Submitted by Amy de Leon Petzel
I meet the gang outside of a parking lot in Evergreen. It’s my first winter back country hut trip. I have my tele skis – check, backpack with sleeping bag an a few clothing items – check, my friend is lending me her extra beacon, shovel and probe – check, I brought money to contribute to the food and beverage pool. One individual took on the task to shop and prepare some of our food ahead of time. Little did I know how elaborate and gourmet our dining experience would be in the back country.
I’m fortunate to be invited to this elite group of outdoors people. Most either work at REI or rep outdoor products such as Osprey or Shimano. As they’re all heavily experienced, my nerves are at ease. I know I’m in good company. We consolidate to a few cars and leave a few cars behind, and we’re off to the trail head. We turn off I-70 towards Leadville, then pull into a narrow road, and we’re all in four wheel drive vehicles. We start unpacking and distributing the provisions between the sleds and our backpacks. It starts to snow slightly.
I decide to pull what feels like twice my weight with one of the sleds. The sled has a harness that’s like a backpacker’s belt with substantial padding. I’m off mushing up the hill. Luckily the first stretch is fairly flat. I approach a thin bridge over a small stream. It dips down and then hooks around. I hesitate for a moment, then decide to go for it. The dip creates a little too much speed for my liking, I freeze partly because I’m forced to as my ski tips get stuck into the snow bank on the edge of the hook. I face plant it into the snow. I roll over laughing as the others near by help me up and flip the sled back upright. We mush on to the hut. Part of the route gets steeper and I’m shown that my skis have a platform below my boot heals I can prop up to give myself more leverage when climbing. It’s almost like having a high heal to step on. I think it has more of a placebo effect — anything helps.
Just when I feel like I can’t go any further, feeling like a sled dog, I catch a glimpse of the hut! It looks so warm and inviting. I speed up my pace. I approach the entrance, unhook and drop the sled, release my skis, and head in – Ahhhh. A wood burning stove heats up the hut. Benches surround the stove with inviting cushions. I take a moment to lie down and put my achy feet up. This doesn’t last long as we have to unpack the sleds and prepare for dinner.
It’s Saint Patrick’s day, so we have bangers and mash along with Guinness and home made Irish Cream (AKA liquid love). It was the perfect end to our first day at the hut. The rest is pretty much down hill.
