March 8-12, 2006, three of us spent 3 full days at the Stanley Mitchell Hut in Yoho National Park's Little Yoho Valley.  The trip involved a 10-hour ski in to the hut, covering over 20 km on the Yoho Valley road and trails deep with snow, all with loaded packs.

The snow was fantastic with lots of deep powder.  Day 1 and 2 were somewhat cloudy but fairly mild.  After that it turned cold, with morning temperatures of -24C. Each day we were able to attack the powder slopes to the south of the hut and on the way back from Kewetinok Pass.  Nearly each day we had the entertainment of chasing a Pine Martin out of the hut and trying (unsuccessfully) to block his entrances.  For 2 days, we had the hut to ourselves.   Nothing to do except ski, eat, drink and sleep (and listen to the Pine Martin growling at us!)

The last day we skied out to the parking lot in 5 hours under a brilliant blue sky.

Trip participants: Bob Hawboldt (trip leader), Guy McGinnis and Dave McCormick.

Click on the thumbnail images below for some shots of the trip.