Janet's Cabin - 10th Mountain Division hut trip

[nakman]

Last Friday was the most brutal hike I've ever been on. It took almost 5 hours to go a little over 5 miles, roughly 3000 vertical feet. The first three miles were done in about 2 hours, then the final 2 miles took at least another hour each, with the final being the steepest, deepest, coldest, windiest, longest, and most painful. Sharp pain was jutting from both hips joints with every move, enough to cause screams on several occasions. If my snow shoe sinks one more time I swear I'm going to throw something.. wait, bad idea, must conserve energy.. Every known mind focusing, endorphin-producing self-motivational tactic was effectively deployed, I think everyone would agree they "left it all on the trail." We're .1 miles from the cabin, an hour ago you could see it from across the meadow and thought you'd be there in 20 minutes. I measure my left steps are about 8", my right about 12"... I'd hit the wall in just about every way.

Then Dave says "hey man let me carry that snowboard for you- you don't look so good." Ok twist my arm, I've never been one to turn down a strap when needed, and at this point it felt like my three strikes & out was about an hour ago... (that was a wheeling analogy dudes )

 

[Crash]

Looks like a great trip and I heard you put on a pretty good concert Tim. Your pain symptoms? It's called old age. Welcome to the club.

 

[nakman]

Definitely worth it. Friday night was a total blast.. great food & drink, good socializing.. only took a few hours to get the wood stove kickin' to the point where we were shedding layers. On Saturday we had a full day to play.. so we got to shovel snow, carry fire wood, got the sauna started and then hiked up the hill to get in a few turns... the cabin was just below timber line, so 1 minute uphill from the deck and you were at the start of a huge bowl.. the tracks in the second pic were taken from the house, those were my tracks from my first powder run.

 

[Hulk]

Ungh. That sounds brutal. The one hut trip I took was much like that, up up up through snow until we finally reached the cabin. It hurt and I was 10 years younger. I hear ya man.

 

[nakman]

The clouds lifted late in the day Saturday, and we were treated to an awesome sunset. Another fun evening of playing games, eating & drinking everything left so we didn't have to carry it back down the hill. Sunday started with a sweet powder run, down the ascent that about killed us a couple days before.. then a long sunny journey back down to civilization. I was envying the folks with skis as they made great time through the valley, while I either walked or rode my snowboard, alternating about 30x. Still worth it though, thanks again Dave for posting up the opportunity, and to Kirsten, Becky, & Bruce for all their contributions & good times. I would totally do this again.

 

[Convert]

Looks like a great trip

 

[RockRunner]

Sounds like fun, not for me but sounds like fun

 

[DaveInDenver]

More photos.

 

[DaveInDenver]

Rockstar.

 

[DaveInDenver]

Cruiser content.

 

[DaveInDenver]

Wondering if Bruce's camera survived the sauna... Probably not suitable for a family forum.

 

[Beater]

you mean hike hike? Not snowshoe? wow...

 

[nakman]

you mean hike hike? Not snowshoe? wow...

Snowshoe going up, the whole way. On the way down, snowboard/hiked for the first probably 2-3 miles, then switched and snowshoed uphill probably 2 miles, then snowboarded down the slopes at Copper from about mid-mountain. Everyone else in our group had skis, so they were swapping skins while I was strapping the other to my backpack.

 

[Beater]

ok - had me worried about your sanity... My good bud does a section of the hut system every year... as if that wasn't enough, he's also a telemarker....I would really like to do a snow camp this year, it's been twenty years, but I think I can still recall how...

 

[subzali]

I love winter, that looks like so much fun. Never been on a hut/yurt trip, but would like to go sometime. Would also like to get more backcountry action in on my tele skis.

Glad to see you guys had a good time!

 

[RicardoJM]

Aside from the walk in looks like you had a very good time. So how hot does the sauna get?

 

[MDH33]

Looks like fun. Tim, you need to get yourself a split board.

 

[rover67]

Looks like a blast dudes.. J-E-A-L-O-U-S

 

[nakman]

I bet we had that Sauna up to 150-160°F.. the thermometer inside was broken but if you sat on the top bench for more than about 5-10 minutes you started to get a little woozy... but then we ran outside and jumped in the snow, then ran back inside.. repeat.

Yeah Martin either a split board or just get backcountry skis, definitely want to get more into this more in a few years once we're done with our last round of babiness. Until then I'll just grunt it out old school...

 

[Jacket]

Sharp pain was jutting from both hips joints with every move, enough to cause screams on several occasions.

I can totally relate to that statement - it's my hips that suffer the most. I usually hike with skinned tele skis, and I swear by the end of the ascent I feel like those skis weigh 50lbs a piece.

Thanks for the trip report! There's something very unique about trekking into the woods in the middle of winter with no lifeline other than turning around and trying to head home. Sounds like a good group and a fun trip.