Back in the early days of Jasper National Park, wardens did everything.
They built trails, patrolled the backcountry on horseback, monitored wildlife, and talked to tourists.
Founded in 1907, the Park is nearly 11,300 square kilometres. It’s Canada’s 12th largest national park.
To do their job, park wardens relied on a network of more than 40 backcountry cabins to access the remote edges of our Rocky Mountain jewel.
Some even raised their families in these cabins.
Loni Klettl’s father, Toni, was a park warden in Jasper from 1955 to 1985.
She lived as a youngster with her twin brother in the Blue Creek warden cabin near Hinton when her dad was based there in the early 1960s.
“There are all these stories of bears eating all the groceries, frozen diapers,” recalled Klettl in an interview with CBC News about her early years living in this two-bedroom hut on the park’s North Boundary Trail.
Times have changed
The duties of park warden have changed with the times.
These days, wardens do more front-country law enforcement than backcountry patrolling.
Warden huts, like the one Klettl grew up in, are now rarely used and are falling into disrepair.
The families moved out, and the packrats moved in.
Though 13 of Jasper Park’s huts have been designated Federal Heritage Buildings, they are becoming a decaying piece of national park history.
However, a partnership between Parks Canada and the Alpine Club of Canada (ACC) is giving these old log cabins new life.
In 2018, the Alpine Club undertook an 18-month renovation of the Jacques Lake warden cabin, one of the 13 designated huts with heritage building status.
“It’s a decent renovation to bring [these cabins] up to current standards,” said Michael Geertsema, facilities manager for the ACC.
Workers replaced the bunks, kitchen and outhouse. They also updated the heating.
The renovated Jacques Lakes cabin opened to the public in the winter of 2019.
Backcountry adventurers can book this cabin from December to March for skiing adventures.
In summer, the huts are closed for visitors, allowing park staff and contractors to fix and use the buildings.
It’s a win-win-win for the public, Parks Canada and the Alpine Club.
“Providing visitors with rustic, small roofed accommodation options in the backcountry will allow them to build more meaningful connections with the park and nature,” Parks Canada communications officer Steve Young said in a press release.
The Jacques Lake hut sits in a clearing on the north side of its namesake lake in Jasper National Park. Reaching the cabin requires a 12 km walk on skis or snowshoes.
The hut is the latest addition to a roster of 28 huts that the ACC manages in the mountains of Alberta and BC.
But it’s the first time the club has partnered with Parks Canada to renovate and co-manage an old warden patrol hut.
Hopefully, it won’t be the last.
