Volunteers help rebuild Kitsap Cabin
By Ann Vogel
For The Sun
If walls could talk, the now fragile 84-year-old walls of Kitsap Cabin would have plenty to say.
The smooth river rocks of their fireplace would tell stories of ancient times when two creeks, now called Lost and Wildcat carved out a hidden valley near Bremerton, converged to form Chico Creek, and became the liquid womb for centuries of wild salmon.
The cabin's rounded cedar support beams would tell of their days as part of the dense forest of towering trees tangled with wild rhododendrons that still compete for the limited sunlight that permeates the forest canopy.
The log walls and the tongue-in-groove fir of the floors would tell tales of hikers arriving from Seattle in the early 1900s to hike, camp, perform skits, and later to cut trees and gather river rocks to build Kitsap Cabin.
The 40-by-60-foot cabin, just a quarter-mile off Seabeck Highway outside Bremerton, was built in 1918 by members of the Mountaineers, a Seattle-based non-profit organization founded in 1906 and dedicated to the preservation, exploration, and enjoyment of outdoor and wilderness areas.
However, a recent structural study by Poulsbo firm R.L. Morrison Engineering found the cabin "in danger of collapsing under its own weight" and recommended it be renovated or demolished.
"The floor was too near the ground and there was not much holding it up," said Seth Cutler, one of the engineers. "It could have collapsed in an earthquake or high windstorm."
Last year Kitsap Cabin was listed on the Washington Heritage Register as a historically significant site, and this year, a contractor and volunteers began renovating it.
The cabin sits on a 20-acre site that includes Forest Theater, built in 1926. It is one of the nation's oldest outdoor theaters. Adjacent to this property is the 300-acre Rhododendron Preserve, held in conservancy by the Keta Legacy Foundation. Nearby is Big Tree, the largest Douglas fir on the Kitsap Peninsula, and one of the largest in the world.
Mountaineers visiting the site nearly 100 years ago originally stayed on a decrepit farmstead. The men slept in the barn, the women upstairs in the old house and couples in three chicken houses.
They began constructing their cabin in 1918, and Mountaineer women completed most of the work because the men left to fight in World War I. Above the fireplace, the women left an alcove for a plaque to honor Mountaineers killed during the War. Fortunately, to this day, the alcove remains empty. The men returned home.
The early Mountaineers loved performing skits, pantomimes, and other dramatic diversions.
In 1923, they performed Robin of Sherwood, their first rehearsed spring play open to the public. Since then, they have produced an annual show, with the exception of four years during World War II. This year's production is the lively musical, "State Fair." It includes several families performing together.
"We have a lot of two and three generation families that have been coming here," said Jamie Gordon, who is the Kitsap coordinator for the Mountaineers. "Parents meet here, then their kids meet their spouses here ... it's just so much fun because you get to have the community theater, campfire, group hug thing-it's like summer camp for people who like to do drama."
Gordon married into what he calls "one of the Mountaineer royalty families." His in-laws became acquainted with each other during the 1950s when involved with the Mountaineers.
Since restoration work began at Kitsap Cabin last September, Gordon and 10 or 12 other Mountaineers have commuted from Seattle almost every weekend to work, often alongside Suquamish mason Kristofer Sorensen, who is painstakingly re-building the river rock fireplace and chimney and bringing them up to code. Forty to 50 other volunteers have assisted.
Through all this, the Mountaineers have continued their tradition of a spring play, and over Memorial Day weekend opened their latest production. The run concludes this weekend through June 16. Guests are invited to peek into Kitsap Cabin before or after the show.
Published in The Sun: 06/09/2002
