The Raven’s Roost cabin is a little easier to access than many of the other cabins in the Tongass. That’s not to say it’s easy, but at least you can drive there…once you fly or boat to Mitkof Island anyway.
We had quite the trip here, and it happened to be the cabin we stayed at for my 35th birthday. The weather held, and we were able to find the cabin through some pretty deep snow. More on that later…
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See the post of our second visit here.
To read about some of the other cabins we’ve visited, and the experiences check out the Cabins page.
Location
The Raven’s Roost cabin is located near Petersburg, Alaska on Mitkof Island. As I mentioned earlier, the cabin is accessible by the road system, but you will still need to fly into Petersburg or take a ferry.
Reaching the cabin requires a 3.2 mile hike, with approximately 1,800 feet in elevation gain. The cabin sits on top of the mountain, and if the weather is clear you will have incredible views from just about every angle.
Price
The Raven’s Roost cabin has a split fee structure, with one price during peak season and a different price at low season. From April 29th through September 28th the fee is $50 per night. Between September 29th and April 28th the fee drops to $35 per night. All bookings also have a $9 reservation fee.
Because we are lucky, we booked our stay on April 29th, catching the first night of the increased price. You can reserve the cabin here.
about the Raven’s Roost Cabin
The Raven’s Roost Cabin was newly built in the fall/winter of 2021. Pieces of the cabin were flown in by helicopter, and then assembled at the top of the ridge. You can read more about what it took to build here.
This cabin is replacing another cabin that was another mile along the ridgeline…this is an important part of our story.
The new cabin is beautiful, and it is warmed by a propane system with a nice heater. The cabin has a great big porch in front that offers spectacular views.
Our trip
The second annual birthday trip to a Tongass Forest Service Cabin. Last year was a trip to the Salmon Lake Cabin outside of Sitka, Alaska, this time was a hike up to the Raven’s Roost Cabin.
Our reservation was for a Friday night and my girlfriend, Jenn, was arriving on the noon flight that day. Once she arrived, we started getting our gear together and after we finished our work for the day we made the drive to the trailhead.
Full disclosure, I had never been to the trailhead but thought I knew where it was. Because of this false confidence I didn’t double check anything…which led to us starting our trip much closer to the airport than we should have.
After starting down the wrong trail we both soon agreed this didn’t seem right. We went back to the truck and headed to the correct spot…just adding a few extra steps to the overall journey.
We arrived at the (correct) trailhead around 5:30 that afternoon, thinking we’d be able to hike to the cabin in a couple of hours. Starting up, that timeframe seemed very doable, the trail was great and it was a gorgeous day.
The first section of trail was mostly flat through a muskeg. On the way we passed a couple benches with overlooks and great views. Eventually we made it to the tree line and the trail started to steepen.
Once we were in the trees we started gaining elevation. There were more switchbacks and even a few metallic sets of stairs. It was all very well maintained, but the metal in the woods did have an odd feel.
The sunshine gave way to some intermittent drizzle and cloud cover, but it was fairly broken and the sun soon came back out. At this point the climb was wearing me out. We took a break about 2 miles in, having climbed 900 feet, with about another 900 to go.
After the break we started running into snow. The trailhead had signs stating the area can have up to 14 feet of snow! The snow became thicker and thicker, and the trail harder and harder to follow.
There were blue trail markers posted on the trees at reasonable distances, you never felt like it was too far before you would see the next. Eventually we gained most of the ridge and came out into a muskeg.
This is where the snow really became a problem. There was a decently worn in trail, but because it had been so warm all day the snow was getting soft. I started to break through more and more. Every step started to create more and more anxiety…would I stay on top or posthole through.
There was a section where we broke off down into a ravine, following the trailmarkers out of the muskeg. Continuing what looked to be footprints on the trail, we realized it had been a while since we had seen a marker.
That, along with regularly breaking through to my knees, and starting to lose daylight made me start to consider our options. Keep going and be ok with spending the night in the woods away from the cabin if we don’t find it, or turn back.
In front of us was a big hill, that looked like it would be a good vantage point. In frustration, I told Jenn I was thinking about turning back. She wanted to keep going, so I asked her to walk up to the hill and see if she could spot a marker.
At that point we had gone three miles, which meant we still had another mile to go. I wasn’t looking forward to another mile slog through deep snow even if we did find the marker.
Jenn reached the top of the hill, and shouted down “There’s a building here!”. “You’ve got to be shitting me” was the response…somewhat in disbelief. I asked how far…are we talking a mile down the ridge or closer. She told me it was about 100 yards away. That was exactly what I needed to hear.
Suddenly, I had a second wind and climbed the ridge to see the cabin right there staring at us. I couldn’t believe it. All I could think about was a picture I saw with a message along the lines of “Don’t Give Up” and a miner digging a tunnel, and turning around right before he broke through to the jewels.
The last little bit was tough but we had extra energy from knowing we had made it. The snow was all the way up to the porch, covering the stairs. We walked out back and the snow was halfway up the outhouse.
The cabin was incredible, and the views were even more impressive. We could see for miles in every direction. We made some tea and sat out on the porch soaking in the view until the cold forced us back inside.
The heater is a little more complicated that most of the stoves, but some other guests had written some helpful instructions in the log book. We were able to get it going and immediately it started warming up.
We ate our freeze dried dinners while we read through the previous users comments in the guestbook. There were several other groups who had the same experience trying to find the cabin through the snow.
The next morning was extremely clear, and we could see the sun coming up and lighting all the peaks around us. It was a stunning place to see a sunrise. Jenn found a copy of Alaska Panhandle Tales to read while we enjoyed our coffee.
It was already bright and sunny by the time we finished our oatmeal and decided to pack up. We cleaned up the cabin and started our way back down. Even though it was early, it already felt hot.
Overnight temperatures had dropped below freezing, so the snow was much firmer on the way out which was a welcomed difference from the way in. We made quick time heading down.
Since it was only 9am or so we decided to grab a coffee in town and head to the whale observatory. As luck would have it, we spotted Orcas swimming out in Frederick Sound, something I had never seen and had on my bucket list!
It was the perfect way to end another birthday cabin adventure.
