Child's Play at Asulkan

The Asulkan Pass from above the ACC Asulkan Hut. The peak in the center is Young's Peak (2800 m)

With great anticipation, I lowered my backpack on to the wooden step, took out a copy of the email confirmation of the booking that I had made and looked at the lock attached to the latch on the top right hand corner of the door. I turned the digits around till I had the numbers lined up. I tugged on the lock. Nothing happened. I tugged again, with the same result. After a few more attempts I was beginning to get worried. The light was fading rapidly under the canopy of trees where the Alpine Club of Canada's A.O.Wheeler Hut was situated near the Illicillaewat campground in Glacier National Park. What if I had been given the wrong combination number or if the combination had been changed since I had downloaded it? I would have to sleep in my vehicle which I had just parked. There was not a soul around to ask for assistance. This place was outside cellphone coverage areas and even if I could make a call to the ACC office in Canmore, they would be closed on this Sunday - 2nd October 2016.

That is when I read the little note stuck on the door with instructions on how to open the lock - I had to press the lock once after getting the combination right to release the spring. It was that simple!

I had driven almost 450 km from Princeton that day and was glad to have a roof over my head for the night. I had the hut all to myself that night, my very first in the Club's many huts around Canada. I was thrilled to be sleeping in this landmark building constructed in 1946.

The main living room area of the A.O.Wheeler Hut. 02 Oct 2016.

As I wandered around the hut I admired the handiwork, craftsmanship and sheer love that must have gone into the design and execution of this magnificent shelter in the mountains. The lighting and stoves were powered by propane and the heating came from two fireplaces. The sleeping arrangements were upstairs and consisted of foam mattresses laid out dormitory style on the wooden floors and could accommodate up to 30 people in the summer and 24 in the winter. But tonight I was going to enjoy the facilities in splendid isolation in the hush that had already descended upon the forest.

My first view of the A.O.Wheeler hut on 15 Sept 2011

A little over five years earlier, while camping at the BC Parks Illicillawaet campground in Sept 2011, I had chanced upon a mature couple brushing their teeth near the stream which was the hut's water supply. A civil "Hello" was rewarded with an invitation to tour the hut with them - I was not a member of the Club back then. I was duly impressed by the cosy facilities and filed away this nugget of information in the recesses of my brain.

ACC members enjoying their breakfast. 15 Sept 2011.

My  dinner that night consisted of leftovers from the Goat Curry and Naan that had survived the previous Friday night's indulgence - I treat myself weekly to this menu from Tandoori Kona in Richmond where I live and work. Thus fortified I repacked my rucksack for the hike up the Asulkan Valley on the morrow.

There was certainly a chill in the air as I took to the trail past the ruins of the Glacier House Hotel, built by the Canadian Pacific Railway in the late 19th century. It was quiet except for the occasional bird calls in the forest canopy and the muted roar of the Asulkan and Illicillaewat streams. It was strange to reflect on the fact that a 90 room hotel flourished here less than a hundred years ago, playing host to tourists and climbers and their Swiss mountain guides who pioneered the routes on many of the surrounding peaks.

Plaque at the site of Glacier House

The trail climbed gradually through sections of forest before flattening out alongside the Asulkan stream and it was soon a delightful dawdle. A gaggle of human voices came floating down the valley, followed by a trail maintenance crew who alerted me to the fact that they had just dismantled the steel bridge which spanned the section of creek that I had to cross further up on my way up to the Asulkan Hut. They assured me that I could easily cross over on the makeshift log bridge that they had replaced the metal one with. The reason for dismantling and stowing the steel bridge away was to prevent it being buried in the winter snows and subsequently being swept away in a spring avalanche.

I soon arrived at the crossing to take my first break, nibble on some snacks and soak in the views. I could see north straight over the valley carved out by the Asulkan stream (for some quirky reason, it is referred to as the "Asulkan Brook" in the 1:50,000 topographical map - Rogers Pass : Glacier National Park published by Chrismar Mapping Services) to the peaks that towered above the Hermit,  Tupper and Swiss Glaciers. It was a gorgeous autumn day and for some strange reason the walk along the Asulkan stream reminded me of a walk many decades ago (1983!) from Kyangjin Gompa to Langtang village in Nepal. It might have been the color of the water or the boulders worn smooth by its flow, or the vegetation or just the feeling of being in high glaciated country even though I was not really high by Himalayan standards.

View down the valley from near the crossing point.

The log bridge that the maintenance crew had spoken about was a breeze to cross. They had stashed the steel sections of the bridge along the trail to be reinstalled the next summer. It was shadowy and cold on the other side, snow lay frozen in icy patches and I was glad to finally climb out into the sunshine of the moraine crest that the trail would now follow all the way to the Alpine Club's Asulkan Hut. The trail description  had warned me that the path steepens at this point but I was not prepared for the reality of it - my backpack weighed me down as I had stuffed all manner of unnecessary paraphernalia into it. As I labored up the track, I gasped for breath and took small steps and stopped many times. At one of these stops I glanced up and for a moment glimpsed what appeared to be a human figure right at the head of the moraine crest - I recalled that the trail crew had mentioned that they had seen a couple with two small children heading up the valley. This meant that I would be having some company at the hut.

The slog up the moraine crest took longer than I anticipated

I was glad to see this sign!

As it turned out, the company that I was to spend the night with at the hut was absolutely delightful - a young couple with their two adorable little girls who kept me entertained while I bustled around the stove to make my chai. Kim and Tom had driven that very day from Kelowna with Holly and Grace and hiked up to the hut! Needless to say I was more than a little impressed with the prowess of 3 year old Holly and 2 year old Grace (who had hiked up most of the way as well on her own two little feet!)

Grace and Holly making music with their dad Tom

While the Szabadi family spent the evening in the little glade where braided streams issued forth from the glacier, I scrambled up the ridge on the left to try and get some vantage point shots of my surroundings. I was not disappointed : Mount Sir Donald caught the warm orange glow from the setting sun.

As I walked back to the hut I could appreciate its stellar location and in my heart I thanked the numerous volunteers of the Alpine Club of Canada who must have put in hundreds of hours of hard physical labor to have it up and running. Back in the cozy confines of its wooden walls I picked up the guest register and leafed through the entries - they provided a glimpse into the wide range of characters from all over Canada and the USA who had passed through over the many years that it had been beckoning mountain lovers to its shelter.

The dramatic location of the Asulkan Hut

After the Szabadi family had departed the next morning I wandered up the valley, getting as close as possible to the headwall of glacier as it was safe to do alone. I soaked in the solitude and the beauty of the sunny autumn morning as Young's Peak dominated the skyline to my right.

When I returned to the hut, a squirrel played hide and seek with me under the floor boards of the wooden porch.

There was one more surprise in store for me as I descended the moraine ridge later to return to the Wheeler Hut : Winston, a cheerful black dog, came bounding up the trail spearheading a group of hikers who coincidentally had also driven in from Kelowna - my respect for the residents of Kelowna went up another notch!

Winston pauses for his followers!

I was just settling down to spending another night in splendid isolation at the hut when a cyclist appeared. It was a young lass from St. John's in Halifax on her trans - Canada solo bike journey! Listening to Jessie's tales of adventure later that evening made me realize just how tame my little excursion up to the Asulkan hut had been.

Jessie prepares to head down to the west coast from the Wheeler Hut

After Jessie had pedaled away the next morning I packed up my gear, ensured that the hut was clean and locked, and headed out to the parking lot and drove east for the next stage of my little adventure - the Lake O'Hara region of Yoho National Park.