Doug Bezovie

Elizabeth Parker Hut near Lake O’Hara is one of the Alpine Club of Canada’s most accessible and popular destinations.

Heike Pauli’s ideal weekend adventure takes her beyond the city crowd and past the luxuries of a tourist-packed resort. Pauli prefers the serenity of an alpine meadow or the challenge of a mountain ascent, followed by a relaxing evening in a backcountry hut.

The Alpine Club of Canada (ACC) manages over 20 backcountry huts in Alberta and B.C., but getting to them requires a little more effort than driving to a lodge or hotel. Most are accessible by hiking or skiing in, while others have more advanced approaches that require climbing experience.

The huts offer modest shelter with basic sleeping and cooking facilities — picture a rustic backcountry adventure that’s a step up from tenting it, not quite as deluxe as a hostel and definitely a different postal code than the Banff Springs Hotel. Anyone can stay at a hut, but due to increased popularity, advance booking is required, along with some planning and packing appropriate gear.

Pauli has stayed in 13 different huts, including four in Alberta and nine in B.C., and enjoys them for several reasons. She’s keen on the remoteness, the history of the huts and meeting like-minded people. Compared to camping, she says you’re safer from bears than you’d be in a tent, and you don’t have to backpack in as much gear (not to mention a hut is a lot warmer in the winter).

“The beauty of the area these huts are built in is absolutely breathtaking,” she adds.

Pauli has a few favourite huts, and the Elizabeth Parker Hut, referred to as the “flagship of the fleet” by ACC, is one of them. Located at the edge of a small sub-alpine meadow near Lake O’Hara in Yoho National Park, getting to the hut is an easy hike in the summer or a three- to seven-hour ski in the winter. It’s arguably ACC’s most accessible and popular hut.

The site has two buildings: the main house, which is the Elizabeth Parker Hut, and a smaller building called the Wiwaxy Cabin. The main house is pretty pimped out as huts go, with a wood stove, propane lighting, a propane oven and range, cookware, dishes and utensils, tools, dormitory-style sleeping for 16, a nearby creek for drinking water, and an outhouse. Wiwaxy Cabin houses an additional eight bunks with four-inch thick, covered-foam mattresses.

The hut is popular for being a convenient base to hike and climb from in the summer, but it’s also one of the few ACC huts that’s accessible with light cross-country skis in the winter. From the hut, there are opportunities for easy ski touring and more advanced ski mountaineering, or even ice climbing at the nearby Wiwaxy Peak.

Besides the amenities, ease of access and the multitude of activities, this hut contains a lot of history, too. Wiwaxy Cabin was the first hut built in the Lake O’Hara area, in 1912, pioneering the way for many to follow, including the Elizabeth Parker Hut constructed seven years later — both by Canadian Pacific Railway.

The hut was named in Elizabeth Parker’s honour because she was key in the formation of the ACC. A journalist at the time when the American Alpine Club president suggested a Canadian chapter of his club should be established, Parker rejected the idea. She was vocal about the need for an independent Canadian alpine club, and organized the founding meeting of the ACC in 1906.

“For me, it’s the history they bring with them,” Pauli says of the appeal of backcountry huts. “A lot of the famous mountain climbers stayed in them.”

The huts aren’t just for mountain climbers, though. Pauli plans on taking her son with her when he gets a little older. There are a handful of huts below the treeline with ideal access for families and beginners.

Pauli is not alone in her passion. All of the huts are maintained by volunteer hut custodians. Pauli has been involved in what she calls “clean-up parties” at some of the huts. She was also involved with the rebuild of the Fay Hut, located in Prospector’s Valley. The hut burned down in the 2003 Kootenay National Park forest fires. The hut burned down again in April.

BEFORE YOU GO

Accommodations at backcountry huts can be reserved through ACC (alpineclubofcanada.ca). The price per night is $30 for members and $36 for non-members, depending on the season, and overnight users must have a valid Wilderness Pass from Parks Canada ($9.80 per night or $68.70 per year). Members can reserve further in advance than non-members.

Some huts are more easily accessible than others, especially in the winter. Access times are estimated and depend on skill level, so do your homework and plan ahead. A few options are highlighted below.

Arthur O. Wheeler Hut

Nestled amongst lush cedar forests of Rogers’ Pass in Glacier National Park, the Wheeler Hut is noteworthy for the sheer number of surrounding day trips it offers. Skiers, hikers and climbers will have many opportunities for exploring the surrounding peaks, glaciers and meadows. Sleeping up to 40, this hut is only a 20- to 30-minute ski in.

Elk Lakes Cabin

A three- to four-hour ski from Peter Lougheed Park in Kananaskis Country, this cabin is surrounded by massive cliff faces, craggy summits, and hanging icefalls in Elk Lakes Provincial Park, B.C. In winter, there is great terrain with plenty of powder for backcountry skiers, as well as ice climbing. The cabin sleeps 10 and is well-equipped, with fresh water nearby.

Wates-Gibson Memorial Hut

This well-equipped log cabin located in the Tonquin Valley of Jasper National Park is well worth the full-day ski in, however, the main track-set access is closed until mid-February to help protect caribou in the area. Some of the best climbing in the Rockies is accessible from the hut, which was named in honour of two local climbers. It accommodates about 25 people and is a perfect launch point for backcountry skiing, mountaineering and hiking.

Kokanee Glacier Cabin

This newly built log cabin is luxurious by hut standards, with three levels, running water and stainless steel appliances. Excellent backcountry skiing can be enjoyed from this hut, but winter access is by helicopter only.