New hut-to-hut system catching on with hikers

What if you could pack lightly – say just the clothing you’d need -and hit the trail in any season and see 180 or so miles of Maine’s scenic mountain district from Newry to Rockwood?

If you like the idea of multi-day adventures involving mountain biking, hiking, cross-country skiing and snow shoeing with a little bit of canoeing, rafting or kayaking thrown in, then Western Mountains Foundation’s hut-to-hut system is something you need to know about and support. It’s a $7 million project, which extends from Rockwood in Somerset County to Newry in Oxford County. It includes 12 so-called huts, which are actually $450,000 log cabins, complete with staffed kitchens.

The idea is catching on, although it has been around for years, according to Larry Warren, president and executive director of WMF, which was formed in 1976 by a group of residents of the towns of Kingfield, Carrabassett Valley and Eustis. It is a community development corporation that has operated the Carrabassett Valley Ski Touring Center since its inception in 1976.

Here’s what WMF has pitched to potential backers and to anyone interested: “Our plans envision a series of huts located at unique sites which are interconnected by hiking trails and ski trails which will be groomed in the winter. The plan anticipates that the huts will be within the distance of a day’s hike or cross country ski. We envision full-service huts, with breakfast and dinner available, and a full staff to provide educational and support services. Hiking and cross-country skiing will be the primary focus, with opportunities for canoeing, kayaking and fly-fishing on the lakes, rivers and streams along the way.”

Now when I first heard about this project and heard the word “hut” I thought of something resembling a trapper’s cabin, or maybe a shelter of some sort. Erase that image! These folks are talking remote log cabins, large enough to sleep, say, 40 people at a time.

Warren told me there’d be gas stoves, solar showers or saunas, photo-voltaic fixtures. As a guest for the night, you’d get a bed plus a hearty breakfast and dinner for around $45.

If you’ve visited any of the Appalachian Mountain Club’s huts, you have an idea of what these facilities might offer, Warren told me. The big difference is where the WMF huts will be located – closer to sea level versus in the alpine zone thus making them accessible by ski and bike trails, and thereby increasing the four-season appeal. It would also solve servicing problems associated with schlepping supplies higher elevations.

According to WMF, “The first phase of the hut system will begin in the Carrabassett Valley/Bigelow Mountain area. These huts will be located near the Carrabassett River, the Bigelow Preserve and Flagstaff Lake. The huts are located in an area that includes Bigelow, Crocker, Spaulding, Sugarloaf, Burnt, Mt. Abraham, Owl’s Head, and Black Nubble Mountains. The Appalachian Trail is close to all three huts. The proposed ski trails will integrate with the existing trails of the Carrabassett Touring Center and trails in the Bigelow Preserve. The Touring Center will serve as the reception, logistical support and communications center. Reservations and hut supply will be coordinated between the Touring Center and Sugarloaf Mountain’s reservation operations.”

Western Mountains Foundation says it “would like to align our capabilities and services with appropriate private and private non-profit organizations including Outward Bound, Bean’s Outdoor Discovery School, and local school, college and university programs and clubs. We plan to coordinate an interconnect with Highland and Lexington Plantation, the rafting community in the Forks and the Birches Resort in Rockwood. To the south we will tie to Rangeley’s cross country ski and hiking trail organizations, the town of Andover, Newry and Bethel. The system will tie the facilities of Outward Bound in Greenville and Newry with the public and private recreational system in the communities along the way. This system will become a unique asset not only for Maine’s Western Mountain communities, but a resource of significance to skiers, mountain bikers and paddlers every where.”

So far there has been wide-spread support for the concept, Warren told me. Groups such as the Rangeley Cross Country Ski Club, the Chamber of Commerce in Bethel, Somerset County Economic Development Corporation, state senators and representatives and others. Friends of Bigelow, however, are not happy that an eight-mile groomed trail might run through the preserve, terming it an “illegal road” that would violate the act that created the preserve. There are plans to build two of the huts in close proximity to, but not inside, the boundary of Bigelow Preserve and the Friends claim these would impinge on the wilderness character.

Normally I might agree, but I’ve stood on Avery Peak of the Bigelows just off the Appalachian Trail, not far from a couple of over-used outhouses and a cabin, and looked southerly to the ski trail network on Sugarloaf. It’s hardly pristine wilderness. I’ve not used the snowmobile trail that ties the East Flagstaff Road and the West Flagstaff Road together, but I’m told hundreds of sleds use it on a good weekend.

Without the Bigelow section, the trail plan could die. It would be a shame to torpedo this fantastic trail for the lack of some compromise on an eight-mile section of trail in the preserve.

I have a good feeling for the project based on WMF’s power-point presentation and these words specifically:

“This plan is founded on the premise that environmental and resource protection is more acceptable in a community where an opportunity exists for Maine people to make a decent living. Communities that are in economic decline or which provide few employment opportunities for their residents are often forced to compromise their environmental values and to exploit their natural resources for short-term gain.

“We want to develop tourism and recreation as our primary economic base. If our plan succeeds, the natural beauty of our environment [which attracts people here] and the value and economic health of our community will both stand a better chance of enduring into the future.”

Everybody will get a chance to comment on the trail proposal this Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. at the University of Maine-Farmington’s Roberts Learning Center where the Bureau of Parks and Lands holds a public hearing on the proposal

Why not attend and offer your comments? At the least the hearing should provide you with a good picture of the planned trail-and-hut system.

Jeff Strout’s column is published on Saturdays. He can be reached at 990-8202 or by e-mail at jstrout@bangordailynews.net.