Category Archives: Hut systems

Shelter from the Storm – Introduction to a Book About History of New Zealand Huts

Below is a reprint of the “Introduction” to the book: 

Shelter From The Storm: The Story of New Zealand’s Backcountry Huts

2012, Craig Potton Publishing, Nelson, NZ.

Text and most photographs by Shaun Barnett, Rob Brown, and Geoff Spearpoint.

Embedded below is the 14 page, beautifully illustrated “Introduction”, by Shaun Barnett, to the remarkable book Shelter from the Storm. In it he provides an overview of the benefits, history, and architecture of New Zealand huts. His “Introduction” gives the reader a feel for the book as a whole. For more on this book, see my two part book review of Shelter from the Storm click here for: part 1 and part 2. Continue reading →

Shelter from the Storm: book review part two

Book review continued:

Shelter From The Storm: The Story of New Zealand’s Backcountry Huts

(Part two of a two part book review)

2012, Craig Potton Publishing, Nelson, NZ.

Text and most photographs by Shaun Barnett, Rob Brown, and Geoff Spearpoint.

For part one of this review click here.  Following are some fascinating themes and stories that are skillfully elaborated in Shelter from the Storm, about New Zealand Backcountry Huts.

This book tells the story of how a geographically remote island nation came to create a robust international outdoor culture, and how a disparate collection of huts built for other purposes – I like the phrase infrastructure lying in wait — came to form the backbone of the world’s largest hut system. Continue reading →

Trip Report: Three Sisters Backcountry Hut-to-Hut Ski

Trip Report: Three Sisters Backcountry Nordic Traverse

By Perrin Boyd

The Three Sisters Backcountry hut-to-hut ski traverse is a self-guided 22-mile trek from Dutchman Flat near Mt. Bachelor traveling the eastern edge of the Three Sisters Wilderness boundary to Three Creeks Snow Park outside Sisters, Oregon.  This great ski adventure involves three days of skiing with overnights in two comfy, fully stocked, self-service huts.

Six friends from Northfield, MN gathered the night before our trip for a feast and discussion of logistics. Kelly, Mike, Sofia and I now live in Bend, Oregon.  Sam Demas, researcher for hut2hut.info, invited us all on the trek along with his wife, Laurel.  It was an opportunity we could not pass up. Continue reading →

AMC Huts & Unification of White Mountain Trails

See Introduction below.  The primary content of this post is this link to a reprint of Chapter 36 “Unification of the White Mountain trails” from the book Forest and Crag (AMC Books, 1989) by  Laura and Guy Waterman.  This chapter is reprinted with kind permission of Laura Waterman and AMC Books.  Forest and Crag is the Waterman’s magesterial history of hiking and trailblazing in the Northeastern US.  Chapter 36 is preceded by a chapter on the Long Trail and followed by a chapter on the Adirondacks region.

 

Introduction to Chapter 36 reprint

by Sam Demas

Huts and trails:  you can’t have huts without trails, hut building usually follows trail building, and the presence of huts inevitably shapes patterns of hiking in a region.  How does this work?  The AMC’s system of eight huts and the network of trails in White Mountains of N.H. were developed concurrently.  Chapter 36 of Forest and Crag (Appalachian Mountain Club Books, 1989) offers a fascinating look at how a cohesive regional trail system evolved over a period of about 20 years, 1910 – 1930 along with the AMC huts, the first in the USA.

Continue reading →

Alta Via 1 (Italy) Trip Report

by Marlies Souverein, from movesbynature

ALTA VIA 1

The route I’m about to describe is not the full Alta Via 1, but an adaptation to fit it in one full week. This route is also known by the name Alte Via Dell Adamello. It is a 8 day hike and 1 resting day, 9 days in total. It is possible to skip the resting day if you are fit.The route starts out easy and gets tougher every passing day. This helps the participants that aren’t that experienced in this terrain to prepare before getting into the heavy stuff. It is possible to do the route the other way around, although it might get a bit boring at the end. If I have to repeat the route I would do it again south to north. I walked this route in 2016 and it might not all be the same in a year’s time. Also a different time of year or different weather might make that you will experience this route completely different.   

Continue reading →

New Exec. Director for Maine Huts and Trails

News from Maine Huts and Trails web site:

Please welcome Carolann Ouellette as Executive Director of Maine Huts & Trails! After a long and thorough search process, we found an exceptional leader. Currently serving as Director of the Maine Office of Tourism, she began her career right here in Carrabassett Valley, managing the Sugarloaf Inn, and also managed operations at New England Outdoor Center. A graduate of Cornell University’s School of Hotel Administration, Carolann is uniquely well-qualified for this position. In 2015 she was named by Maine Magazine as one of “50 Mainers Boldly Leading Our State”, and she’s even a Registered Maine Guide. The future of Maine Huts & Trails is in good hands.

Hut-to-Hut in Mallorca, Spain: trip report

A MULTI-DAY TREK IN THE SERRA DE TRAMUNTANA

{Note: this trip report contains many beautiful photographs.  Keep on scrolling as you enjoy them and you’ll come to more
of the text of the article interspersed among them.–Sam}

Serra Traumuntana, Mallorca, Spain

 

 
 
 
 
 
 

I love the idea of long-range hiking routes. Typically arranged to support multi-day itineraries, these kinds of routes let you go out and lose yourself on the trail (Note: not the same as getting lost). My latest look into the world of long-range hiking routes had me checking out Spain’s “GR” or Gran Recorrido routes. There are 13 GR routes in Spain and two of them, GR221 and GR222 are located on the island of Mallorca.

Continue reading →

“Vermont Huts Association” Launched!

Vermont Huts Association Launched!

by Sam Demas, October 10, 2016

Vermont is now the second state in the USA to establish an association of hut owners.  The mission of the Vermont Huts Association is:

“To enhance the backcountry experience in Vermont by connecting the year-round recreation community with the evolving network of hut, cabin, yurt and lodge operators.”

Continue reading →

Huts for Vets & Tenth Mountain Division Huts

Huts for Vets

by Sam Demas, August 2016

“Huts for Vets and my fellow warriors saved my life over the last four days. Finding healing could not have happened in a better place.”

–From the logbook at Margy’s Hut, Tenth Mountain Division Hut System

This quote by a Marine veteran captures the essence of the Huts for Vets (HFV) program. Operating in partnership with the Tenth Mountain Division Hut System, Huts for Vets is one of many outdoor-based programs treating veterans with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

Continue reading →

Adirondack Hamlets to Huts: coming soon….

Adirondack Hamlets to Huts: a new hut system

By Sam Demas, August 2016

A new hut system, Adirondack Hamlets to Huts, appears to be coming together quickly.  In 2015 the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) contacted Joe Dadey and Jack Drury to request that they propose and help to “fast-track” the implementation of a hut system in the Adirondack Park.   In response to the DEC’s invitation, they produced a “Conceptual Plan for a Hut-to-Hut Destination-based Trail System” analyzing and ranking 26 potential routes.  I  reported on this plan last month.

Continue reading →