Hut-to-Hut Systems

[roadtripper]

Hey everyone!

I was just reading about how the Department of Conservation in New Zealand manages over 950 huts spread across the country and I was totally amazed by that fact.

Does anybody have any idea how many "huts" the United States has, or cares to make a guess? The only hut systems that I'm aware of are the AMC's White Mountain Huts, the 10th Mountain Division Huts in Colorado, and a few scattered huts in Vermont & Glacier NP.

Anyone know of any other hut systems in the US or Canada? Are they full-service, self-service, or a mix of both?

Thanks!

 

[NH_Mtn_Hiker]

...Anyone know of any other hut systems in the US or Canada? Are they full-service, self-service, or a mix of both?

Thanks!

The Alpine Club of Canada has huts

 

[NH_Mtn_Hiker]

Talk about Full service...HOT showers!


Galehead hut is still my favorite.

 

[Waumbek]

Randolph Mountain Club doesn't have a "system" per se but a cluster of enclosed cabins and open shelters in the northern Presidentials.

After an initial relocation, Phillips Brook is working towards a yurt system in northern NH. The current ones are self-service except that firewood is provided for the woodstove and propane for the cooktop, there are dishes, cookware, silver and utensils, bunks and mattresses, table and chairs, and an overhead coleman lantern. No running water, pit toilets. One yurt is drive-in, the others are walk-in, I believe.

 

[DougPaul]

Mountain huts are also common in Europe.

Doug

 

[RoySwkr]

What is the difference between a hut system and shelters?

The DEC in NY manages several hundred leantos

The AT has hundreds of shelters some of which are closed in

The PATC, Forest Service, etc. rent backcountry cabins

I think some X-C centers allow overnight stays in warming huts

 

[TCD]

I think it's a definitional question. I've usually defined a "hut" as a facility that's fully closed in and has at least some sort of services: the presence of a caretaker, maybe; maybe a cooking facility; possibly potable water, maybe a luxurious hut has hot food, showers, all the way up to something like John's Brook Lodge, which is really a Country Inn, but you have to walk 3.5 miles to it, so it qualifies in my mind as a "hut."

A "shelter" is just that, only some kind of shelter, no services. It might be fully closed in, or, like the shelters at HoJos, have an open end. Adirondack Leantos are shelters, being three sided structures with no services. They generally keep the rain off very well, and provide a little protection against wind and snow, but they are very rustic. Love 'em...spent several nights in them in August on the Northville Placid Trail. I am used to camping "at large" in the wilderness, well off the trail, in the ADKs, but it was nice and luxurious to have a flat floor, a roof, and a stone fireplace!

TCD

 

[TomD]

I've been to NZ and huts are a great idea, especially in a place like that where the weather is so variable. There are also commercial campgrounds with little huts in them too-great for car camping or bike touring. Some huts, as you can see from the DOC website, are fancier than others. Some are just tin sheds for shelter in a bad storm-fairly common there, btw, while others are much more comfy. Looks like the prices have gone up quite a bit since I was there back in the late 80's.

 

[trailbiscuit]

I think it's a definitional question. I've usually defined a "hut" as a facility that's fully closed in and has at least some sort of services...

A "shelter" is just that, only some kind of shelter, no services.

I would agree - at least that's the distinction I've always made in my head. But, I also think of huts in the hut-to-hut ski trip, aka the 10th Mtn Division Huts in CO, www.huts.org.

I think some X-C centers allow overnight stays in warming huts

Mont Sainte Anne in Quebec offers this. Haven't done it yet, but I think it would be a great trip...then again Mont Sainte Anne is one of my favorite places on earth, so I think everything there is great.

 

[rhihn]

Mountain huts are also common in Europe.

Doug

We stayed at a few of the mountain "huts" in Switzerland on a hike two summers ago. Some were at 9,000-10,000 ft but served wonderful meals, with wine, beer, etc., bunkrooms, hot showers, a small library, games, etc. More of an inn than a hut, really.

 

[Pamola]

yurt system in northern NH.

I remember reading an ad long ago (possibly in amc outdoors or something close) for backcountry yurts in the Berkshires. Anyone know about these?

 

[David Metsky]

I've usually defined a "hut" as a facility that's fully closed in and has at least some sort of services:

Many of the huts in NZ are just four walls and a roof. Some have services but many do not. None of the places we stayed had anything beyond bunks and a few had limited cooking facilities.

There are many huts along the PCT as well, I know of a bunch of ski huts in CA. There is a fine hut system in the Gaspe. There are lodges along the Long Trail in VT.

-dave-

 

[Louis]

Hut to Hut

this is a great hut to hut hike to do in Charlevoix (near Quebec city) with views on the Saint-Laurent...

http://www.sentierdescaps.com/

 

[Louis]

Hut to hut...

Regarding the 'sentiers des caps' site.. I see that the english translation has not been done on the site... if anybody wants some translation from it, just let me know, i'll do my best...

 

[Bluethroatedone]

2 random thoughts on huts...

1. Great Sierra Club hut in LA area is the Baldy Ski Hut, spent new years eve there last year...lovely hut, nice summit etc. Strongly recomend to anyone looking for what to do for a weekend in LA

2. Anyone been in the Sierra Club backcountry huts in Tahoe?

 

[David Metsky]

2. Anyone been in the Sierra Club backcountry huts in Tahoe?

I've been to a few along the PCT near Donner Pass in summer and winter. Winter is better.

-dave-

 

[askus3]

A couple of other huts that deserve mention are:

Phantom Ranch down at the bottom of the Grand Canyon.
Mt. LeConte Lodge in the Smokies. Visited but never stayed there.

 

[Grumpy]

At the risk of taking us off topic, I nonetheless want to say something about the following comment:

...
Adirondack Leantos are shelters, being three sided structures with no services. They generally keep the rain off very well, and provide a little protection against wind and snow, but they are very rustic. ...
TCD

Well situated leantos, in my experience, generally are oriented so their low back walls face the prevailing "weather" wind. They actually provide considerable protection from wind and snow, as well as from rain.

G.

 

[TomD]

Dave, Where were you in NZ? I haven't been there in years, but I see from the DOC website that they are replacing some of the older huts. The general rule there is the higher you are, the less fancy the hut. Some of them just look like a big barrel or little shed cabled down to the rock to keep them from flying away in a storm. I think nowadays they haul them up by helicopter. The mountain huts usually have a radio, the lower ones don't. The more traveled routes like the Milford and Routeburn have pretty nice ones. Not as fancy as Europe, from what I read here, but warm and dry and that's what really matters down there.

 

[rambler]

The lodge in the Smokey National Park mentioned by AskUs has a series of cabins to accomadate small groups or families. There is a larger central building where meals are served. Within a short distance up the trail is a shelter, like those along the AT where one can stay for free with a reservation. Hiked by them last summer, looked like a fun place to stay. The Swiss and Austrian Alps has a series of huts with bunks and meals like those in the Whites. Check the titles under "Nature Books"

http://www.pabook.libraries.psu.edu/LitMap/bios/Reifsnyder__William_E.html

Off the PCT near Truckee, CA, the Sierra Club runs the "Peter Grubb Hut".
My son who lived in the Tahoe area skied into a shelter near the Donner Pass that had firewood and a fire pit in the middle, no services. That area gets great snow for backcountry skiing (so I'm told!).