High Hut and the MTTA trails - April 5-6, 2013

Months ago Sarah and I decided to make reservations to some of the huts of the Mt Tahoma Trails Association out near Ashford, WA. You have reserve these huts pretty far in advance so it's a bit of a gamble when it comes to the weather. Unfortunately, our forecast was looking a little bleak--rain, cold, cloudy, but we headed out with high hopes.

We arrived at the trail head not sure what to expect. We brought skis and snowshoes. The road to the trail head was snow free, and the snow began about a quarter of a mile up the road. We were really hoping to cross country ski and had heard rumor of recent grooming so we left our snowshoes at the car and headed up in our ski boots. This we later learned was the wrong choice.

We soon hit snow and strapped on our skis. The weather was above freezing and the snow was kind of a slushy ice mix. There might have been grooming a few days ago, but with the recent rain all we had was a mildly compacted mess. We quickly discovered that even with waxless skis traction was going to be a bit of an issue. After a few hours of skiing and slipping our way up we finally made it onto the ridge. Here the snow was a bit colder, but slipping was still a problem. The wind was also quite strong making us really glad to see high hut in the distance.

We made our way into the hut and found it empty. We quickly started a fire and shed all our wet clothes. It was very homey inside and a nice reprieve from the slog up. On a clear day high hut is staring down Mt. Rainier with panoramic views. Unfortunately, with the weather all we saw were clouds. We made dinner and were getting ready to play a game of boggle when we saw a light outside. A couple from Seattle had just arrived.

Drying our clothes inside the hut

One of the sleeping areas

The kitchen

Looking towards Rainier 

They came up on backcountry skis with skins and informed us that another couple was on their way, but probably wouldn't be in until quite late. We chatted for a while as they made their dinner. Eventually it got late and Sarah and I head to bed, unsure if the other couple was going to continue in the dark or turn around.  Sure enough at about 10:00 they rolled in, exhausted but in good spirits. The girl had also brought up cross country skis and had an equally challenging day.

Warm potato stew...delicious!

The next morning we awoke to more clouds and took our time making breakfast and coffee. It took a little motivation to leave the warm cabin and head out into the weather, but we did eventually. It had snowed a bit overnight creating a layer of powder on top of ice--not ideal conditions to say the least. Our original plan was to head over to the yurt for a second night, but after about an hour of falling and sliding our way down the mountain we had second thoughts. We were struggling a lot with the conditions and just couldn't get much control coming down. At the junction, we decided heading back to the car was sounding a bit more appealing than trudging on for another few miles.

A brief break in the clouds allowed for a few views

The view in front of the hut

The valley down below

All in all, it was nice to check out a new area and the huts are great. Next time though, I would choose snow shoes over skis. It doesn't seem like the grooming is frequent enough to make it doable for most cross country skis. Another hour or so and we were at the car. Made a stop in Elbe at the train diner for some lunch and then headed back to Seattle.

Spanish Creek Snowshoe

The Spanish Peaks are a sub range of the Madison Range in Southwest Montana. One of the main entrances to the Spanish Peaks is the Spanish Creek trail head accessed by driving on a public road through Ted Turners ranch. There is a large campground and a forest service cabin at the trail head making this is a very popular area in the summer, but in the winter it's pretty quiet. We decided to take advantage of this and plan a little winter getaway. Luckily the cabin doesn't get too many rentals in the winter and we were able to take our pick of weekends. You can drive the road to the trail head until about 4 miles before the cabin. Then it is very easy to follow the rest of the snow covered road to the cabin and other trails.

This was going to be Derricks first backpacking/snowshoeing trip so an easy four miles was about all we were looking for. The nice thing about the cabin is that it has beds and a wood fired stove so we were able to pack pretty light. The road climbs slightly, but at a gradual grade. The weekend we chose turned out to be on the warm side which was nice, but also caused the snow to become a bit slushy. It was fine when we started out in the morning, but as the day warmed up we found ourselves hiking through a slushy mess. Luckily the snow on the road wasn't too deep so we were able to manage.

Breaking Trail

The hike in was nice. It is very open giving you beautiful views of the mountains looming in the distance. We only saw a couple of ski tracks, no people. On the way in and as we neared the camping area we were breaking fresh trail. It was amazingly quiet. The cabin was nice. It stayed pretty warm once we got the stove going. It was a real treat to be able to cook a meal with real dishes and not on a camping stove. Many people had left behind little additions (candles, cards, whiskey) that made the cabin very homey.

Looking out at the Spanish Peaks

Approaching Spanish Creek

The one downfall of the night was discovering my newer shoes had given me some nickle sized blisters on the back of my heels. Unfortunately my feet had gotten wet and cold in the slush and I hadn't realized how bad it was getting until I stopped. I did my best to bandage my wounds the next morning, but needless to say the hike out was slow going. Every step seemed to hurt my now raw sores. Eventually the pain subsided but we took almost twice as long going back to the car as we did coming in. Minus the blisters, it was a nice weekend. Really good to get out after such a long cold winter.

Our little home for the night

To get to the cabin: Head south on Highway 191 from Bozeman. Turn right on the Spanish Creek Rd (about 13 miles after Four Corners). Take the gravel road for about 5.5 miles. At the end of the gravel you hit a paved road going south. This is where the snow usually begins.

Map of the Hike