4 that shows the route to the bridge (Click to enlarge)

If it is early in the season and you’ve decided to choose the option to go to the bridge, then the view of the large valley below Ikkattooq can be intimidating. There is no trail that leads to the bridge and it’s hard to know if the bridge is even necessary, since you can’t see the river before you make the decision to either cross at the ford or take the bridge.

If I were to do it again early in the season, I would go left as soon as I got to the valley bottom, staying along the edge of the bottom of the mountains until I got far around the distant knob, then cross to the right, staying as high as I could along the small hills along the way.

The boggy floodplain - the bridge is in the hazy distance, not visible from here

Annotated photo of the Ole’s Lakseelv Valley (Click to enlarge) - Photo by Lisa Germany - Visit Greenland

We found litter along the trail

We saw a lot of what looked like toilet tissue. We couldn’t figure out why. It was just small amounts here and there, but very frequent. And also around any hut without a toilet. We normally pack out any used tissue or bury it at least 8 inches deep, far from the trail. Much of what we saw was right on the trail. We couldn’t figure out if it was the tourists hiking the trail or the locals hunting, or a little of both. It was a mystery for us for the entire duration of the trip.

Also, around many of the huts, there were empty dehydrated meal bags. It appeared that people dispose of them in nearby 55-gallon drums that are used for burning trash, but the inevitable high winds simply blow them back out over the landscape.

In a couple of locations we saw large discarded tents, likely from snowmobiles or ATVs, as well as reindeer hides and skulls gathered around in large quantities.

We also saw spent bullet shells and cigarette butts.

Recommendation: Carry out your waste, and make sure your tissue is buried at least 6 inches deep, far away from any hut or potential campsite.

The ATV road was a bummer

While we used it from time to time, if it happened to be nearby and drier than the proper trail, it really tore up the landscape and created a lot of muddy sections that overlapped the trail, causing us to lose the Arctic Circle Trail time and time again.

We saw sections where the ATVs drove side by side or avoided the muddiest part of the ATV road, creating increasingly wide swatches of muddy tracks, obliterating the trail and chewing up the landscape much wider than the ATV road itself.

We did not see any ATVs the entire time, probably due to how wet and muddy the trail was, but it definitely changed the view of a pristine landscape.

The food at Hotel Sisimiut was excellent, as was their friendly service

We had three meals there and were very satisfied every time. The staff went out of their way to make sure our experience was great. It was easily the best food while we stayed in Greenland.

Recommendation: Eat there.

Sisimiut is extremely charming

After spending half a day on my phone rescheduling my flights to get home, since SAS went on strike, we spent an afternoon strolling through the entire town, able to visit the old village in time for its closure at 4PM.

Please note the souvenir store closed at 1PM on a Monday. We walked down to the water's edge to enjoy the view. Our boat captain likely caught COVID so we didn't get a boat tour, which was just as well, since we needed to spend time booking our new flights home.

After seeing some photos taken near our time there, it seems like we would have likely seen whales.

The environment of the ACT was spectacular

Although there were challenges, each day had a different flavor. We had to pinch ourselves over and over, reminding ourselves that we had made it to Greenland, through Copenhagen, all the way from San Diego, CA USA.

We are already talking about coming back someday to backpack the Southern Route.

Recommendation: Stop to soak up the beauty, even on days with weather.

Bring or rent a device with messaging capabilities

Inreach Mini on the windowsill at the Lake House

I brought a Garmin Inreach Mini on the Arctic Circle Trail, as I do on all my backpacking trips. I have a subscription for the messaging service.

I personally don’t use the device to track my progress, I only use it for messaging purposes. I used it quite a lot to have conversations with my wife back home and still used only about 20% of the battery in 9 days.

Placing it on the windowsills of the huts worked great and messages were sent and received quickly without me having to go out into the mosquitoes or rain.

I have all contacts saved somewhere on my phone or written down. If you have text phone numbers of contacts, you will have a better chance of contacting them via Inreach Messenger

Also, download the EarthMate app and pair the device to your phone before you go. It is much easier to message via the phone app, rather than using the interface on the tiny device.

Also, know your Inreach's email address, so, if you are emailing someone with your Inreach for a boat ride, include it in the message, and they can easily email you back at the address and you will receive it on the device.

I also make sure I have a charging cable that matches the device, so I can recharge it on the trail with my battery pack if necessary.

Recommendation: Rent or purchase a Personal Locator Beacon device and know how to use it before you go.

