01_10_20 till 22 Asulkan Hut, Rogers Pass area BC

• Posted on October 20, 2001 at 3:01 PM
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“ 01_10_20 to 22 Asulkan Hut, BC”

It was only October but looked like winter arrived early to Roger’s Pass this year. We were planning on spending a day or two in Asulkan Hut high up above Asulkan Valley in Rogers Pass area. Lori, our friend joined us for the hike. By the time we drove to Rogers Pass we were surprised by the amount of snow there. It made me a bit uneasy since I knew of a spot along the hike to the hut ominously called “mouse trap”. It is a place where three hills from three different mountains converge – in case of avalanche there is no place to run. So instead of getting on with our hike I talked to park rangers first. They told us to be cautious, to watch for potential avalanches even though it was still so early in the season and to let them know about conditions once we get out of there. Rogers Pass area is known for its huge amounts of snow so we came prepared, just in case we brought our snowshoes with us and thanks God for that. It was very tough slog up moreover since there has been nobody there after the snow fall so we had to do lots of “trail blazing” and trail finding. As only guy – there were only three of us, Ela, Lori and I – I got dubious pleasure of blazing the trail. Normally the hike takes only 2 to 3 hours but this time due to all that snow it took us more like 5 or 6 hours, by the time we got up there it was getting dark. Thanks God we had been there previously so I knew the area otherwise we would have never found it, imagine walking back in total darknes…..hmmm, it is better not to think about it. Anyway we found the hut, I got heater going in no time and pretty soon we had nice meal on the table and whole hut, the whole valley to ourselves. That night we slept like logs. Next day we did lots of hiking around, exploring the area. Like I said we had been there few times before but never when it was all hidden under blanket of snow. We stayed til next day when we hiked out. By then there was even more snow so we did little snowshoe skiing on our way down, it was fun. I think I would love to do it again maybe even later in the season so we could do some skiing there since it all looks soooooo inviting. For full complement of pictures click here.