Trip Report: Phelix Workhike 2023

Written by Roland:

“For those who don’t know, the roof of the Phelix Hut decomposed and a massive amount of work is required to replace it. I decided to go up for a few days and help a bit . I didn’t think I would be much use, being somewhat elderly. Here’s what I saw.

The roof replacement is a massive project. Ten helicopter loads of supplies have been flown in. There’s piles of building supplies all over the meadows around the hut. I arrived with Gina, the driver, and Juliene in a Honda Civic called Betsy. Both the women were tough. I was not tough. Gina decided that we were hiking up too slowly so she carried my pack as well as hers. The hike from the car to the hut took just under 3 hours. The hike back took just over 3 hours but I had to carry my own pack. Monday night at midnight Jeff Mottershed arrived at the hut carrying two sheets of plywood. He didn’t stay because he had to work Tuesday morning.

Gina, Juliene and Jacob spent a lot of time on the roof which was rather slippery even before it rained a few drops. I spent my time sorting stuff into piles, finding missing bits, sweeping up sawdust, picking up bent nails, reattaching the solar panel which the helicopter blew off, and emptying the donation box ($420). There are all sorts of tools up there, three impact drivers, two drills, a couple of saws, a generator which cost $1600 and which VOC now owns, . We ran out of white gas for the three Whisperlite stoves but they seem happy to burn generator gasoline. There seems to be a lot of food up there, we did spaghetti (there’s about 30 lbs of half-metre-long spaghetti) with corned beef, tomato paste, olives. Delicious. I (and Gina) hauled up 1.6 kg of oatmeal cookies which worked for breakfast but we ate them all.

So, we could use a lot more help. No particular skill is needed and you will get good memories. It’s a beautiful area with sunshine, swimming, and lots of work to do on the roof. You don’t need to bring a tent; I slept in the hut but the others all had their own tents. I brought a bug net but the bugs weren’t bad. The bug net kept the rat out of my hair at night. We saw two mice; one drowned in Jacob’s water pot and the other one was trying to open a container of instant rice.

If you decide to go up, the crew up there (Jacob and Juliene) could use a toothbrush as Jacob misplaced his. Two mouse traps and two rat traps would be good. A small bottle of Windex or other window cleaning liquid would be good. Others may have already brought these things up. We don’t want too many abandoned toothbrushes up there.

Will the work be all done by the time of the August 15 grizzly closure, and the arrival of the rainy season? It will if you help.”

- Roland