Garnet Mountain Fire Lookout

The cabin is beautiful and well equipped.

We had heard this fire lookout cooled down quickly at night but we were surprised at how well it held the heat of the fire given all of its windows. The cabin area is small, maybe 12’x12’, with just 2 people it felt like the perfect size. Would feel small with 4 people. It had more than we needed and provided a grate reprieve from the roaring winds outside. Low snow but was still skiable from the rat lake trailhead. Saw wolf and moose tracks.

We had heard this fire lookout cooled down quickly at night but we were surprised at how well it held the heat of the fire given all of its windows. The cabin area is small, maybe 12’x12’, with just 2 people it felt like the perfect size. Would feel small with 4 people. It had more than we needed and provided a grate reprieve from the roaring winds outside. Low snow but was still skiable from the rat lake trailhead. Saw wolf and moose tracks.

We had heard this fire lookout cooled down quickly at night but we were surprised at how well it held the heat of the fire given all of its windows. The cabin area is small, maybe 12’x12’, with just 2 people it felt like the perfect size. Would feel small with 4 people. It had more than we needed and provided a grate reprieve from the roaring winds outside. Low snow but was still skiable from the rat lake trailhead. Saw wolf and moose tracks.

We were unable to get to the cabin. The trail disappeared and bushwhacking in the correct output is in avalanche danger, so we had to turn back. The experience was not bad, but we were disappointed to not get to stay in the cabin

We were unable to get to the cabin. The trail disappeared and bushwhacking in the correct output is in avalanche danger, so we had to turn back. The experience was not bad, but we were disappointed to not get to stay in the cabin

We were unable to get to the cabin. The trail disappeared and bushwhacking in the correct output is in avalanche danger, so we had to turn back. The experience was not bad, but we were disappointed to not get to stay in the cabin

We loved everything about this cabin, except the hantavirus warnings. The car gate was locked on Storm Castle rd, likely due to it being muddy, so that added a couple km to our hike. We walked up the footpath, reaching the snowline about half way up. There we donned show shoes, and that worked good other than across the final long switchback section where the narrow trail crossed the steep sidehill with drifting over the trail making for some perilous moments, but that just made it more memorable. We made it up in about 4 hours, and even without the post-holing that effort was pretty exhausting. The cabin, the stove, and the woodshed were great. We brought up some propane for cooking, but there was already at least 10 leftover canisters there. Anyway, we didn’t need the cabin’s propane stove for cooking because we just cooked simple foods right on top of the wood burning stove. The kids did lots of sledding on the monster snow slope down the north side. 15-cm new powder overnight made us very happy that we had snow shoes. Now, it has been a week since we departed the cabin, and none of us have come down with hantavirus yet, so all looks good.

We loved everything about this cabin, except the hantavirus warnings. The car gate was locked on Storm Castle rd, likely due to it being muddy, so that added a couple km to our hike. We walked up the footpath, reaching the snowline about half way up. There we donned show shoes, and that worked good other than across the final long switchback section where the narrow trail crossed the steep sidehill with drifting over the trail making for some perilous moments, but that just made it more memorable. We made it up in about 4 hours, and even without the post-holing that effort was pretty exhausting. The cabin, the stove, and the woodshed were great. We brought up some propane for cooking, but there was already at least 10 leftover canisters there. Anyway, we didn’t need the cabin’s propane stove for cooking because we just cooked simple foods right on top of the wood burning stove. The kids did lots of sledding on the monster snow slope down the north side. 15-cm new powder overnight made us very happy that we had snow shoes. Now, it has been a week since we departed the cabin, and none of us have come down with hantavirus yet, so all looks good.

We loved everything about this cabin, except the hantavirus warnings. The car gate was locked on Storm Castle rd, likely due to it being muddy, so that added a couple km to our hike. We walked up the footpath, reaching the snowline about half way up. There we donned show shoes, and that worked good other than across the final long switchback section where the narrow trail crossed the steep sidehill with drifting over the trail making for some perilous moments, but that just made it more memorable. We made it up in about 4 hours, and even without the post-holing that effort was pretty exhausting. The cabin, the stove, and the woodshed were great. We brought up some propane for cooking, but there was already at least 10 leftover canisters there. Anyway, we didn’t need the cabin’s propane stove for cooking because we just cooked simple foods right on top of the wood burning stove. The kids did lots of sledding on the monster snow slope down the north side. 15-cm new powder overnight made us very happy that we had snow shoes. Now, it has been a week since we departed the cabin, and none of us have come down with hantavirus yet, so all looks good.