Excellent hiking, mountaineering, and backcountry skiing. Summer access is a 3-5 hour hike on good trails. Winter access is either one very long day or 2 shorter days. Class A, sleeps 26 (22 in winter).
The Little Yoho Valley is one of the truly special places in the Rockies. Wrapped in interesting history and surrounded by spectacular peaks and glaciers, this area presents a wide range of opportunities for everybody, regardless of abilities or interests. Superb hiking, climbing, scrambling and ski-touring all exist at the head of this valley, and the Stanley Mitchell Hut provides a most excellent base from which to enjoy it all!
The hut has a propane system for cooking and lighting. The cabin is very spacious and provides sleeping space for 26 in summer and 22 in winter. It is very well equipped and has a woodstove for heating and plenty of space for hanging gear.
The approach in summer begins from the Takakkaw Falls parking area and follows an excellent trail for about 10 km to the hut which is located on the edge of an open meadow. In winter the road to Takakkaw Falls is not plowed so an additional 13 km must be added to the total approach distance, making for a very long day on skis. The first 5 km of the trip track-set, and it is often machine packed all the way to the falls. Many people will break the trip up by overnighting at the picnic shelter at the Takakkaw parking area then continuing to the hut the second day. If breaking your own trail this will almost certainly be a necessity. For those insistent on doing it in a single push, expect a dawn to dusk approach.
The snow here is usually abundant and there are many classic tours which can be done comfortably in a day from the hut. The President and Vice President as well as Mt. McArthur are excellent objectives both summer and winter. Enjoy!
