Instead, it’s Hut Trip 2k12!! And yes, those words actually mean something!
For the past 3 years, a group of us has organized a hut trip through the 10th Mountain Division. Basically, it’s a series of backcountry huts that are spread throughout the Colorado Rockies. They are open in the summer for mountain biking and in the winter for skiing/snowshoeing. Every year, we book a hut and then take a 3-day vacation to get away from life. This year, we’ve reserved the Benedict Huts for a weekend in January: Fabi and Fritz Hut.
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| Fabi Hut |
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| Fritz Hut |
According to the website, it is approximately 6 miles to get into the hut. Now, to everyone who is a runner, 6 miles doesn’t sound like a lot, right? Let me tell you– 6 miles in the snow, uphill, with a pack on your back, in the backcountry is NOTHING like running a 10k! To make it even tougher, all of the huts sit at high altitude. I think our huts this year are just shy of 11,000 feet, and we gain over 2,600 feet during the 6 mile trip in. One year I wore my HR monitor to make sure I didn’t die out of curiosity, and it said I burned 6000 calories by the time I arrived at the hut. According to their site, it should take us about 6 hours to get in. Yup, 1 mile per hour. But is it worth it? You bet it is!
We usually spend the first night hanging out in the cabin, eating enormous amounts of food and drinking far too much alcohol to compensate for the blisters and bruises we’ve acquired on the hike in. That’s all quickly forgotten the next morning when we wake up and take a look at the sea of fresh snow and silent forest around us–then it’s go time!
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| The view from the Betty Bear Hut, 2009 |
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| Angel and me on the ski in last year |
We booked our hut back in August/September because the damn things fill up so fast, but it’s looking like we are just now finally getting enough of our friends to commit to coming along for the ride. Unfortunately, they seem to trust me on this one….[insert evil laugh here].
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| Harry Gates Hut |
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| The view of Harry Gates from our sledding hill |
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| There is no reason why snowboarding on a sled is a bad idea. None at all. |
In all honesty, there is nothing like being literally in the middle of nowhere with acres and acres of snow-covered mountains sprawling everywhere you look. One of my fave parts of this trips is when I drunkenly stumble onto the front deck go outside at night and look up at the sky. The stars are incredible. There is nothing for miles: no manufactured light, no people, no sounds, nothing (except for 16 loud and obnoxious Denverites!) Just a shining sky and complete silence. It’s not something you find too often in this day and age, you know?
Have I convinced any of you non-snow lovers to come back from the dark side yet?! 🙂