Category Archives: Hut Trips

Of Huts, Elk, Boomers, and Pow: Winter at Janet’s Cabin

A hut trip to Janet’s Cabin has been on my Colorado bucket list for years. As a lifetime skier of Copper Mountain, I’ve always known that there was a hidden cabin way up in the woods somewhere beyond the gate of West Ten Mile, the most westerly run on the mountain. I had skied past the gate dozens of times and pondered an outing beyond the rope lines. I had also seen plenty of fully loaded snowshoers and skiers riding the Kokomo and Lumberjack lifts en-route to a stay at the hut. Keep Reading…

A Betty Bear Christmas

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Four years in a row now Anna-Lisa and I have kept up the tradition of visiting a hut on or around Christmas. It’s a seemingly fitting thing to do given the quaint, festive nature of spending a night or two in a small log cabin deep in the Colorado backcountry. This year we decided to head to the Betty Bear Hut west of Hagerman Pass, best accessed via Ruedi Reservoir to the east of Basalt. The Betty Bear Hut is tucked away on the north side of the Fryingpan River valley only about 5 miles west of Turquoise Lake, but the Continental Divide and Hagerman Pass separate the two preventing easy access to Betty Bear from Leadville. Read more…

Fowler-Hilliard to Janet’s

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Several years back I got an invite to join on J, Brandon and Co’s annual “Hardman Hut Trip” (some years are harder than others but there are always plenty of men). From 10th Mountain to Uncle Bud’s to Skinner we went, covering around 30 miles between the three huts with a few good turns mixed in along the way. This same crew of long-time friends has continued with this style of trip every year for the past decade or so, and I was happy to join again for this year’s outing as soon as I got the invite. Read more…

Holiday Hut Trippin: The Fabi Hut

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To keep up what has turned into sort of an aspiring tradition for us, Anna-Lisa and I skinned into the Fabi Hut from Aspen last week and did our best to fill the place with holiday cheer. It was a fun night out as huts are always a unique experience, and cool to visit the other Benedict Hut after spending Christmas Eve at Fritz’s three years ago. Read more…