Hut to Hut

We've slacked a bit in posting on the blog. Presidents weekend just slipped by and as usual our schedule was booked. A few friends came up from Fort Collins to check out Salida and Monarch, but to their disappointment there has been little snowfall over the last week and the holiday crowds came in full force.
Work didn't slow down for Maggie or me either, I only got a handful of runs in with my friends between lessons. Looking for a more action on Fridays however, Maggie has joined a local race team. Once a week she races her board down a slalom course set up in front of the lodge.
After things started calming down on the mountain we embarked on our first hut trip. The trip was organized by a some friends of ours who work for one of the gear retailers in town.
I envisioned a select group of back-country skiers heading out to a very spartan yurt, or tent like structure, below towering peaks many miles out, like to ones I've come across in the Medicine Bow Wilderness located in northern Colorado. As the trip approached and plans became a reality it wasn't quite as I imagined. Fourteen people dwindled to seven, the approach was only three moderate miles, the hut was more of a fully functional two story cabin and I was the only person to pack skis in.
Expectations set aside towering peaks did loom overhead and I did get my own back-country skiing in. Otherwise it was very comfortable with minimal risk and good company. With the Lost Wonder hut as practice, next year we may want to look at a different hut trip.