I really like where I get to spend my winters, be it in Colorado or Queenstown. But occasionally I have to get out and go and stay somewhere shitty…. called a Hut Trip.
I was invited on this trip probably because I had all the equipment and a snowmobile. Funny how you attract friends when you have a house in the mountains and a snowmobile – hahaha. My personality won’t do it so I’ll take what I can get..
The trip was a little bit remote and it has the potential for some fresh turns.
It is called the Lost Wonder Hut – www.LostWonderHut.com
Since I don’t do a whole bunch of non-fossil-fuels-induced backcountry stuff, I had to make sure I had all my stuff sorted. The Alpine Trekkers were brought out – dang I love these!!!!!
Thanks to Luke the Ski Maker for swapping some touring planks for the condo over the weekend.
Day 1
I drove down to Salida the day before and stayed at this great ltitle B&B. We had some snow last week but the weather forecast was for warm and sunny.
This is what I woke up to.
Day 2
Not too early a start and we began the mission into the hut. This would be the last time we saw anyone other than the group for a few days. Polly came in handy for getting all the gear in.
This is the hut……
First Bundy of the trip (thanks to Paul and Caitriona for bringing some over).
There might have been some shenanigans that night.
Day 3
Things pretty much started when the sun came up on our first full day. Here is everyone getting ready.
With a few muppets in the crew I tooks some guys up the valley….. This entire valley was all ours for the entire trip – amazing!!!
We kept going up, trying to find the saddle of the valley but it eluded us. Anticipating a long run out of the valley we had to turn around. The photo above shows where we changed from uphill mode to downhill mode.
Now it was time for those Alpine Trekkers to show their true colours. The best thing about Alpine Trekkers…. is taking them off.
Day 4
On our final day at the hut we were in work mode from the minute we woke up. Some cleaning stuff to be done, packing, getting Polly running (she is like a genie – rub her twice and she comes to life). To my surprise there was some skiing still to be had…..
Consensus from the troops was to ski the opposite side of the valley near the hut and with a little more confidence from yesterday, we were eager beavers. Only problem was, the line that the troops took up was out of my league so a few of us had a wee conference and decided on a different approach.
Doing it “Her Way” with the hut in the background. Backcountry photos are horrible because we are wearing beacons, extra layers, water and radios – which all should be kept under your outer layer. Saying that, like my pouch?
Final proper ski run for the trip and we were starting to get the hang of things. Laying more 8’s!!!! It hasn’t snowed for 4 or 5 days but it was creamy soft and we didn’t have to share it with anyone.
Then it was time to start heading back to Summit County. Since I hadn’t showered in a few days and we had been working pretty hard during the days I decided to drop into the Mt. Princeton hot springs.
Ow yeah!!!!! Last Bundy of the trip…..
Everything worked out pretty good, didn’t break anything or anyone and got some freshies.