Route Description

HUT TO HUT distances are usually longer than from trailhead to hut. Use winter specific topographic maps. Routes between huts are not often used so may not be tracked; navigation and breaking trail may be particularly challenging.

Skiers with minimal skiing skills who wish to connect Polar Star Inn to the Peter Estin Hut might want to consider descending using as much of Fulford Road as possible to  Yeoman Park Trailhead, then traveling up Hat Creek Road to Estin. This adds about five miles to the trip relative to the Newcomer Spring/Iron Edge alternative. Narrow and short skins on Hat Creek Road and and an abundance of patience will make this a pleasant climb. At Yeoman Park Trailhead, carefully identify the start of the Hat Creek Road. It begins just west of the actual campground and follows a distinct road-cut up a SE-climbing traverse. Follow the road to the first switchback and continue climbing NW through several more switchbacks. Stay on the road; at 9,400 feet you’ll swing S into the Hat Creek drainage.

Once in Hat Creek, the route continues to be obvious and well marked. Basically you stay on the main snow-covered logging road as it parallels Hat Creek. The only deviation from the creek takes switchbacks starting at 9,800 feet elevation. At a 10,820-foot saddle (Ironedge Saddle) at the head of the Hat Creek drainage, the logging road makes a turn to the south. Leave the road here, ski several hundred feet farther E, and intersect the continuation of the Ironedge Trail that 10th Mountain has marked. Climb this trail 3/4 mile SE up through timber to the Peter Estin Hut. This section of trail is less obvious than the logging roads, so pay attention.

Locations of Observed or Reported Avalanche Activity: No avalanche activity has been reported along this suggested route.

Lodging

Transportation