Brian Waddington Hut

About the Hut

The Brain Waddington Hut is the VOC's newest hut. You'll find it in Phelix Creek on the shores of Long Lake, near the peaks of Mt. Aragorn, Shadowfax, Gandalf and Peregrine. The hut is open to all non-motorized users, and no reservations are taken. Club trips have priority during the peak holidays seasons (Christmas, New Years, Reading Break and Easter) so it is best to contact the VOC about visiting during these times. A donation of $5 per person per night is suggested.

Also see the VOC website static page for the Brian Waddington Hut.

Facilities

The Brain Waddington Hut sleeps about 20 people in relative comfort, and more in a pinch. There is an outhouse not far off behind the hut. Water can be collected from a nearby stream, even in winter.

The following are provided for your enjoyment:

• 2 Coleman double burner stoves
• 2 Coleman lanterns

• Various pots and fry pans
• 2 disfunctional kerosene heaters - these have been ruined by misue, especially by using the wrong kind of fuel in them.

Note: On pain of death, only use white gas (Naptha, Coleman Camp Fuel) in the stoves and lanterns.

A small library is provided for the enjoyment of hut users. At present this library contains mostly more recent editions of the VOC Journal.

• VOCJ 2002-2003 (?)
• VOCJ 2001-2002
• VOCJ 1998-99
• VOCJ 1997 and a few more VOCJ from the 1990s
• Lord of the Rings (3 volumes)

Skiing

The Brian Waddington Hut is on the eastern side of the Coast Range, and so snow quality is usually very good. The hut is a great base for yo-yoing and touring, surrounded by good slopes on all aspects. There is excellent tree skiing nearby as well, so bad weather won't mean you have to sit around in the hut all day.

Hiking

There are few developed hiking trails nearby, but the high alpine country makes for excellent off trail hiking. Unmarked high routes go east towards McGillivray Pass and west towards Tenquille Lake.

Mountaineering

Gandalf, Shadowfax and Aragorn are three nearby peaks composed of nice, clean granite. There are only a handful of routes so far, and many unclimbed, unexplored faces. Check the hut log book for the most up to date info.

Access

Drive Highway 99 to Mt. Curie, and head north, following signs for D'Arcy. You need to take the Blackwaterr Road on the left, just before reaching D'Arcy itself. If you hit the town, you've gone a bit too far. After about 13km, there is a gate on the Blackwater Road at the entrance to Birkenhead Provincial Park. Just before the gate, turn right onto the Phelix Creek Road. There is a parking area about 200m further.

Winter

The Blackwater Road is plowed occasionally to the birkenhead gate, but the Phelix Creek road is not plowed at all beyond the parking area at the bottom. There is a fair amount of traffic on the blackwater road from the ranches and cabin along it, so it tends to have compact snow most of the time. After a dump of fresh snow, you might have to do some extra skiing. The road isn't very steep, but 4wd or chains are recommended because it's usually covered in snow and it's a long way out if you get stuck or snowed in.

To reach the hut, ski up the road, crossing Phelix Creek once, then go left at a fork and cross the creek again. Just above the second bridge is another fork - go right this time. The road ends after several huge cross ditches, where two clearcuts and an avalanche path need to be crossed. From here continue up the creek sticking to either the east or west side, as the creek itself enters a steep canyon. On the west side there are some tapes that mark a good route that just clears the canyon. Once above the canyon section, head for the west bank and begin climbing into the branch of the creek that flows from Long Lake. On the south side of this creek are a series of benches which make the climb up to Long Lake easier. Generally, it's best to stay south of the marked summer trail where the forest is more open. Getting to the hut in winter usually takes about 4-6 hours, but can take a lot longer if there is fresh snow.

Summer

If you have a 4x4, you can drive the Phelix Creek Road to near the end. However, in recent years there has been substantial rockfall in the first 1km, so bring tools to move some small boulders if you want to get through. Drive (or walk) the road as described above and then find a huge white boulder at the far end of the second clearcut. Downhill from here is a good log to cross Phelix Creek where you will find a trail on the east side. The trail parallels the creek, and then crossed back to the west side on a log jam. This crossing can be problematic if runoff is high. Back on the west side, the trail climbs steeply up to Long Lake, and then follows the north shore around the lake to the cabin. Total hiking time is usually about 2-3 hours from the end of the road.

Current Issues

Commercial Snowmobiling

See the land use issues page for information about an application for commercial snowmobiling operations in Phelix Creek.

Heat

Many complaints have been lodged about the absence of a wood stove at the hut. MEC donated $3000 towards the installation of the hut on the condition that there would be no wood stove. Kerosene heaters were installed instead, however this resulted in the following problems:

• In the first winter a lot of kerosene was used and the initial supply was exhausted after about 1 year
• Flying in more kerosene to the hut by helicopter is very expensive
• No one seems to be paying the $5 per night user fee, so the VOC can't afford to fly in more kerosene
• Hut users started putting white gas into the kerosene heaters which destroyed the wicks
• One kerosene heater was repaired, but does not burn cleanly and thus fills the cabin up with dirty smoke

Presently there are a couple of 2 mantle Coleman Lanterns which can provide a little heat and a lot of light. While -1C isn't very warm, it beats -20C outside. The best way to have a cozy cabin is to bring a lot of friends (25 should do) and everyone's body heat will warm up the hut quite effectively.

Fees

Comparing the hut log to the amount of hut fees actually received by the VOC shows that the number of people paying is very low. It has been proposed to install a steel lock box in the hut so that visitors can leave a cash or cheque payment, instead of taking home an envelope and then losing it and not paying.

History

The hut was erected in the Summer of 1998.

Hut and Trail Conditions

• 2004/08/13 The access road is in fairly good shape. I think the waterbars are mellowing out over the years. There were two reports of 2WD cars making it most of the way up the road in the hut logbook (a Neon and a Swift). However it's definetly still marginal. The logbook is filling up quickly, could the next group up there bring up a new logbook and leave a note here that it's taken care of?