Archive:Hut Bulletins

This page documents bulletins for the Hut and Trail Conditions that are now older than 2 years. Five bulletins should always be kept on the VOC Hut Registration Page and can be permitted even if older than 2 years.

Brew Hut

2006 December 27th

Vehicles with 4WD or AWD were able to get up to the snowcat base at 1.7km of Chance Creek FSR, other cars were stopped by the highway. 2wd and chains might do the trick as well but nobody tried that. The road up Roe Creek is now packed down by snowcat, and all cross ditches on Roe Creek mainline and on the R200 branch are filled in. Snow depth estimated to be about 3.5 or 4m around Brew Lake. The chimney for the lantern is broken but it still works, and the pumps on both the lantern and the stove needed a lot of oiling during our stay.

2006 November 25th

Chance Creek FSR plowed for heli logging, but Roe Creek road was completely snowed in. Trail breaking from the start of Roe Creek road to the hut took 7 hours, arriving just before dark. A half dozen or so open water bars on the road, but most will be completely covered over soon. Trail is in great shape, with over 1m of snow at the start and lots more at brew lake. Snow depth was 2.5m in the meadows just below the hut. South and West side windows are frozen closed but the north side ones work and so does the door. Outhouse was not buried, but wind seems to be blowing the door inwards, and it's supposed to open out. The old Coleman stove was replaced with a different old Coleman stove that does not suffer from the problem of the air intake catching on fire.

2006 November 12th

Did the inaugural boot pack in. Broke trail from the Roe Creek bridge at 11am. Only had made it to ther 2nd rock outcropping by 3:45. Very slow going. Decided to turn around and made it back to the car in about 90 min. Under the cover of trees, snow was appx knee deep with snowshoes on. In the boulder gardens/clearings snow was up to waist deep or higher at times. Trail well marked up to our turnaround point.

2006 October 14th

Cleared out ski trail from Roe Creek - much easier travelling now. Brew Hut boasts a new fire extinguisher and a new hatchet.

2006 July 22nd

Brew Lake trail is snow free, and there are only a few snow patches left above Brew Lake. There is still plenty of snow around the hut for drinking water. The outhouse has now been installed just NE of the hut.

Brian Waddington Hut

• 2013/01/21 The Coleman white gas lantern no longer works, otherwise the hut is in fine shape. Spent 3 nights, beautiful weather and tough snow conditions, variable snow with hard crust mixed with softer sections and breakable crust. Lots of wind affected snow on Cabin Hill and other places that normally have powder stash :( Will need at least 1 m of snow to cover it up.

• 2011/07/14 Big VOC trip to replace the four biggest windows ($1300) and do a little more work. Windows were carried in and replaced successfully and look good. They can be opened and closed to control humidity in the Hut, and being properly double glazed, should help to trap some of the negligible heat in the winter.

• 2010/08/14 Big thanks to Jim's group for clearing the deadfall! Road was easily 4WD HC accesible. Found a dead mouse in the trap, removed and reset.

• 2010/08/12 Large boulder has been rolled out of the way, but the slide is still only 4WD HC accessible. Jim's group has also cleared the deadfall all the way to the trailhead (Thanks!).

• 2010/07/13 Tree down (2-3 foot diameter), blocking road a few minutes beyond slide area with large boulder.

• 2010/02/08 Blackwater Road plowed and recently graded. Good coverage on logging road and trail. Soft snow to second bridge, but firmer above and through forest. Great snow quality and coverage on northern aspects. South facing aspects are tree bombed and crusty. Some minor natural activity related to cornice falls. Otherise very stable conditions. Ski out was fast (2 hours) and uneventful. New reflective blazes are well positioned and helpful. Perpetual slide at km 0.5 would make access for even HC 4x4 difficult in summer. Snowmobiles were having difficulty getting around it. Did not use any heaters (brought lots of friends) or stoves (brought our own). Coleman lantern needs new mantles. Left one lantern full of fuel (~1L). Temperatures relatively warm at -5C from Feb 5-8. No new snow during our stay. Sunny during the day and clear at night. Cleaned hut and took out garbage that others left behind. No water buckets, but one stainless pot and one kettle.

