If you live in or visit Colorado during the winter, you should know about the backcountry hut system we have. The 10th Mountain Division has built and maintained several huts across the Colorado Rockies that are accessible by cross country ski or snowshoe in the winter. You can even do multi-day, multi-hut trips. Costs range from $20-$40 a night and all you really need to bring is a sleeping bag and food. Most huts have around a 16 person capacity, and you almost always meet great new people to enjoy the experience with.
This was my first time doing a hut trip in the early season. It was still amazing, but I will let you know that if you’re looking for the kind of experience where you will have 5-6 feet of snow that you can cannonball into, I’d go closer to March.
Note: All (the good) photos in this post were taken by my amazing professional photographer friend Will Strathmann. Check him out on insta @willstrath or willstrathmann.com
FOOD: My backcountry food of choice is always pizza. My food of choice in general, is also, typically, pizza. Pizza is a great trail food. However, one of the best parts about doing a hut trip is making a great meal and sharing it with friends (full kitchen amenities are provided including a wood burning stove, propane burners, utensils, etc… you just have to melt snow for water.) I don’t skimp on the food. After all, that’s really the only weight you have to carry.
For this trip, we made gourmet burgers with thick cut bacon, avocado, and BBQ sauce with seasoned crispy fries for dinner. Breakfast brought backcountry tacos with potatoes, eggs, bacon, avocado and salsa. You’ll see, both of these meals had ingredients that overlap… and that is a key when planning meals. It allows you to justify carrying so many ingredients for delicious meals when you can use them more than once. Tortilla based meals are also great because typically tortillas don’t get squished in a pack like bread would.
Note: Bring whiskey and make what we like to call a “cold fashioned”… whiskey poured over a handcrafted snowball.
THE HIKE: The main trail to Jackal hut starts at the South Camp Hale trailhead and is about 4 miles one way with 2,500 feet of elevation gain. It’s pretty short and steep, but that means a fun ski (or sled) down. We opted to sled down a good portion of the trail, and I have to say that was the most fun mountain descent I’ve ever had.
LOGISTICS: If you’re just getting into snowshoeing or cross country skiing, REI rents both of them for a low daily cost. You can even rent a gear sled if you plan on doing a multi-day trip and are carrying a lot of food & wine, camera gear, or what have you.
These huts book up pretty fast, but not so fast that you have to book them several months in advance. It gets harder to find multiple spots open in consecutive nights at the last minute, but you can check the forum on the 10th mountain division website because oftentimes people will book several spots for a trip with friends and then things fall through. There are no refunds or cancellations, so this forum is a place to see last minute availability person to person.
I took this photo of will as he was showing me how he wanted me to stage in his photographers idea. note: i cannot hold a serious face when trying to do something serious.
Overall, I highly recommend the 10th mountain division hut system. Go for multiple nights if you can. You won’t want to leave.
On our last morning before heading out, I wrote a poem by the fire. I also wrote it in the guest book. They have guest books from every year since they opened the hut system that everyone can write in. It's a fun by the fire, reading/writing activity.
