PNW Ski Huts

How far along the Mountain Loop can one reliably get in winter? The county web site says the road is closed at the Deer Creek bridge but I can't find Deer Creek on any of the maps. There are a number of cabins at Bedal, and that is at quite a low elevation ~1500 ... is it plowed at least to there?

Re: the cabin in Bedal creek. All the guides I have read suggest that it is long gone.

I think the idea of siting huts on closed-in-winter roads has merit. It certainly has the lowest impact of all the options. In that regard the Sasse Ridge - Hawkins corridor fits the access - terrain - user triangle pretty much perfectly. We could build something that can be trucked to the top of sasse in the summer (roads there go up to 5400'). That's a half day ski in from the sno park, leaving hut-goers with all the terrain beyond there on Jolly and the peaks to the north, all of which top 6000'. Do the same at spots near Gallagher Head Lake and Vap Epps Pass and you have a string of huts suitable for a mulit day traverse.

Yes, the latter two would be in/adjacent to terrain frequented by snomobiles but that isn't necessarily a bad thing. The Alpine Lakes Wilderness boundary is also right there so skiers would merely need to pop east of the ridge crest to get away from it. They would also serve as eyes and ears for the Forest Service, keeping snowmobiles out of the Wilderness. Likewise, snowmobile traffic along the Cle Elum river would make getting back out to Salmon La Sac easier for weekend skiers heading out to a Gallagher Head hut via the Sasse Ridge traverse. Just ski down into the valley and skate / hitch your way back to Salmon La Sac.

Deer Creek is the only reliable plowed access point on the south side (just past Silverton, beneath Long Mountain). If the access point were moved up to the new Dickerman Trailhead, or Barlow Pass, that would certianly open up a lot of options!

From the north, I think the road is usually plowed to the white chuck turnoff (where the road turns to gravel). This is still pretty low, and one can usually drive to places like Bedal, however this year, there is so much leftover snow that it will probably persist into March. We met a local last year that had a plow on a pickup truck to get into some private cabins at Bedal, but it was still necessitated a 4x4 high clearance.

I ran across some locals wanting to start up a snow cat touring operations around Darrington, however I have heard nothing since. With a good shelter as a focal point, and some local operators to help with plowing or snowcatting, things could take off around there like the MTTA huts - it would certainly be a bonus to a local economy that has been struggling since the timber collapse.

I like the way this is taking off. Lets get the ball rolling so we can have a great hut to use ASAP! Kevin, you have some great ideas and awesome info/knowledge. I especially like your ruby mountain suggestion as well. i live in bellingham and simply love hwy 20. Why not create a non-profit that could focus on opening and maintaining/running multiple huts throughout Washington? WSHC? (Washington Ski Hut Co-op)? Along with fees for staying in a hut, users pay a yearly fee for membership/use? (kind of like the mountaineers) I would love to get involved and help however I can. I'm pretty busy with school and whatnot but can make time.

How far along the Mountain Loop can one reliably get in winter? The county web site says the road is closed at the Deer Creek bridge but I can't find Deer Creek on any of the maps. There are a number of cabins at Bedal, and that is at quite a low elevation ~1500 ... is it plowed at least to there?

Deer Creek

I think the idea of siting huts on closed-in-winter roads has merit. It certainly has the lowest impact of all the options....

...you have a string of huts suitable for a mulit day traverse.

...keeping snowmobiles out of the Wilderness.

I agree with the closed road merit. I also think that multi-day hut touring would be great, and possibly a factor in determining location? Personally I'm in favor of NO snowmachine access, but if a closed road makes the going a bit easier for a sled approach and less skinning, it's a viable option.

I agree (re: sled access). But no sled access pretty much means that we're siting in a wilderness area, which explicitly bans structures. I'm just trying to be realistic given the environmental / regulatory climate we will be up against. This ain't Canada. There are a lot of people here who will fight the idea of any sort of structure tooth and nail -- even a non-profit, non-motorized, low-impact one. And the places we like to ski are almost all in wilderness, for better or worse. It's too bad (for us) the US definition of wilderness is so strict as to essentially forbid such a traditional way of accessing the high mountains. So we're forced to focus on multi use areas that are close to the boundary ... which is why the Salmon La Sac - Ingalls - Van Epps area seems attractive to me.

edited to add...
There are plans to expand the Alpine Lake Wilderness in this region (Van Epps Pass, Ingalls). Most of those additions won't really affect the ideas I have presented (other than further restricting where snowmobiles can go ... including the Lake Ann basin, I think). One site that could be ideal for a ski hut that would be included in the wilderness expansion is the upper Scatter Creek basin. AFAIK snowmobiles don't usually go over into that basin but it has great mid - high elevation terrain. Could offer good spring skiing when the lower roads are melted out and you can drive to the Scatter Creek TH or up to snow line in Fortune Creek.

There's a pretty decent hut up Glacier Creek Road. Its got 2 bunk beds, table, cast iron wood stove, etc... I was stoked when we found it.

Its more geared towards snowmobilers though. Unless you want to skin the entire length on GC road and then some.