Hiking to the Brian Waddington Hut (Long Lake)
Contents
Brian Waddington Hut Hike Information
Difficulty: Difficult
Distance: 9.50Km
Elevation Gain: 1,105m
Highest Elevation: 1,708m
Average Gradient: 11.63%
Effort/Reward Ratio: High / High
Time Needed:
– Slow: 3 – 4 Hours
– Moderate: 2.5 – 3 Hours
– Fast: 2 – 2.5 Hours
Dogs Permitted?: Yes
Season: Year-Round
4×4 / High Clearance Required? No
Scrambling / Exposure: None
Brian Waddington Hut Trail
Trailhead Coordinates: 50°34’10.3″N 122°39’09.9″W
Brian Waddington Hut Overview
The Brian Waddington Hut is an alpine hut located at the western end of Long Lake, accessed via the Phelix Creek trail. Built in 1998, the hut is maintained by the Varsity Outdoors Club and is a popular summer and winter destination for backcountry travel. Nestled beneath a number of beautiful peaks and scattered lakes, the Brian Waddington Hut offers easy access to an incredibly beautiful backcountry.
The hut can hold up to 25 people (more in a pinch – that would be tight), and is accessible year-round without requiring a reservation. The hut is free to use for VOC members, and non-members are encouraged to make a donation to the VOC for usage ($10 per person per night at the time of writing). If you Google search for the hut you should easily find the VOC website for making donations, and there is also a registration page for informing users of your intended dates to visit. This is not a reservation, however, as the hut is not reservable.
Of course you do not need to use the hut if you prefer your own space, with a plethora of camping options located right outside on the shores of Long Lake. If you plan to stay at the hut on a summer weekend, you may want to bring a tent as well in case the hut is full.
One major consideration for hikers to make note of is that the VOC strongly discourages visitors between August 15 – October 15 to allow grizzly bears to feed without human interference. This is a prime feeding spot for bears in the mid to late summer, so the VOC has made a request to voluntarily close the area during this time. Of course, this is not enforced and access is still possible, but ideally it should be respected.
The hut is popular year-round, but more so in the summer when access is easier (you can drive a lot of the FSR in a capable vehicle) and backpackers flock to the area. There are multiple fantastic peaks to climb, so most people will stay at the hut (or camp), and spend a few days exploring. The main peaks that most people consider would be Mount Gandalf, Mount Aragorn, Mount Shadowfax, Frodo Peak and Peregrine Peak, all of which are relatively simple scrambles for experienced parties.
It’s also possible to visit in winter, but this is typically a ski destination, with very few snowshoers making the trek up. Of course, it’s not impossible, it’s just not common. The region is undoubtedly stunning in the winter as well.
With that said, timing a visit to the area is tricky. The snow will generally only melt away in late June, and with the closure from Aug 15 – October 15, most of the prime summer is gone. July and early August is therefore your best bet, but unfortunately this ties in with peak mosquito season. After October 15 the snow will likely have returned to the area, though you may have a couple more weeks if you’re lucky.
Dogs are allowed in the area, though I wouldn’t stay in the hut if you do bring one as other people may not be keen with sharing with a dog.
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Is the Brian Waddington Hut worthwhile?
The Brian Waddington Hut, and Long Lake in general, offers fantastic access to an absolutely beautiful region of SWBC. While it wouldn’t make an amazing hike on its own, it’s a fantastic base camp for deeper exploration, and even with one night stay you could sweep up every peak in the immediate vicinity, as we did. Some people just hike to the hut to relax and get away from the city, and if you go midweek you likely won’t be sharing it with many people (if any).
How difficult is the hike to Brian Waddington Hut?
The linked stats are for a one way trip to the hut from the beginning of the FSR, so you’ll need to double the distance for a return trip. Still, that’s more than doable even for a daytrip, but most people will be doing this as an overnight, so the one way stats would just be your day 1 hike. That being said, in the summer a large part of the road is driveable in a high clearance vehicle. If you can reach the end of the road, the stats drop to around 4.8km and 470m gain, so less than half that of starting at the bottom. With those stats you can easily reach the hut in 1.5 hours or so, drop off your overnight gear, then go exploring for the rest of the day.
There is nothing difficult about the hike to the hut, it follows an easy to follow trail the entire way.
Brian Waddington Hut Route Information
The AllTrails stats assumes you begin hiking where the spur road meets Blackwater Creek FSR. Blackwater Creek FSR is a smooth gravel road that any car can drive, but the spur road is rougher, with multiple deep cross ditches. You’ll need some ground clearance to drive this road, but if you can do so you will shave off almost 5km and 600m of gain from the stats, so it’s well worth it. In the winter you will have to start from Blackwater Creek FSR as the spur is not plowed.
Assuming you start at the very bottom you’ll simply hike up the spur road for around 2.8km where you’ll cross a bridge over Phelix Creek. At around the 4km mark you’ll cross another bridge, then at around the 5km mark you’ll eventually reach the roads end, where those with capable vehicles are able to park.
From the road’s end you will find the trail leading into the dense brush. You may pass by a pile of chopped wood, with a sign asking you to take some up to the hut for usage in the winter. If you’re able to, grab a log or two and stuff it in your backpack, dropping it off at the hut when you get there.
The initial trail passes through some very dense foliage that can often be soaked in morning dew, with some muddy patches around to navigate. The first 1.5km gains practically no elevation as you remind parallel to Phelix Creek. At this point, right around the 6.5km mark (from the Blackwater Creek FSR trailhead) you’ll start climbing up towards Long Lake.
The dense foliage now gives way to more typical PNW forest climbing, and for much of it you remain close to Phelix Creek. The trail climbs consistently but never too steeply towards the eastern fringes of Long Lake, and in no time you’ll reach the shores of the lake.
From the lake you’ll easily locate a bridge over the outflow that flows into Phelix Creek, and the trail continues around the northern edges of the lake. The views will now be expansive, with the hut visible in distance, and the backdrop of Mount Gandalf and Peregrine Peak offering some lovely views.
Depending on the lake levels you can continue along the trail, or in our case we simply hiked along the beach. This is a bit of an unusual lake in that it has a nice sandy beachline pretty much the entire way around, and it was actually easier to just follow the beach than take the muddy trail. This would only work if the lake level is low enough, of course.
In short order you should have reached the western end of Long Lake, where you’ll find the hut and all the available camp sites.
When should I hike to the Brian Waddington Hut?
As noted, timing is tricky here for hikers and backpackers assuming you respect the Aug 15 – Oct 15 voluntary closure. July to Aug 15 is likely the best time to go if you intend to explore the various peaks in the region. If you don’t mind snow around you can probably go in June, and you may get away with late October as well. Typically November to May will be snowy, and while you can readily reach the hut still, exploring deeper into the region will be a lot more involved.
Top Tip
The best time to go to avoid the worst mosquitos but still respect the closure is as close to Aug 15th as possible. That being said, fires can ramp up around here too, so smoke can become a concern.
If you want to stay in the hut, try to avoid Saturday’s. They are often very busy with 20+ people registered to stay there. I can’t imagine how packed that little hut is with 20 or more people. Make sure to check the VOC website to see how many people are registered to be staying on the dates you intend to go.
Bring a tent as a backup in case the hut is too full.
