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Colin Hut |
(Centennial
hut)
Located at the base of MT Colin is one of the smallest huts I've encountered. There are several routes that you can take to reach this hut, all of them quite taxing! We, (Larry, Mike and I) chose the following route: with our heavy packs on our backs we rode the Overlander trail just past the remains of Moberly homestead. We stashed our bikes and hike up the ridge and did some bushwhacking (not necessary, just don't lose the trail like we did!). After getting back on track in the avalanche prone gully approximately 2 kilometres from the hut, we put on our snowshoes and proceeded up the creek bed. Usual route would be along the steep left side of the creek. Caution is the key word here, we were lucky that most of the side gullies had slid and made it fairly safe to cross this terrain trap. Even our snowshoes did not keep us from breaking through on the isothermal snow, spotting the yellow marker up the steep embankment we ventured forward. We had to remove our snowshoes part of the way. Going up the last pitch was not an easy task with snow up to our waist then finding a recent track left by Sylvain, (which we later learned that he came from Hawk mountain and down a Col.) this route is very tough and scary by my standard. We were thankful that we chose to bring snowshoes after looking at Sylvain's post-holed tracks. We put our snowshoes on and grunted the rest of the way to the hut.
Beautiful scenery is all that is needed to say. The weather was just perfect, and the companions, just right on! This hut is rated for six, but four is what I would ever care for. Just newly renovated by the Alpine Club of Canada, where you contact to reserve this hut and get the complete details.
This bike-hike-scramble-snowshoe trip took us approximately 6 hours to complete. It is longer than usual but after reading the journal of some of my friends that had previously stayed at this hut, we did not do too badly. The journey home was relaxing with majestic views to capture on film. Enjoy some of these photos that were taken on this trip. Things to watch for at this time of year: Ticks, Avalanches (mud and snow), and Big Horn Sheep that make you lose the trail. Oh yes, I would not put any weight on that rickety old bridge!
Thanks
to my subjects for letting me post their mugs! April
21, 2000 |
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Access:
Highway 16 East of Jasper approximately 25 kilometers.
