Gene Glasunow
The Copper Creek Ski Hut is at an elevation of about 4,200 feet and is located north of Ashford.

Backwoods adventure

Trail system offers nearby recreation opportunities

N.S. NOKKENTVED, THE OLYMPIAN

ASHFORD -- Quiet dominates the landscape -- from the snowy stillness among the trees, to stunning views from ridges and hilltops above the clouds that sometimes fill the valleys.

Up here you'll find an unusual out-of-the-way winter weekend getaway, far from the noise of the city, skiing in the quiet of the backcountry.

"It's a good place to take friends," said Tom Whitney of Tumwater.

Especially friends who haven't spent much time on skis.

For a drive of an hour and 15 minutes from Olympian, skiers can find a system of cross-country ski trails for every level of skiers -- those with only a little experience to experts. And for those who want to make more than just a day of it, there are three cabins -- referred to as huts -- and a yurt with overnight accommodations for a total of 34 people.

A yurt is a round Mongolian-style tent with a wooden frame.

"When you have good snow, it's a great area," he said. Even when the weather is bad, the huts get warm and dry.

The Mount Tahoma Trails Association operates the 75-mile trail system on logging roads near Ashford north and south of state Route 706 just outside the southwest corner of Mount Rainier National Park, association member Ken Guza said.

The system of huts provides overnight accommodations as well as places to warm up for day users. The huts are heated with wood stoves, and the yurt has a propane heater. They are equipped with propane lanterns and cook stoves and with all the basic kitchen tools. The huts have no running water, but there's usually plenty of snow around to melt.

"All people need to bring for day use is some food," Guza said. If they want to stay overnight, they need only a sleeping bag. But the cabins fill up fast, so make reservations early or consider taking your getaway during the middle of the week.

The trails are open to cross-country skiers and snowshoers, and they usually are skiable from December through April, depending on the weather.

Whitney and his wife ski the trails three to six times a winter, and usually spend at least one night in the huts, he said. But with a group of friends they have been carrying on a tradition for several years of spending a three-day weekend in February skiing or snowshoeing the trails. They stay at Whittaker's Bunkhouse in Ashford, he said.

You can't always be sure of a cabin being available.

The association tries to fill the huts, often putting groups of strangers together, but Whitney has always found good camaraderie among groups of people who often share meals and make friends.

Whitney has skied all the trails; he says the best places to go depend on the weather and the snow. When there's fresh snow, the High Hut, at 4,760 feet above Bear Basin south of Ashford, is good. It also provides the most spectacular 360-degree view.

"It's perched right on top of a hill," Whitney said.

He likes the remote trails beyond the yurt, the southernmost of the accommodations. But when it's raining and freezing, he heads to the Copper Creek hut at 4,200 feet, just north of town. If conditions are bad, sometimes he will go on snowshoes -- and sometimes when the snow is packed, you can hike the trails, he said.

He usually packs snowshoes along with skis to be ready for anything.

The terrain varies from deep woods to open ridges and some slopes, but it's always quiet.

"You can't hear anything," Whitney said.

The association, about 12 years old, operates the trail system through an agreement among the U.S. Forest Service, National Park Service, Washington Department of Natural Resources, Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission and private land owners, Guza said.

The system is North America's largest no-fee hut-to-hut cross-country ski trail system. The trails and cabins are free for day users. Hut reservations require a $25 deposit. All but a $5 reservation processing fee is refunded. A Sno-Park pass is required from the parks commission -- $20, available at sporting goods stores and outfitters -- to park vehicles at access points.

The trails and huts are run by volunteers, Guza said.

Volunteer ski patrollers check permits, provide information, make sure huts are clean, maintained and stocked. They show people how to turn on the lights and how to turn lights off and clean up when they leave, he said.

Patrollers visit each hut at least once a day.

Other volunteers groom trails and run the association office and make sure the huts are clean and in good repair. Not all the trails are groomed. In the summer volunteers cut and haul firewood, fill propane tanks and make major repairs on the huts, Guza said.

"The thing is operated on a shoestring," he said.

Guza has been an association member for 10 years and worked as a ski patroller about six years.

"It's another excuse to be outside," he said.

He joined because he wanted to support a cross-country trail system for the public. He also is an avid user of the system.

"I like to break trail," Guza said. "When you go first, it feels like you're alone."

N.S. Nokkentved covers the outdoors for The Olympian. He can be reached at 360-754-5445.

Hut reservations, Sno-Park permits

- For information or to make hut reservations, contact the Mount Tahoma Trails Association office in Ashford on weekends during the ski season, or at the Elbe Mall during weekdays during the ski season, or call 360-569-2451. A reservation form also is available at the association's Web site, www.skimtta.com.

- Sno-Park permits are available for $8 a day per vehicle or $20 for the season from state Parks and Recreation offices and at some state parks or from private vendors for $1 more. The season pass is transferable among vehicles in the same family, but it covers only one car at a time.

Some special areas also require an additional $20 fee.

In the Olympia area, the passes are available at the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission at 7150 Cleanwater Lane in Tumwater. Their phone number is 360-902-8552.

The Olympian Copyright 2001

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