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 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.

The cabin is beautiful and well equipped.

The cabin is beautiful and well equipped.

The cabin is beautiful and well equipped.

An absolutely wonderful location and place to stay for a few days, even in the winter! The main hiking trail was manageable, with snow covering it the entire way up. We only had one visitor, and they were very respectful. Definitely plan on returning at some point. Of note for amenities and supplies available at the time of this review: there were at least 4 full and 2 partially full Coleman gas canisters available on the stove. While I would certainly bring another canister to replace the supply you use, just know there are many already there. If you are particular about clean utensils/dishes for eating, I would bring some type of soap/cleaning products to use as there were not any up there. Overall, well supplied.

An absolutely wonderful location and place to stay for a few days, even in the winter! The main hiking trail was manageable, with snow covering it the entire way up. We only had one visitor, and they were very respectful. Definitely plan on returning at some point. Of note for amenities and supplies available at the time of this review: there were at least 4 full and 2 partially full Coleman gas canisters available on the stove. While I would certainly bring another canister to replace the supply you use, just know there are many already there. If you are particular about clean utensils/dishes for eating, I would bring some type of soap/cleaning products to use as there were not any up there. Overall, well supplied.

An absolutely wonderful location and place to stay for a few days, even in the winter! The main hiking trail was manageable, with snow covering it the entire way up. We only had one visitor, and they were very respectful. Definitely plan on returning at some point. Of note for amenities and supplies available at the time of this review: there were at least 4 full and 2 partially full Coleman gas canisters available on the stove. While I would certainly bring another canister to replace the supply you use, just know there are many already there. If you are particular about clean utensils/dishes for eating, I would bring some type of soap/cleaning products to use as there were not any up there. Overall, well supplied.