Gearing up for snowmobilers

For the second season, the Skitwish Warming Hut has been stocked with wood to greet snowmobilers winter on a Coeur d’Alene National Forest groomed trail system north of Fourth of July pass about four miles out of Marie Saddle.

Grants for hut construction were secured by the Coeur d’Alene Snowmobile Club, which provided the volunteer construction crew that opened the hut last year.

Summer traffic is light, although commercial huckleberry pickers had to be evicted after taking up residence in the hut, said Andy Boggs, Forest Service trails coordinator.

Riders can now ride a hut-to-hut triangle of roughly 60 miles including Hudlow Meadows, Magee and Skitwish.

“It’s a big asset that helps disperse riders from different trailheads,” said John Nichols, who operates groomers and the Casacade Lodge, a legendary backcountry snowmobiling oasis.

Nichols plans to open the lodge in early December. “Once we have the snow, we’ll be open with three rooms, gas, food, emergency communications, 9 a.m.-midnight, seven days a week,” he said.

The lodge features a spaghetti feed on Wednesdays and bring-your-own-steak dinner on Fridays.

Info: Cascade Lodge, (208) 659-4148.