Photos:
http://www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=3587513007/a=38054161/
I got invited on a hut trip that a friend of a friend, Rudy, was putting on. I was excited, as Rudy was supposed to be a good climber and I knew a of a couple other people that were good climbers as well. I was hoping I'd make some new climbing friends for the summer. As time progressed, more details emerged; there would be a formal candle-lit dinner night. There were three yoga instructors, and would likely be yoga. There was talk of poetry and rose petals. Hmm. Starting to look a bit different than my usual trips.
Thursday 3/4:
Nobody had taken me up on my offer for a ride out there; so I headed up on Thursday night. That way, I could get a full day of skiing in on Friday. (Most folks weren't heading in until Friday around noon-ish.) It was a little chilly, but a beautifully clear night. I found a place off the main road where I could park the Jeep, and threw down a ground cloth, thermarest and my sleeping bag. Spent some time looking up at the sky before heading to sleep under the stars. Unfortunately, I was woken up by snow at 2am. Temps had dropped, and it clouded over and was snowing. I picked up my stuff and just set up a quick bed in the truck. Wasn't really tired anymore, so I ended up watching a movie in the truck before getting back to sleep for a few more hours.
Friday 3/5:
Woke up, had breakfast, and headed over to the trailhead. Packed up my gear, and started heading in around 9am. It was 3.6 miles to the hut. Unfortunately, I had re-fitted/re-formed my boots at the end of last season (they had been giving me blisters after about 6 miles), and started to feel some hot spots. I debated on taking them off and putting on some duct tape to prevent blisters; but I figured it was only 3.6 miles to the hut. I would be taking my boots off there, as I was going to get fires going to warm the places for the others - so I could take care of them then. How bad could they get in 3.6 miles?
I made it to the hut just before 11:00am, and took off my boots. One foot had a inch and a half round blister that had torn off and was already bleeding. Crap. The other foot had about the same size blister, which had also popped, but still had the skin. I threw some duct tape on them, and made fires at the huts. There was also a hot tub, but it wasn't working. Figured out how to fix it, and got it warming up.
Put on my boots (ouch), and headed out. I was going to try to get up on top of Cascade on Saturday; so I figured I'd get a head start breaking trail today. There was a pack trail that went up a valley on the South side of Cascade which I found easily enough. I followed that trail for a bit, and the snow was DEEP. I was sinking in an average of around 10 inches, on my skis! Wow. Definitely was some work; but beautiful. The trail was previously untouched and it was so pretty and peaceful.
A few miles in, I ended up losing the trail (came to a clearing, and couldn't find the gap in the trees on the other side.) Ended up going a little through the trees; but sank in to around mid-thigh in the sheltered snow. Lots of work. Made it back out to the clearing and made a loop around the clearing, then across the valley and up the hill on the opposite side, looking for the trail. Never did find it, so continued the loop and connected back with my trail and headed back down.
Others had already started arriving, so I met folks as they arrived. This was the first time meeting most of the people there; lots of friendly folks. Many folks only knew a couple people as well, so there was lots of new faces for all. Nobody seemed up for an early ascent on Cascade; looked more like a social outing. Visited with folks for a bit, but then headed to bed early; as I was trying to get an early start and hadn't slept all that well the night before. That didn't really work, as people were up late using the hot tub - which was downstairs at our hut. Then, a few folks were delayed by a road closure, and didn't show up until around 2am. Bummer.
Saturday 3/6:
I didn't know if folks needed help with breakfast, so I didn't get as early of a start as I would have liked. After I found out they were all set for breakfast, I asked around to see if anyone wanted to join me (there were some new folks there.) Nobody was really up for it, so I taped up my blisters and headed out. Instead of trying for the South side approach again, I decided I'd attempt the North-West approach. It was a longer approach, but maybe I could make a loop trip of it - and maybe even connect my trail from yesterday. I was aiming for a trail which went about half way up the mountain (but I wasn't expecting it to be tracked, based on my experience in RMNP a few weeks ago.)
A pleasant surprise was that a groomer had come through the night before and groomed the roads. Very cool! It had snowed about an inch, but compared to breaking the trail through the deep snow the day before, this was incredibly easy. I made the four-ish miles to the trailhead pretty quickly, and as I thought, the trail had not seen any use. Started breaking trail again through the deep snow. Made it to the end of the trail, and pressed onward and upwards; usually sinking in to my knees, sometimes to thigh or deeper. Definitely getting some exercise!
Unfortunately, I needed to have started earlier, as it turned out to be a beautiful and warm day. This caused the snow to start softening and balling up on my skis. Difficult to move in that deep of snow when your skis each weigh around 10 lbs or more. It was torturous to turn around, as I was only around 500 vertical feet from the ridge line (Cascade was 12,303, I was at 11,855; the hut starts at around 9100.)
However, even if I got to the ridge, it was still a mile traverse to the summit; and then an unknown descent to get back. Based on my time over the past couple of hours (slow due to breaking trail); I'd reach the summit around a half hour before sunset. Wouldn't be fun (or safe) navigating down through the deep snow, in the dark, to get back. Hadn't seen any signs of avalanche; and the slope down looked like I could keep it around 30 degrees; but decided I'd just play it safe and would head back. I took a break and cleaned off my skis/skins; to let them dry in the sun while I snacked. I then put the skins away, and made it back down the mountain in less than 30 minutes (took me over 4 hours to get up that far...) From there, I skied the road back to the hut. Some other skiers had used my tracks that morning.
When I got back to the hut, found out that some folks had used my Friday tracks, and others had used today's. Everyone enjoyed the tracks, so it was cool that I was able to help out by breaking the trail for them. Wish I could have made the summit, but it gives me something to look forward to - and come back for. A few folks had attempted some backcountry ski runs, and found out the same thing that I did. The snow was just too deep. Dug in way too far to even move on any lower angle slopes. Another group set up a fun sledding course.
The formal dinner was different; can't say I've ever even considered dressing up after skiing in. It was fun though, and a good group of people. We made and ate a yummy dinner, helped clean up and do the dishes (interesting chore with no running water) and then played charades for a bit. Hadn't played that in a while either, it was fun - with some challenging things to act out. Joined some folks for a dip in the hot tub before heading to bed.
Sunday 3/7:
Woke up lazily, and helped make breakfast. Helped with the cleanup and dishes, and then packed up. Was debating on doing some more skiing today, but my heels were already pretty chewed up. I just took it easy and relaxed a bit. Said goodbye as folks left, and then went and made the rounds to say goodbye myself, leaving around 12:30pm. Took my skins off, and since it was a little bit downhill, I was able to make it back to the car in under an hour. One of the guys, Robert, was there; and could use a lift; so he and I chatted all the way back...
Hope you enjoy the
pics!
A.J.
Photos: http://www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=3587513007/a=38054161/
Group Room (multiple albums): http://ajoutdoors.snapfish.com/snapfish