New Grizzly Den Cabin a modern upgrade for backcountry adventurers
By Rachel Fraser
The freshly rebuilt Grizzly Den cabin, located 100 km south of Prince George in the Sugar Bowl-Grizzly Den Provincial Park, is nearing the end of its first winter in use. The backcountry cabin, which sleeps up to ten, opened to bookings December 17th.
Alex Bevington, president of the Prince George Backcountry Recreation Society — which manages the site with BC Parks — said that they’d had a lot of interest from potential visitors , adding that between 12 and 15 groups stayed in the cabin this winter.
The site doesn’t receive nearly as many visitors in winter as in summer, according to Bevington. Users can ski, snowshoe or snowmobile the 13 km down the unplowed Hungary Creek Forest Service road to the trailhead, but the final 5 km via the 8-mile/Grizzly Den trail is non-motorized access only.
Bevington said they expect the summer to be fully booked.
According to the Society’s website, the cabin is equipped with a wood stove, firewood, an axe, shovels, brooms, and an outhouse. Bevington said some additional work planned for this summer includes the addition of a propane cook stove.
The original structure was built in 1973 by Northwood Pulp and Timber Ltd, a company that was logging the area at the time. The purpose of the building was the enjoyment of their staff and to allow others to capitalize on the backcountry access caused by the logging roads.
Bevington said that the older cabin was deteriorating and would have needed renovation or rebuilding. Though the area sees a lot of summer traffic, people were opting to visit the newer Raven Lake cabin instead of Grizzly Den, he said, adding that if there’s the opportunity to rebuild, that’s preferable to renovating.
“You can re-insulate and then the roof ends up leaking, or you fix the roof and then the foundation starts breaking. There’s always something,” Bevington said. “It’s quite taxing on volunteer groups to keep maintaining these structures.”
With proper engineering and modern building methods, rebuilding is safer for recreational use and much easier for maintenance long term.
The new cabin was built by Valemount contractor Robson Design Build and their subcontractors.
Building in a remote backcountry location comes with challenges, such as access to water, power and heat. According to Winton Homes, the Prince George-based supplier of many of the prefabricated structural elements including the roof trusses, materials were transported to a roadside staging area, which was then brought to the site via helicopter.
Bevington said one of the particular challenges on this job was a lack of good weather data for the area by which to schedule the helicopters, often coming from Prince George.
“They get there and then the clouds come rolling in and they can’t fly.”
He said there were several days where the helicopter had to return to Prince George without having done any of the work.
“Everything was challenging. Everything is expensive,” said Bevington.
According to Bevington, the Robson Design Build team even finished in the snow.
“[They] finished the cabin in a single building season which was a testament to how hard they worked,” he added.
Feedback from winter visitors has been positive.
One visitor said it was the best sleep they’ve ever had in a backcountry hut, Bevington shared. As it’s well-insulated and has a modern stove, the space can be brought up to a comfortable temperature and is still warm by the time you wake up.
Bevington describes the new cabin as simple and solid, beautiful, rugged and well-built.
Then there’s the view.
“You see all the way across to the Mountain Robson area, across the Valley, through Mount Sir Alexander and Kakwa [Provincial Park]. So it’s quite a spectacular view just from the windows inside the cabin,” Bevington said.
The Society also rebuilt the Longworth Lookout hut last year, located across the Fraser River from the Grizzly Den cabin, and though it’s waiting for interior finishings and siding to be completed this coming summer, it is also open to visitors. With the Longworth Peak’s strong winds, Bevington described it as a violent place to put a cabin. Despite the challenge of building a foundation into the summit of a mountain, it’s extremely well-built. “Close the door and it’s dead quiet,” he said.
Funding for the Grizzly Den cabin came from the Destination Development Fund, Northern Development Initiative Trust, BC Parks and cabin donations.
Bevington said that most of the cost of these projects are covered by grants. In these applications, his organization has to try to show the economic benefit the project brings to the area.
“We firmly believe that backcountry infrastructure and experiences are a big part of why people live up here.”
