Elizabeth Parker hut 2.58

The Elizabeth Parker hut is an alpine hut located in Yoho National Park in British Columbia at an altitude of 2040 metres (6,700 ft) in a small subalpine meadow about 500 metres west of Lake O'Hara. It is surrounded by some of the most spectacular mountain scenery in the Canadian Rockies. The hut actually consists of two buildings, the main hut itself and the nearby Wiwaxy cabin. It is maintained by the Alpine Club of Canada.HistoryThe hut was named after the journalist Elizabeth Parker, one of the founding members of the Alpine Club of Canada (ACC).For many years, climber and surveyor A.O. Wheeler had a desire to begin a Canadian alpine club "similar to the European and other big alpine clubs of the world". In 1902 Wheeler tried to garner support for the idea through the country's leading newspapers. Elizabeth Parker, then on the staff of the Winnipeg Free Press, chastised him for his lack of patriotism. Wheeler then asked Parker to support his plan for a truly Canadian club. Largely due to the efforts of Elizabeth Parker and the Winnipeg Free Press, the Alpine Club of Canada was formed in Winnipeg on March 27, 1906. Mrs. Parker was one of six original honorary members.The present Wiwaxy cabin, built in 1912 by the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) was the first hut in the Lake O'Hara area. In the same year the ACC was granted a 2acre lease for a future hut on the south shore of Lake O'Hara. In 1919, the CPR built the present Elizabeth Parker hut, and by 1923 had built a further 11 huts in the meadow. In 1923 - 1924, the CPR moved all but the first two huts down to the lake shore, and seven years later donated the last two in the meadow to the ACC. The club exchanged its lakeshore lease for a lease on the meadow, and in 1931 reopened the Elizabeth Parker hut for the use of its members.