The Warming Hut

I am beginning to realize how lucky I am to be living in the mice, chickaree and carpenter ant infested cabin that get to lay my head down in every night. Before relocating to work in Bear Valley, I spoke with the hiring managers about assisting me find housing. It took him (Steve) about 2 weeks after I got here to get something set up but I was excited to have a roof over my head just in time for record breaking cold summer nights and thunder storms; also helped getting all the junk out of my car – finally!

I heard talk about this place called The Warming Hut and it would be a “cool place to live.” Steve was talking about how he’s always tried to get someone especially himself to live there in the “off season” - I wasn’t sure what he was talking about since I was new to town. He said, “it’s an old cabin built in the 70’s dragged out into a field and left there. It’s a bit rustic and there’s some heavy duty cleaning that needs to get done but I think it’ll be a great cozy spot where you can do yoga on the porch, ride your bike to work and not have to worry about your car. I think you’re a hard core woman that could handle it.” Humm ok…thanks?

I get the ‘ok text’ to move in and on the way Steve is telling me I would have to move heavy equipment as it is an old snack bar; I didn’t really know what to expect but went with an open mind. We had to break over a barbed wire fence and there it was a beautiful A-frame cabin with a large deck, large windows, no neighbors, privately covered with trees and the keys are sitting right in front of the door outside. We go in and there are lots of small tables, chairs, a counter top, with a few dead mice in traps along with their shit everywhere. It smelled a little funky and I see the “kitchen” is the snack bar set up with a menu for chili in a bread bowl, beer, grilled cheese, coffee and hot chocolate. There are cross-country posters on the wall with maps of California and the Stanislaus National Forest area along with a pair of skis. ‘A bit cozy and rustic’ finally made sense as we pull down the ceiling staircase to have a peak upstairs. We brush away tons of cobwebs and up the broken steps to find more mouse poop covering the floor, dead mice, and an old broken bed with dinosaur sheets – ah ha a bit of cleaning I see.

Since the stairs were broken and I already had my work cut out for me of cleaning up the bottom half I store the tables and chairs upstairs and seal it off with a screw gun, roll up my sleeves and get to work. The owner of the Warming Hut provided a clean bed (I checked for bed bugs) and agreed for payment I would just have to pay utilities, clean it up to keep rodents out, report people that came on the property, if I want to have a party I needed to invite him and we’re cool. I think my favorite part of cleaning was the algae growing in the toilet – working as a Housekeeping Manager before, I haven’t been so disgusted before and I have seen some nasty shit.

As I get all settled in I am finally getting used to the place, it took me a week to finally step into the kitchen and maybe just started to make use of it yesterday, I laid an area rug down, set up a desk and eating area, hung my clothes, have a covered bookshelf, set up a collage of fun Portland things I miss and some family photos; also have cooked, done yoga, and hung out with some beers all while naked on the deck. I like to keep the curtains open all night and day to have the sunrise wake me up and watch the alpenglow on the mountains and stars come out while laying in bed, it’s a cozy little spot where I get to hear the creepy carpenter ants crawling around in the walls above my head and occasionally get waken up by the squirrels and mice running around the A-frame outside or the chickarees running themselves into a concussion running into the sliding glass doors.

As I am getting to know people in the community they are curious on where I came from, how did I get here, where am I living, and out of everything I mention from Vision Questing etcetera they are always so sweetly surprised the most that I am living in The Warming Hut. Their faces soften and it’s like they go into a trance of euphoria and repeat in a lowered voice, “You live in The Warming Hut? I love the Warming Hut!” They then proceed in a state of nostalgia and feel the need to tell me their connection with The Hut - I am loving it!

Everyone has some awesome story about this place, one of my favorites was having a co-worker come over for the first time and since he walked in the door he was quiet for a good 5 minutes just looking around while I was changing in the bathroom. I come out and he’s apologizing for this silence, he was just in a weird state from remembering when he was a kid while cross-country skiing he complained to his dad that he was tired, cold, didn’t want to go anymore and his reward for finishing was a cup of hot chocolate at The Warming Hut, they just needed to make it there and they would be done then they would see the Winnie the Pooh trail sign which is a huge Pooh right outside my cabin. “I can’t believe you live in The Warming Hut!” He says as we leave.

Another, I went to the Alpine Lake Lodge for dinner and while the bartender was chatting about, the cabin was mentioned and again with the state of nostalgia and sweetness, she turns her head and her eyes soften and reaches for my hand and she tells me she and her father used to live there upstairs in the winters when she was 8 years old and those were the best memories she’s ever had.

I am at the library now, and asked the librarian if she knows anything about the Hut and she said, "well I know Paul (the owner) used to live in it then people after him in the 70's but have you skied there before?" I told her I just moved in and again the head tilt and awe along with questions of how did I get here came in. She directed me to people I should speak to if I want to know more history and stories and gave me a book on the Bear Valley history. 

I was talking to a local about the Hut and he laughed and mentioned there was a TV series from the 80's called High Mountain Rangers that lasted a whole 2 seasons. "Horrible" he mentioned but this cabin was also the very cabin the rangers resided in in the show. 

As the stories roll in I finally did some research on the Warming Hut and can’t really find anything online but seeing the pictures at the height of winter I see it’s charm come to life more than it already has for me in the summer. Bear Valley is big on cross-country skiing and it appears The Hut is a central location and good landmark for all. I am excited to meet these people and hear more stories. I am happy to be the cleaner, protector and preserver of the precious cabin to make my special memories in.

Here are some posts about it:

http://www.sunset.com/travel/california/where-to-ski-california-bear-valley-00400000060993/

http://www.sfgate.com/travel/article/A-ski-trip-on-the-mild-side-Bear-Valley-nordic-2800203.php#photo-2208995