Saturday, Dec 20th
We left Boulder at 9am and were at the Vail Pass trailhead by 11am. The snowmobilers were out with a force but luckily there is a road designated for them and a well marked trail for the backcountry skiers and showshoers. The temperature was near zero and the wind was ripping across the ridge. I later learned that is was negative 30 with windshield. With hand warmers and feet warmers I was fine until about an hour in when my circulation gave way and my hands froze. It seems that as I get older the colder I get and the more painful the experience becomes. I blame all the years of skiing and freezing on the side of East Coast mountains, like at north facing Wildcat Mountain in NH...perhaps the coldest place on earth. Luckily Chris came to the rescue, as he always seems to, and gave me his awesomely warm Himilayan gloves. About 30 seconds after that he decided to substitute out his already purchased gift with a women's pair of these same gloves for Christmas!
Perhaps the coolest part about our two and a half hour ski into the hut was seeing three ptarmigan birds. They look like fat white doves. We took a couple of pictures, then our camera froze. They scampered off and we faced the winds again. Even though this route is extremely straight forward, I will admit that I was glad to reach the hut when we did. With these low temps and wind, here's my gear recap:
Gear - from head to toe
Burlemaster (fully covered head and face mask)
Volcom winter hat with huge pom pom (good steez factor)
Pink googles
Capilene long sleeve
R1 fleece
Montbell micropuffy
Arcteryx shell (with hood on!)
Thin socks
R1 capilene pants
Second layer Isis pants
Mammut ski pants
Hand and feet warmers
Karhu Jils
Dynafit bindings
G3 skins
Ski poles
Osprey backpack with a few extra items inside including food, extra socks, bivy sac, LL Bean Wicked Good Slippers, and my new REI polartec stretch fleece to hang out in at the hut.
*Ok ok, I included some brand names in my description. It has taken me nearly 3 years to accumulate these items and I figure that I may as well be proud and loud! Secondly, I have learned the HARD way that not having gear that actually works is uncomfortable and pretty much sucks. This feeling becomes exagerated when you have a boyfriend who is not spitefully saying..."Wow babe, I'm so sorry that you're cold, wet, blue and shaking. I am perfectly dry because my gear is bomber." This statement, heard on multiple trips, has led to large REI dividends.
(REI gives members 10% of what they spent over the last year as cash towards any purchase in March every year.)
Back to the trip recap. The wind was in our face and my burlemaster was completely frozen around my mouth. I must have had a gaper gap on my left cheek because I could feel the frost bite forming. It wasn't pleasant but soon enough we took at sharp left into the trees where we were protected once more. There are three huts at Shrine Mountain Inn called Jay's, Chuck's, and Walter's. Between Jay's and Chuck's there is a wood powered sauna. Just past Chuck's there is a year round hut attendant named Sheri who has lived there in her yurt for the past 7 years with her three dogs and previously with a boyfriend. She was changing the towels in our hut (changing the towels?!? more on that soon...) when we met her and her dogs on the trail. She was super friendly and not strange as you might imagine someone to be who lives full time on the top of a gnarly and wintery pass.
We were told that these huts were 5 star compared to other huts, but wow, were these 5 star. This hut had running water that is drinkable, a gas burning stove with a thermometer, oriental rugs, full size beds with covers and pillows, a shower, electricity, and a hut attendant who changes out towels every three days. The hut, as they all are, was beautiful with 2 feet wide tree trunk rafters and huge windows, which at this point showed off the howling winds and white out conditions.
We were greeted by two ladies who also live in Boulder named Toni and Laura. Toni is a "recovering" commune living Hindu who spent the last 13 years meditating for 6 hours a day and hopping around like a frog attempting to achieve levitation. Laura is an MD who spent 10 years in the military in flight rescue. Their backgrounds alone gave us a night time worth of conversation, which we spent cheerfully over our naglenes of red wine. The wind blew all night and temperatures dropped to negative 11 outside, but we spent the night toasty inside our mountain retreat and intoxicated with good conversation.
Just before 7am Chris and I woke up to the most beautiful sunrise I have ever seen. The weather had cleared and the view from the hut is of Copper Mountain and the 10 Mile Mountain range beyond it. The snow capped peaks glowed peach, pink, and orange. We were so thankful to have clear skies that the sunrise was that much more wonderful.
Well, that is pretty much it! We ate breakfast, cleaned up, packed our bags and headed out. The air was calm and we could actually see the mountains today. We got out in about an hour, talked to some snowmobilers and hit the road.
Take Aways - Bring warm gloves and extra hand and feet warmers. For the unexpected nice day when your goggles fog up on your noggin, bring sunglasses.