Cabins nestled in B.C.'s Rossland Range share long, rich history

Deep in the backcountry, up in the mountains, near the the West Kootenay city of Rossland, sits a group of cabins in an area called the Rossland Range.

The Rossland Range is a recreational site that draws outdoor enthusiasts for hiking, snowshoeing and backcountry ski touring. To get to the cabins, you have to hike a trail in the Monashee Mountains between the Columbia River and Big Sheep Creek. 

For the people who  live there and take care of the area, the effort is worth it.

"To have this quality of cabins is quite remarkable," said Laura Mackay, a director with Friends of the Rossland Range society.

"There's really nowhere else probably in the world that has this."

The society is a community of volunteers who look after the public recreational site.

"There is a long and noble history of the cabins dating back decades actually," Mackay told CBC's Kate Wiley.

In the 1930s, skiers and snowshoers, including well-known community member Cookie L'ecluse, used the area recreationally and then shared it with friends, said MacKay.

"[It] snowballed so to speak from there, and the next generation came along and picked that up and built cabins and renovated old cabins."

Yodel Inn

Wake Williams has been taking care of the cabin his father built in 1944 for almost 50 years.

The 69-year-old now spends nearly 200 days out of the year at the Yodel Inn cabin.

"It's an elemental part of my life," he said. "Being able to hike, ski tour, snowshoe and just enjoy the special energy that you find up in the mountains and this area has a strong mountain culture."

Williams considers himself part of that culture, spending many days skiing and gathering for après ski parties with the community. 

"[This culture] speaks very strongly to the spirits of my mother and father and all of the other people of their generation who were up here in those years through the 1930s,1940s," said Williams.

His parents honeymooned at the Yodel Inn cabin in 1948, and the following year, Williams was born.

"My good friend Leonard has said that he figures  my strong connection to the cabin is because I was conceived up here on their honeymoon," he said.

"This is where I started and this is probably where I'll end."

The Kootenay Inn

Rob Campbell has been looking after the Kootenay Inn since he found it when he was 14, working with the ski patrol in the bush.

The cabin wasn't being used and Campbell got informal permission to take it over. 

"I've had to work to keep it," he said.

In order to prove that he was taking care of the cabin, Campbell got skiers and locals in Rossland to sign a waiver vouching for him. He even got a lawyer involved and eventually got a land use permit for it.

Since then, he's created many happy memories there. 

"[I had] good times with the boys when we were younger. We had to hike all the way from the bottom. It took half a day," he said.

Campbell later spent time at the cabin with his wife and three kids.

His daughter, Dusty Campbell, describes it as "one of the coolest places in the world."

She has many memories of the community having holiday parties and celebrating wintertime birthdays.

"We had a lot of really good times up here growing up. We loved the mountains and it just gives us a place to gather," said Dusty Campbell.