Hikers climbing one of Powell River’s best loved peaks will now have a more comfortable option if they are forced to spend the night.
A work crew comprised of eight volunteer carpenters and trail builders from Powell River Parks and Wilderness Society (PRPAWS) constructed an emergency shelter on top of Mount Troubridge last month.
The summit of the mountain, at 1,300 metres, overlooks Jervis Inlet and the Salish Sea and is located about 25 kilometres east of Powell River. A hiker’s efforts to scrabble up the challenging trail will be rewarded with seeing stands of old-growth trees, some of the last remaining in the Powell River region, said PRPAWS president Eagle Walz.
The crew spent three days preparing materials and prefabricating the structure’s trusses and five days building the raised structure and outhouse. The shelter and outhouse are built on stilts because the top of Troubridge can accumulate sometimes as much as 12 feet of snow.
The new A-frame-style building is big enough to sleep 10 hikers and replaces a dilapidated emergency shelter, a weathered exposed shack which had been used as a shelter for a logging company’s radio repeater. Jim Stutt, a local builder who has designed all PRPAWS’ Sunshine Coast Trail huts, said the simple non-heated structure was created to withstand the mountain’s elements and can handle up to 30 feet of snow. “In other words—able to support epic snow loads,” said Stutt. It is bolted to a concrete foundation and built with internal steel bracing to secure it against the high winds that frequent the coastal mountains, he added.
The newly constructed structure is located just off the trail on Mount Troubridge’s summit, about a 45-minute walk in clear conditions from PRPAWS’ log cabin, about two kilometres away.
But hiking in the snow it could take much longer to reach the summit, said Walz. Hikers can be quite exhausted by the time they reach the summit.
“Some people in the past couldn’t make it down to the cabin and had to turn around before they got themselves into trouble,” he said. “For safety’s sake we decided to build the shelter.”
The emergency shelter does not have a stove inside, but it is well-insulated so body heat or even a burning candle would help raise its inside temperature, he said.
On the first night of construction atop the mountain, the building crew was met by about seven other hikers at the Troubridge cabin.
“There [were] 15 people up there that night,” said Stutt chuckling. “We’re building an emergency shelter...No, it’s the overload guest cabin.”
The shelter is one of a couple smaller projects that the wilderness group wants to build to further develop the trail.
“We’re thinking about another small shelter half-way between Mount Troubridge and Walt Hill because the gap is about 35 kilometres, too far for most people to do in one day,” said Walz. It would be built near Lois Lake and Creek Four, he added.
Walz said it was a project that the group would take on in the next year.
The emergency shelter cost about $15,000 to build and half of the cost was incurred from having a helicopter air lift building materials, construction equipment and supplies to the summit of the mountain, he said. Stutt added that they even had to fly in the water to mix the concrete for the structure’s foundation, which he and Don Krompocker mixed up over the course of an evening.
“We hope people go up there and have a look and enjoy it,” said Walz.
The organization is holding its annual general meeting at 7 pm Thursday, October 30, at Westview Elementary School. The group is always looking for new members who are interested in helping to work on Powell River’s world-class trail network. Readers can find out more about PRPAWS on its website.
