“We are fairly certain that there was no human cause to the fire because it is so extremely inaccessible,” said Judy Scavine, a board member of the Mount Tahoma Trails Association. Members of the volunteer organization maintain 50 miles of trails and four huts in the area.

The Snow Bowl Hut, built by volunteers for $20,000 in 1991, was deep in the backcountry and inaccessible to the public since flooding in November 2006 washed out roads in the area.

Getting to the hut required fording Catt Creek and then bushwhacking to the trail. The 10-mile trip can take eight hours or more.

When the road’s open, it’s only a 3.5-mile ski or snowshoe trip to the hut. But that’s remote enough that the trails association could not get the hut insured.

While it is unclear how the fire started, Scavine said a pilot light for the propane furnace was left on. The organization decided to leave the furnace on because when it was turned off last winter mold started growing in the hut.

As a precaution, the association has closed the Copper Creek Hut on the open section of the trail north of Ashford. The hut still will be available during the day, but the furnace has been turned off. It’s unclear when that hut will reopen.

At a meeting Saturday, the association voted unanimously to rebuild the Snow Bowl Hut. The organization is seeking volunteers and donations for the project.

“Our volunteer force can use a lot of support right now, moral and financial,” Scavine said.

Association officials think the hut might have burned down March 21 when visitors to the Copper Creek Hut reported seeing a large fire to the south. However, it took until April 3 to arrange for a plane to fly over and check the hut.

“The sight was devastating,” board member Mike Dunn said. “The hut was completely gone. To think of all the work that went into that hut, the camaraderie of the volunteers, the enjoyment of the visitors. … It’s just so sad.”

The state Department of Natural Resources, which controls the land on which the hut stood, will investigate the fire, Scavine said.

Craig Hill: 253-597-8497

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