Exploring the Backcountry – Vance Hut
Once a year, I get the opportunity to join a group of old guys on a snowshoe outing into the Colorado backcountry spending a couple nights in one of the 10th Mountain Division huts. This year, Vance Hut near Leadville, Colorado was the plan. A motley crew indeed but a fun group to hang out with for a few days. This year, I had the great fortune to share this experience with my son, Tyler…priceless!
Calling these huts may be a touch misleading but they are remote enough that we have to backpack our food and other essentials in. The cool thing about these huts is they sleep around fifteen folks and users simply reserve a bed and the hut has a common kitchen and living area stocked with all the essentials needed to cook and clean. Just bring in the food (and beverages) and haul out the trash…pretty simple idea.
The hut is about a 2.6 mile trek in from the trailhead at the Ski Cooper parking lot with a moderate altitude gain on the trail from about 10,400′ elevation at the start to the hut at nearly 11,000′ elevation. The trail peaks at the highest point around 11,300′. While much of the trail is in the trees, the view is spectacular as you approach the hut. The hut serves as a nice base camp to explore the surrounding wilderness.
The objective this trip was to make in to the top of Chicago Ridge at an elevation of 12,500′. Admittedly, the 5.2 mile round trip to the top of the ridge was a bit of work but since several in the group were over 60 years old, I elected to keep any expressions of personal discomfort to myself. 🙂
Being above the tree line presented some neat photo opportunities created by the harsh climate at that altitude. It is hard to describe the feeling of being in this environment but there is no question nature’s majesty is on display here!
Without question, sunrise and sunset are something special in the mountains. The minutes before sunrise and after sunset, the colors are amazing. The pinks and purples that replace the blue sky in stark contrast with the white snow covered mountains are and incredible sight.
Finally, being at 11,000′ in the Colorado backcountry to see the hundreds of billions of stars that make up our Milky Way Galaxy is a humbling experience. Regardless of one’s religious beliefs, I continue to find that comparing life to the vastness of this universe to be an incredible spiritual experience.
While many amazing places are easily seen by pulling over and getting out of the car, there are some places that take a little more effort to enjoy. The sights available in the backcountry is well worth the effort expended to get off the beaten trail. The cool thing is that this country is absolutely loaded with places like this to experience amazing things, often accessible from a small hike down the trail.
Interested? Here’s some places to start!
Enjoy!
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