Backpacking season does not have to end when the snow flies, but it does require more planning and thought. Venturing forth into Stanley Mitchell Hut deep in the Yoho Valley was going to test it all – physical strength, will, and spirit. Most that take this on in the winter are on touring skis. Not us, we were strapping on the suffer slippers aka snowshoes!! This added an element of challenge as we sink deeper than the skiers even without carrying what feels like a small child on your back.
Stanley Mitchell Hut is an accessible hut in the summer with a 9.3 km approach and about 700 m gain. Steep and technical bits, but manageable on dirt. In the winter, Takkakaw Falls Road is not plowed, now we add 14 kms and over 300 m more gain. The total journey in is approximately 23ish km and just over 1000 m gain. In the winter it is not to be taken on by the faint of heart, but those that go after it are seeking the big POW the area is known for.
We had come to visit the hut in the summer of 2023 and vowed we would make the journey back to see it transform into its magical winter wonderland.
This historical hut was built in 1939 by my best friend, Justin’s Great Grandfather. Hobart Dowler is known for building other ACC huts including A.O. Wheeler and Wates Gibson. His rustic approach using local lumber and indigenous building style is consistent with all the huts he has built. The hut holds up to 20 in the winter. A place to make new friends that have endured the same journey in as you have.
Stanley Mitchell Hut is in a beautiful meadow with views of the Vice President and President Mountains out the front door. This hut, as the other huts Dowler built, was to serve as a central point for access to the area’s mountaineering and skiing. During war times the hut was home base while the military utilized the rugged terrain to train soldiers.
Once the decision was made that we would go for it, the planning started. We knew that if we were going to slog it out to get up there, we were going to make it worth it. 4 days, 3 nights of absolute disconnect. No wifi. No cell service. No adulting. Just complete grounding with us, nature and other like-minded people staying in the hut.
Planning process:
1. Check spotwx.com for weather 2 days out and forward.
2. Check avalanche conditions and any MIN reports in the area.
3. Download maps – in the winter all trails look different. This proved to be a very necessary tool for us on the way in.
4. Create the snack and meal menu.
5. Gear lists
6. Itinerary – share itinerary with a friend.
7. Food prep – I like to make my own homemade snacks.
8. Keep monitoring the weather – this was important as we quickly were
under a heavy snowfall warning morning we started.
9. Hope that all Justin’s gear arrives with him from Ottawa.
Watching the weather, the days leading up had us a little nervous about what we were heading into. The forecast for the area we were going up to was for up to 45 cm of snow in 24 hours, it exceeded that!! We agreed we would see how far Mother Nature and our stubbornness would let us go. It takes a lot for me to get truly nervous, I was border line freaking out. We agreed we would just turn around if at any point it got beyond dangerous for us to be out there.
Gear lists for a winter backcountry hut stay is quite extensive and quite bulky. Thankfully this hut is set up pretty good for cookware and sleep mats. This lightens the load right away. Winter sleeping bags, winter outerwear, avalanche gear, food for 5 days (always bring an extra day of food), etc. takes up space and gets heavy. We checked the lists multiple times. Take our bags apart a couple times to make sure we have all the things.
Let’s get this adventure started!! Oh but wait, it is daylight savings so we lost an hour of sleep before we started!! Alarm goes off, inhale breakie, final prep of our packs, last minute weather check, caffeine in, load car, and off we go!!
We arrived at Yoho Valley Road and it was calm!! Scary calm actually!! Where is the weather? We had a tail gate beer for good luck before we set out for a much longer and demanding day than we anticipated.
The first 4.5 km we got through quite quickly giving us a false sense of hope. That quickly changed. Mother Nature unleashed on us, and she kept it coming and coming. The trail breaking began. It was like nobody else had been up there. Light fluffy snow would have been nice, but this snow packed a punch. Wet and heavy. We were grateful for our great gear that even wet we were warm as we could be. My little plug for my merino wool and Smartwool!
By the time we got to the Takkakaw Falls campground 14 km into our adventure, we were already feeling the effects of Mother Nature and the conditions she handed us. We sought out shelter for a very quick calorie top up. I had fried us up some of my homemade perogies and baggies of pickles.
Now the adventure truly was about to begin. We had not even started climbing yet or been required to navigate. The road was straight forward to follow even with the trail breaking. Connecting the trail from the campground to the other side was proving to be challenging in a white out even with a map. Dropping into snow that was thigh deep with heavy packs zaps the energy very fast!! Justin to the rescue as he navigated us across from memory of when we went in the summer.
The wind was howling and whipping the trees around along with the wet snow. This beats down one’s spirit knowing that the biggest climbing was yet to come. We took turns breaking trail and ensured we kept our turns short as the energy was getting quickly depleted. I laugh now thinking back to the climb up to Laughing Falls, I had blanked it out from the summer where Justin remembered it. I was very aware of the climb after Laughing Falls, and it once again proved to be the kick in the ass I expected it to be. The climb was so steep that we had to ensure to kick our toes in to get traction, so we did not slide back.
Then the moment in the day that had us both swearing and a time neither of us will soon forget. Your body is beat down, you’re not thinking clearly, you are gassed. The trail becomes so narrow that trying to find the way through the trees became very difficult. We were reading the map, looking where we were, where we needed to be, but were having troubles connecting it in the dense trees. We were falling through to thigh deep again. Very mindful how close we were to the tree wells and the danger those posed in our condition with heavy packs. At one point Justin was within 10 steps of the sign that eventually saved us but due to only a couple inches of the top of it exposed through the snow it was easy to miss and he turned away from it thinking I had the trail.
Deep breathes, we are only 3.5 km from the hut. Closer to the hut than the car. We need to figure this out. Eventually I went back up where he came from and he was checking my trail, for me to take the extra 10 steps up over his to find the sign. We were saved!! Adding a gruelling 1.5 km to our day and probably easily an hour.
The next 3.5 km were exhausting. The snow got deeper. We were in rolling terrain, but those little hills felt like mountains. We kept switching out the trail breaking. Short water breaks or more like excuses to stop moving. Eventually through the trees I saw the hut. We did it!! 11 hours of pushing our limits mentally and physically. I can’t think of one of my 100-mile races that beat me down this bad!! That says something.
When you plan an adventure like this with extreme conditions facing you, it is important that you can work as a team, stay calm when things go bad, and take turns pulling the weight when the other one is in a low point. I am grateful to have such a great adventure partner in Justin as we have truly done some tough things, but this one topped them all. We both felt accomplished and proud of what we over came on the journey up to Stanley Mitchell.
Later that night 9 skiers came in and were very grateful for our trail breaking, even though they followed us when we went off track! They gave us props for doing it on snowshoes, I did too!!
They returned the favour as they headed out the same morning we did to return to our vehicles 3 nights later. In our time up there, it was reported that close to 75 cm fell in the first day and 95 cm total by the time we returned to the cars.
We truly appreciated that we did not have to head back out for a few days. We enjoyed exploring the area and living the hut life. Hut chores are a thing. Melting snow for water, chopping wood, keeping the fire going.
Going in we were very aware of the avalanche situation, so our daily exploring was kept to low grade terrain but was still beautiful and fun. My highlight was the brief window of stars and the almost full bright moon on our final night. We did a moonlit snowshoe not needing to turn on our headlamps. It was pure magic!!
