Peyto Hut
Peyto Hut is an Alpine Club of Canada backcountry hut on the Wapta Icefield area, also known as the Peter & Catharine Whyte Hut. The current hut structure was built in 1983, and it’s described as the most northerly hut on the Wapta Icefield, making it a natural start or finish for a Wapta traverse.
Use is open all year. The hut is set up for scrambling and mountaineering access to peaks including Peyto and Trapper Peaks, plus Mt. Baker, Thompson and Rhondda, with both summer and winter ascents possible. In the winter profile, the hut-to-hut ski trip on the Wapta Icefields is treated as glacier-travel terrain with avalanche and crevasse considerations.
Operational details from the hut page: the hut uses a propane-provided heat source and propane-provided stove; bedding is mattress-style; no oven is provided; bathrooms are outhouses; and water is from snow melt and the lake. Maximum capacity is 18 in summer (10 km trail distance with 670 m gain) and 16 for winter features (10 km trail distance with 670 m gain). Rates shown are $50 for members and $60 for non-members (prices can change).
Access to Peyto Hut involves route finding, glacier travel, scrambling, and river crossings. A steep trail drops toward the lake from the end of the tourist trails, then follows the lake’s south side and inlet streams, crosses the river, climbs to a moraine, works up to the Peyto Glacier, and then proceeds on the glacier staying to the right of crevasses before circling back to the hut area. An alternate summer access is also possible across the Wapta Icefield from Bow Hut, but glacier travel and proper equipment are emphasized.