E-Branch Cabin

Notes

The original Knucklehead cabin, and the one with a story. It is the Mount Diadem Ski Club's old rope tow lift shack, 12 by 18 feet, winterized in 1998 by Jeff Mah and crew on Forest Service money. Locals call it the Hilton, which is why the road in is signed Hillton Trail and why OSM has it filed under a third name. Sleeps 8 in a loft that already has a mattress in it, insulated, pellet stove for heat with pellets hauled up over the summer, propane cook stove, white gas lantern, picnic table built into the room, crawl space for gear. The outhouse is about 100 feet northeast and has no door. Skiing from the cabin is cutblocks, old road grades and spaced trees rather than open alpine, but the Switchback Trail puts you on Big Knuckle inside 2 km, so the alpine is a morning away. Winter figures assume you park where the E branch leaves Stillwater Main near 425 m, because the branch is never plowed. In summer a 4x4 reaches a pullout about 4.5 km up, leaving 1.9 miles and 925 feet, and Recreation Sites and Trails BC currently lists the road washed out just past the Alpha Creek bridge. Haul road is radio controlled and closed to the public 5am to 6pm Monday to Friday unless you carry a VHF. No lock, no bookings, $20 CAD per person per night suggested.