John(the caretaker) and Stephen(the cook) at Sundance Lodge
After waiting two years for the Healy creek bridge to be replaced, you can now access Brewster creek from the Healy creek trailhead on the Sunshine road.
800 metres into Healy creek, you’ll come to the new bridge
It’s a much shorter and more pleasant ski from the Healy trailhead than it was for the last two years from the Cave and Basin.
Air temperature at Healy trailhead at noon was -2°C and the snow was -3. It’s been a long time since I used VR50(0/-4) and it worked well. I didn’t need much wax on the flat skis I was using today.
Starting up Brewster creek. It could use a fresh tracksetting
From the Healy creek trailhead it’s best to walk for the first 150 metres, first to avoid skiing on all the spruce cones, then to avoid the dirt which the snowplows throw onto the trail.
After 3k and 150 metres elevation on Brewster creek, the snow is clean and the tracks are better
For not being trackset since Dec 20, I was surprised at the condition of the snow and tracks. If it wasn’t for the tree debris, this trail would be considered fair to good condition. The tracks were washed out occasionally, but the 2.6K to the Brewster junction was quite enjoyable.
This is the area where the 2013 floods ravaged the landscape.
I don’t know when Brewster creek was trackset, and there’s a lot of debris on the first 3K, but the snow was still nice and cold and the tracks get better and better the higher you go. At 3k, and about 150 metres elevation, the snow was clean and the tracks were holding up reasonably well. There is enough fresh snow on the trail to give it a tracksetting.
Brewster creek at 8.6K
When I skied this trail on Dec 1, I dug out some exposed rocks and cleared a few trees which had fallen on the trail. I pushed and pulled one stubborn tree as hard as I could and just managed to get it off to the side of the trail. I was amused to see it still laying exactly where I had put it. I put a big bend in the trunk and I’m surprised it didn’t spring back out onto the trail.
Sundance Lodge suddenly pops into view at 11.3K
From the Healy creek trailhead it’s 11.3K to the end of the tracksetting at Sundance Lodge.
Brewster creek gets a lot of snowmobile traffic from Sundance Lodge hauling supplies in. The snowmobiles leave ruts and ridges which can be an issue when you’re going down the steep hills, so it’s best if you have wider, metal-edged skis for this trail.
Skiers on Healy creek on the return trip
John, the caretaker at Sundance Lodge, and Stephen, the cook, were hauling supplies in today and overtook me when I was about 200 metres from the lodge.
They’ve also groomed a 5K trail beyond the lodge on which you can ski to Turtle Tom’s cabin.
Sundance Lodge is open for guests Thursday to Sunday nights. They do not offer lunch or tea to daytrippers, but Stephen said they are working on that.
Hi Bob!
Thanks for the trail update! I am heading out to the lodge tomorrow for the weekend! I will be on the lookout for Wolverine tracks again 😉 Nice to have met you on this trail about a year ago!
-AV