La Nyctale Hut

March 9, 2023

It fortunately got a little bit colder overnight, down to about minus six when we departed on the gloriously sunny day. We skied across the lake which was nice because we could avoid the snowmobile and ATV tracks, but at the far side we were back on the trail in tracked out snow. We followed this for a couple of kilometers until where we hoped that the machines would not go, but upon arriving at the junction were dismayed to find skidoo trails fanning out in all directions. Just wow... we came here for backcountry skiing, yet this park seems to be really just for snowmobiles.

Crossing Lac Thibault in the morning

Typical rutted conditions along the official ski trail

Resigning ourselves to our fate, we started slogging down the next ten kilometer section of awful trail. We came to a faint side trail and decided to explore this, hoping we could ski off the official route to get some actual skiing in. This took us down to the river where the trail crossed, but open water here blocked further progress. We backtracked out to the machine trail. Some more slogging and then a short descent down to a swampy area tempted us with open snow fields and untracted loveliness. The crust was supportive and for the next hour and a half we enjoyed fantastic skiing, sometimes across the "golf course" and sometimes down along the rushing river, where wind sculpted snow bridges made for some very interesting crossings. We finally came to a part of the river which was a little sketchy, so turned back to the main trail to get by this section. A short climb up a gentle slope found us back on the trail where we had to immediately jump off again as two police snow machines sped by without slowing down at all. A little further two more machines, the park baggage service passed. At least they slowed down and said hello.

Much nicer skiing off trail along the river

We skied on another four kilometers aiming for a shelter for lunch. Here we climbed a short but steep hill and found a literal shack to sit in, but at least it was out of the blazing sun and we had a bench (but no table) to sit. While lunching, two more snow machines showed up. More park staff, who came here to eat their lunch too. We vacated.

Lunch shack

The ski back down the hill was fast and awful. I managed to get down in one piece, even pulling a turn or two where I could find fresh snow, but at the bottom was a mismash of machine rutted terrain and I crashed pretty heavily after catching a ski in an ATV tire track.

Descent of rutted doom

The last three kilometers to the hut had spectacular scenery as we skinned up the machine track into the alpine. The rime covered trees reminded me of Bryce Canyon in Utah, though the gargoyles were sculpted in snow and ice instead of sandstone. Paul and I skied ahead, taking lots of photos as we went. Approaching the top of this hill Mount Logan appeared... wow, what a view! The last short descent to the hut was actually quite nice as there was sufficient snow along the sides to get out of the machine tracks and pull some turns. We dropped our packs at the hut and climbed to the top again, met the girls and then skied down with them, finishing a six hour day.

Entering the alpine to a wonderland

First view of Mount Logan

Nyctale is cosy. Fourtunately only the six of us are here (the french couple, Guy and Catherine are on the same route as us) because it would be somewhat crowded with a full load of eight people. The view of Logan from the window is fantastic.

After a break, Kat, Paul, and I skied out on a quest for water. Apparently there is a spring 500m from the hut. We found it, but it was down at the bottom of a two meter deep and narrow crevasse. I peered into the depths and saw a very faint tricle of water flowing across the bottom. Snow melt it is to be for the next two days. On our ski back we decided to explore the slopes south of the hut and played a while on the moderate angled terrain above a small lake. We continued a little further down, but stopped where it started rolling off more steeply and then retraced our path back to the hut for the night.

No water for you!

Playing around the small pond behind the hut

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