Colorado Hut Trip

Susannah Storch, a Colorado photographer, recently shared with me her recent adventure on a hut trip. This is a classic Colorado past time. Perfect for the adventurist. Words by Susannah Storch: At the end of February, 16 of my friends and I headed towards Woody Creek, Colorado (just outside of Aspen) to the trailhead for Margy's Hut, one of the 10th Mountain Division Hut Association's 30 backcountry huts, to find our inner Johnny Moseley. One couple were on their 9th hut trip, while many others were experiencing their first. We strapped on our downhill skis and boots modified with AT bindings and climbing skins, our splitboards, and our snowshoes to trek six miles in and 2,660 feet up to Margy's Hut. We carried as little as possible (beacons, headlamps, a change of clothes, down booties, sleeping bags), but our backpacks were still heavy with food and bags of wine. After quite a work-out of steady uphill, we were greeted with views, solitude (or as close to it as you can have with 15 others!), snow and fun. The 10th Mountain Division Hut Association runs 30 backcountry huts throughout the mountains of Colorado that are connected with over 350 miles of trails. These huts offer the perfect base for backcountry skiing, mountain biking, hiking, and just hanging with friends. Although they do provide shelter and basic amenities like toilet paper, plates, and (thank goodness) a percolator, they are definitely best suited for adventurers who are not afraid to rough it. The huts do not have electricity, other than dim night-time lighting powered by solar energy. They do not have indoor plumbing; an outhouse is as modern as it gets. Melting snow over a fire provides drinking water in the winter while the fire heats the hut. But the scenery, backcountry skiing, wine, drinking and time with friends make up for it all. At the hut, we cooked, played card games, read old log books, talked, knitted, and drank. Some of us did do some backcountry skiing (after digging a snow wall to help observe for avalanche conditions) while others opted to try to build a glissading hill (wrong season). And the guys, of course, felt the need to be daring so they built a ski/snowboard jump over the walkway to the bathroom and had fun testing their courage (and stupidity) on it. Trading my cell phone and laptop for snow and mountains was a perfect winter retreat. Sharing the experience with 15 of my friends was priceless. If you are interested in planning your own hut trip, visit the 10th Mountain Hut Association for more information at http://www.huts.org/. Neptune Mountaineering in Boulder rents all the backcountry gear you could need, from beacons to splitboards.