• 2009/03/09 Blackwater Road plowed but sheer ice all the way through, graded but not sanded, don't brake! Ski in was fast, icy and hardpacked sections in the forest. Ski-out was via col between Peregrine and Frodo, a bit crusty below the col and powder afterwards, almost all the way to the clearcut. No water buckets in the cabin, used the large stainless steel pot (8 L) and 4 L milk jug instead. White gas supplies low, the newer larger heater is hard to get going, the old one is easier to light. The heater warmed the upstairs to about 11°C but it was back to 0°C by 4 AM. Warm sleeping bag definitely recommended. Skiing was awesome. Slideshow: Skiing at Phelix Creek http://www.flickr.com/photos/runningclouds/sets/72157615190470223/ -- runningclouds 18:01, 10 March 2009 (PST)

• 2009/01/17 Blackwater Road plowed to end. Low snow year (approx 0.5m on logging road) with slide alder still poking through in places. Very tough, crusty conditions through the forest, but skiable all the way. Good skiing in the glades on cabin hill, and better stability than expected. Cabin in good condition. Supplies of "left over" white gas in the hut are very low; everyone is encouraged to leave left over fuel in the containers provided for refilling the lanterns etc, rather than carry it out, and maybe bring in a little extra. -- Matthew 16:28, 20 January 2009 (PST)

• 2008/01/01 Road to trailhead was partially plowed. May have to park further back and prepare for a little extra distance. Lots of snow to cover 95% of the shrubbery on the trail. Snow bridges are stable across the creek crossings now. Conditions were powder at the time. There are snow mobiles using the logging roads portion of the trail. Cabin is in great shape except the water bucket became a puke bucket during the trip. Advised to give a good wash-down before future use. Notice one mouse scurrying at the bottom of the hut and climbed the ladder to the top. Traps were set and one mouse was caught. Ensure food is stored properly.

• 2007/10/22 New west side trail is complete. Follow orange and pink flags. Ignore yellow flags

• 2007/07/14 Road is as per below. Flagging is sparse on the summer route, especially near the top. Counted about 40 blowdowns from the clearcut to the lake, making progress slow. Be prepared for a "full body hike" and a few scratches! Creek crossings are a bit dicey as well... Still a metre of snow or so at the cabin, which is in fine shape save for a broken window frame on the south side. This could be mended with a screw driver and 1/2 hour.

• 2007/06/24 Logging road is driveable by 4x4 to 300m (?) from the end where there are two blowdowns blocking progress. Lots of snow, starting not far beyond the end of the road. 1.5m snowpack still remains at the hut. Orange flags on the west side of phelix creek mark wet areas and creeks for future trail construction. Please do not remove these flags. Scott Nelson 10:08, 27 June 2007 (PDT)

• 2007/02/23 to 2007/02/25 12 VOCers tested out the new flagged trail, and hauled in a catalytic heater as well as replacement globes and mantles for the lanterns. On the way in we met 2 non-VOC ladies who had been staying at the hut. Skiing conditions were truly phenomenal, lots and lots of fresh snow above the previous melt/freeze crust but bonding well. On the way out (a warm, sunny afternoon) we saw (and heard) recent avalanches on South facing slopes in the valleys above the logging roads. We forgot to take in the new hard-backed log book, and the guitar is missing a top E string (there are spares for most other strings). If the next party could take those in, that would be superb. -- Matthew 11:58, 26 February 2007 (PST)

• 2007/01/28 Party of 4 flagged the west side ski route from the final clearcut to the lake by the hut with yellow flags. Hut is in good shape except for the lanters which need new mantels and glass. Good skiing conditions only in the narrow band between wind slab up high and melt/freeze crust down low. Contrary to the previous report, the Matterhorm puzzle seems to be ok. A previous party had assembled it on the table.

• 2006/12/29 to 2007/01/02 circa 20 VOCers warmed up the Hut over New Years. The hut was found on the 29th with the N window wide open and snow drifts inside (the picture puzzle was one casualty of this). Windows are a little tough to shut. Several non-VOC groups also showed up.

• 2005/11/13 We had a party of 10 in over the long weekend. Hut was cosy enough with 10 in it. The two vents and periodic door-opening sufficed for ventilation, we never cracked the windows. The south vent is letting water drip in along the cable from the solar panel to the LED battery. A bit of caulking could fix this, maybe. About 1m of snow at the cabin. One 4x4 made it to the second bridge, another one to the last creek crossing before the cut block.

• 2005/10/22 We also managed to drive a HC 4x4 without difficulty to about 300 meters before the first cut block. Brought up a new log book but lo and behold there was one already there. The weather was very warm at the cabin (5-7°C). No snow. We ended up wading Phelix creek at both crossings; logs were too slippery and wet to cross safely. The creek seemed high. Saw Moose prints, and Grizzly dirt but not the animals. Watch the top rung on the outhouse ladder, looks like it is about to go. Cabin is in great shape, nice and clean inside though there were a few mice type rodents that kept us company over night. We didn't use the Kerosene heater. --Troy 11:06, 24 Oct 2005 (MST)

• 2005/06/30 We drove a HC 4x4 without difficulty on the access road. M. Gunn's Scrambles book provides a good description of the drive up. The trail is also well described in the book, well marked and easy to follow. Just remember to go as far as possible to the (very very) end of the cut blocks before crossing east over Phelix Creek. if you cross early, you will bushwhack in Devils club. Unfortunately, we forgot a log book.