Bring a wide-mouthed water bottle

My wide-mouthed Nalgene, always ready on my shoulder strap

I personally use a Nalgene wide-mouthed water bottle, and it made it really easy to get water out of shallow lakes shorelines and streams. I saw other people struggling to full up narrow-mouthed Sigg water bottles in the lakes and shallower creeks.

On top of the Nalgene water bottle, I use the humangear capCap to replace the existing lid on the bottle to make it easier to drink and pour. It adds a little weight, but I am able to drink water without it being so wide to get all over my face and can pour into smaller containers if I need to.

I had a second Vapur collapsible water bottle in case I needed to carry more than one liter at a time, but the numerous lakes and streams never made water an issue and I only carried one liter at a time while hiking on the trail and I never used the Vapur water bottle. Luckily, it is very light.

Recommendation: Bring a wide-mouthed water bottle. It is very versatile.

Bring a water bladder to haul a large amount of water

The Watercell was useful in preventing multiple trips to water sources

For the last few years, I’ve been carrying a Sea to Summit 6 liter Watercell ST. It is very lightweight and collapsible. After reaching each hut, I would go out and collect water from a lake or stream and have enough for the evening and morning. It has a cap, so I don’t have to worry about spilling or any insects getting inside. All three of us ended up using it every day.

Sometimes, when the lakeshore was shallow or the streams or rivers were challenging to reach, I would use the Nalgene bottle mentioned above to easily fill up the Watercell.

I used to carry a Sea to Summit foldable bucket, and sometimes still do. I also carried it on this trip and brought a lot of water to the huts, but the Watercell held enough water to make dinner and breakfast for us every day.

Recommendation: Bring something to hold several liters of water, as the water sources can sometimes be distant from where you are camped.

Albatros Arctic Circle was great

When I was looking for a company to help with logistics, I reached out to Albatros Arctic Circle. We used their services for their Ice Cap Tour and a transfer to Kellyville. They were friendly and on time. They can help you with a variety of things.

We communicated by email and even rescheduled the tour and transfer easily via email.

Great Arctic Circle Trail resources

Below are a list of links that can be helpful in planning for a backpacking trip on the Arctic Circle Trail

100 Peaks - The Arctic Circle Trail 2022 - 100 Miles in Greenland: My personal account of completing the trail
Arctic Circle Trail Facebook Group: A very active group that can answer most of your questions. Please search first and use the group hashtag topics before asking, since many questions have been asked repeatedly.
Official Arctic Circle Trail Website: This is relatively new as of June 2022, but is constantly improving and has a lot of great information. Be sure to take their hiking plan survey and the post-trip survey.
Trekking Greenland - Arctic Circle Trail - A blog by Lisa Germany. This is the main blog that inspired me to go on the trip. Contains a lot of great facts and is a nice narrative of her trip.

Sample costs from June 2022 - per person

Copenhagen
Boat Tour - 74.25 kr./$10.16
Bus Tour Upgrade - 113.25 kr./$15.50
National Museum - 110.00 kr./$15.05 (kids are free)
Italian Lunch - 186.50 kr./$25.52
Tivoli Gardens - 429.00 kr./$58.70
Train to Malmo Round Trip - 137.00 kr./$18.75
Sushi Dinner Malmo - 329.00 kr./$31.95

Sisimiut
Lunch at Market - 36.50 kr./$5.00
Hotel Sisimiut Fancy Dinner - 225.00 kr./$30.79
Sisimiut Museum - 35.00 kr./$4.79
Hotel Sisimiut Burger, Fries, and Soda - 55.00 kr./$21.21
Shipping Cargo Air Greenland - 74.75 kr./$10.54
Greenland Souvenir Mug - 69.00 kr./$9.44
Greenland Souvenir Pin - 29.00 kr./$3.97
Hotel Sisimiut per night - 1,595.00 kr./$218.25
Taxi to Airport from Hotel Sisimiut - $19.97
Taxi to Airport Round Trip to and from Hotel Sisimiut - $43.86
Albatros Ice Cap Tour kr.650.00 kr./$90.10
Albatros Transfer to Kellyville - 197.50 kr./$27.31

Kangerlussuaq
Hotel Kangerlussuaq per night - 1,775 kr./$246
Breakfast at Cafeteria for two - $13.36

Summary

If I can help someone else avoid some of the issues I encountered, I hope this information is useful.

The Greenlandic people we met were incredibly friendly, the landscape was amazing, and it was an adventure we’ll never forget. Thank you for reading.

If you have any questions please feel free to comment below or contact me.

Hi.

Aug 11 Arctic Circle Trail: Tips, Thoughts, and Recommendations