Things About The Hut

[Rob]

a simple solar powered radio system

Or a hand crank.

[phydeux]

Not only will I be mocked, but probably 'flamed' for this:

First off, realize its "wilderness" and its point is to (somewhat) cut us off from civilization to experience the great outdoors. If you feel you need emergency communications gear, maybe you should re-consider the adventure; carrying emergency communicators does not guaranttee you'll be rescued, and could give you a false sense of security.

Learn what risk is, how to evaluate it, and your tolerance for it. Whether you're doing San J by the Tram or up through Snow Creek in winter, you should evaluate your abilities and how much risk you're willing to tolerate before deciding venturing out into the wild. Maybe you'll decide the outdoors is not for you, and you should hike through a city park instead.

[AlanK]

Not only will I be mocked, but probably 'flamed' for this...

No reason for mocking or flames -- you make good points. Of course, precisely the same argument could be made to advocate razing the Hut. (I'm sure you know that!) That might be somewhat touchy on this Board right now, given that one of our favorite members would be dead now were it not for the Hut.

[Rick M]

In the twenty or so times I've been to the summit, I've looked in it most of those times to check on its condition and to occasionally leave some things (candle/matches, candy bar, etc) for those in need. Only once did we seek shelter in it (high winds winter time) but could easily had headed back down since we really didn't warm up in that icebox of a shelter by not moving around.

Would Ellen have survived if the shelter was not there? Who knows? It took 4 hours after her accident to finally get inside and could she have made Round Valley or even the tram if she hadn't thought about the hut? And what if the snow was a little higher or harder and she couldn’t gain access? There have been people who have gone off the road and lingered in their car just feet from the road way/call boxes because of injuries or being trapped. I like to think that Ellen, being the person she is, would have made it out without the hut.

I could go many different ways with this one. Get rid of the hut (historical value, emergency shelter, etc) and people just have to make do as they do on Gorgonio and other mountains. Make the hut into something "nice" and you attract many people counting on using it to camp in (limited in capacity, who decides who stays if lots of people go up counting on it (Baldy Ski hut)).

I would like to see it remain as a very basic emergency shelter. Would I like to see the Whitney shelter removed? No. I slept in it (bad decision) in an electrical storm (with sleet) once but wouldn't want to see it razed or turned into a StarBucks. We never used the huts on Ixta but might have in an emergency. I've thought about a radio in the SanJ hut before for emergencies but since it is visited so much there is the problem with theft and vandalism. I have never returned to the hut and found any of the things that I had previously left including a hand crank flashlight.

Coming down from a mission once I encountered a couple just out of round Valley heading up in the afternoon (2:30) slush with out any gear wanting to make the summit and return to the tram. No amount of suggestions of turning back could persuade them. I envisioned the slush freezing up when the sun went down and them ending up…

[Cy Kaicener]

Colorado has an organisation that takes care of the summit huts.
http://www.summithuts.org
They havent stocked any with flares or warning rockets for rescue yet

[AlanK]

Would Ellen have survived if the shelter was not there? Who knows? It took 4 hours after her accident to finally get inside and could she have made Round Valley or even the tram if she hadn't thought about the hut? And what if the snow was a little higher or harder and she couldn’t gain access? There have been people who have gone off the road and lingered in their car just feet from the road way/call boxes because of injuries or being trapped. I like to think that Ellen, being the person she is, would have made it out without the hut.

Just to clarify, I claim no real knowledge of what Ellen would have done or could have done with no Hut. I would not bet against her. I did get the strong impression, from reading her report, that her situation would have been considerably worse without the Hut. In any case, that last sentence in my reply to phydeux was intended as just a quip.

[Rick M]

Warning rockets? Great idea Cy, I could make up some of those I've used some of the huts in Canada and they are great. Some where hosted with facilities (like on Mt Assiniboine) and some not. I remember staying in one because two hikers had gotten mauled by a grizzly bear the day before in this valley and they hadn't located the offending bear and we felt uneasy about sleeping out in bivy sacs like we had planned.

Alan,  I knew that was just a quip but it did lend itself as food for thought on the situation. I don't know what Ellen could have done either and less skilled and conditioned people may not have survived without the hut. My point was sort of most mountains do not have summit huts and people still live or die regardless. I guess I'm not doing so well on this list as it seems like people get the wrong ideas with some things I write.

[Perry]

How about a solar-charged cell phone with the card removed? It could still dial 911, and there is reception inside the shelter near the east wall. I'm not kidding, you can literally sit in the bunk beds and chat with your friends.

[cynthia23]

Of course Ellen will have to speak for herself, but I can tell you that she did tell me she was certain she would have died without the hut. One never knows of course, but her odds would not have been good at all.

Sorry, Phydeux, but I hardly think we all all going to turn into a bunch of lily-livered pantywaists because of the presence of the hut--with or without an emergency phone. Let's put it in perspective. The proposed ice skating rink in Long Valley, or the giant developement, ShadowCrock, which is scheduled for Chino Cone, are a little more of a serious threat to wilderness than one emergency phone.

[Rick M]

Somewhere I thought I saw posted who had left the bag in the hut. When I saw it there recently I thought how great it would have been for Ellen or who ever would or will be in that same situation. I wasn't carring a bag with but then I started wondering if someone someday will do SanJ thinking or counting on using the bag when they got up there and if it's not...thoughts?