The first trip was a three mile hike to the Sangree M. Froelicher hut. We got a bit of a late start from Boulder that day and finding the trailhead was a bit tricky, especially with a two-wheel drive car that could easily get stuck in the snow but we found it. We started at Buckeye Gulch and hiked a bit over three miles to the hut. The sun had set and it was starting to get pretty dark before we reached the hut. The oncoming darkness mixed with a snowstorm made us very grateful to have a gps with the route programmed in along with our map to ensure that we were in the right place. That night, while at the hut it snowed about 18 inches. It was snowing so heavily that anyone who had to go to the bathroom had to shovel their way to the outhouse. There was a large family that was already at the hut so the place was very warm upon our arrival. We set up our beds, made dinner, and played a few rounds of uno and dominoes (though neither of us actually know the rules to dominoes so we made them up as we went- Mat always won...). The family gave us their leftover berry crumble they had made for dessert. It was fantastic!
The next morning we took it a bit slow and, after shoveling and re-stocking the hut's water supply, we finally made our way out the door mid-morning. One person had left before us but he decided to b-line down the mountain so we were left breaking trail in the 18" of fresh powder from the night before- this was definitely a tricky endeavor but we made it down. At the trailhead, our car had been snowed in but luckily there was a snowplow who was nice enough to plow around the car so we didn't end up digging the car out on our own. We then made our way to Leadville to pick up the rental skis, grab a hot coffee, and check into our Air b-n-b. The Air b-n-b was called the 'Fishbowl Room' with a back entry and private bathroom. We'd highly recommend it. We hung out a bit in downtown Leadville but turned in relatively early to get enough rest for the next day.
In order to get an early start, we woke up at about 5 am and grabbed breakfast at the Golden Donkey. The car had some trouble starting as it was about -10F outside. Matt had never heard a car engine struggle from extremely cold weather before. We found the trailhead to the 10th Mountain division hut at Tennesse Pass and embarked on the nearly 6 mile cross-country ski trek to the hut. The elevation gain was only about 1,200' over the entire distance so there wasn't a huge concern about climbing but we brought skins for the skis along just in case we needed to use them. The hut was nearly fully booked for the night but there were only 4 of us who actually made it to the hut that night; Matt and I and then a man with his son. We all figured the extreme cold had warded off a lot of folks. We arrived to this hut about mid afternoon so we spent some time shoveling and replenishing the water before making dinner and heading off to bed.
That morning was just as cold but the furnace kept things pretty warm through the night and into the next day. It was also incredibly sunny despite the freezing weather. after making our way back down to the car we stopped in Leadville to drop off the skis and pick up some lunch at the local Communist Revolution Cafe. They had homemade peppermint marshmallows that Neil really enjoyed. After the lunch/coffee break we made our way back to Boulder.
Total Mileage: 17.6 Net Elevation Change: Dunno
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
