When you Arrive
A warm hut is a happy hut—keep the wood stove stoked. The stockpile of firewood is a privilege. Replace what you use.

A sawhorse, a railing, or a pair of benches is a good place to tune skis, hang skins, dry socks, or cure meats.

Board games are to huts as gin is to juice. Party of two? Backgammon. Party of four? Texas hold ’em. Big old party? Slap the bag.

Shovels are good for clearing snow off the sun deck and building kickers (extra points if they’re visible from the hut’s windows).

Take a book, leave a book: a novel hut-trip tradition.

A good hut kitchen comes stocked with:
Pot: For melting snow, cooking stew, and mulling wine.

Stove: Wood or propane.

Tools: Pans, knives, cutting board, assorted spices, cooking oil, dish soap.

Light: Candles, lanterns, and/or flashlights for navigating in the dark and adding effect to late-night ghost stories.

Things you should bring:
Cook: In our illustrator’s vision, this person should be female, possibly barefoot, and handy with an old-time water pump.

Smokables: Your favorites.

Coffee: With cream and sugar for dawn-patrol pick-me-ups; black for the common hut hangover.

Wine: In a bag (we like the Climber pouch from Clif; $17, cliffamilywinery.com) or box (a Tetra Pak from Bota Box has the equivalent of three glasses in a recyclable handheld vessel; $5, botabox.com).

iPod and travel speakers: Wood cabins have great acoustics.

Portable solar panels: Power just about any device without batteries or an electrical outlet—if you must.

Toilet paper: For obvious reasons. A few sheets stacked together make a decent coffee filter in a pinch.