The Truckee Donner Land Trust is working to complete new back-country huts at 7,600-foot Frog Lake on Donner Summit in time for the 2020-21 winter season.
Improvements at the nearly 100-year-old Eschenbach Stone House, as well as infrastructure work in preparation for the installation of new modular sleeping huts designed by SageModern are moving ahead with installation of the huts expected by mid-October, according to the Land Trust.
If the weather cooperates, look for a grand opening announcement in the coming months, along with a new web page to take overnight reservations at one of the new huts – the Albert M. Rockwood Bunkhouse, Ted R. Hut and Morgan Family Hut, according to the Land Trust.
The Albert M. Rockwood Bunkhouse is a duplex with two separate units and a shared bathroom and each unit sleeps 4 to 6 people. The Ted R. Hut is one large space for groups of 8 to 12 people. Both are open year-round. The Morgan Family Hut will be open for summer-use only.
The huts features flush toilets and warm/cold water, electricity and heating using a combination of solar and propane to power battery packs, and there will be drying racks for boots, clothing, climbing skins, etc.
The refurbished Eschenbach Stone House, which dates back to the 1930s, will serve as a common area and will have a commercial grade kitchen. Guide quarters for guide services will be also located there. There will also be a full-time hut master on site to check in guests, help with ski conditions and maintain the property.
There will be two-night minimums for each unit and will not be available for rent by bed. “Pricing TBD, but it will be more expensive than a Sierra Club hut locally, less expensive than a local hotel room,” according to Greyson Howard, communications director for the Land Trust.
The Frog Lake property is now open to the public, conserved by the Land Trust, and visitors can use the new Blue Dot Trail. The primary access to Frog Lake is through the Pacific Crest Trail to the Donner Lake Rim Trail. Take the DLRT to the Warren Lake Trail, following it (with a stout uphill) to its intersection with the Red Dot Trail. The Red Dot Trail continues mostly downhill to Frog Lake Road and the Blue Dot Trail, a few hundred yards to the west. It’s about a 3.5-mile trek from I-80. | truckeedonnerlandtrust.org
