Our family spent the holidays at sea level and then were back in Lafayette, CO (5210ft) for one week. I donated a pint of blood on Thursday, packed up Thurs night, and Friday night we drove to Breckenridge, CO (9600ft) to stay with friends.
We didn't sleep much, and I immediately became concerned about how hard it was to even climb the stairs in town. We were glad to visit and get a night up high before our adventure started.
We were late getting to the parking lot after we had heard the traffic was slow going for my colleagues. It took us forever to get all our stuff together in the parking lot, and we left at 11:45am. The crew included 2 couples, 1 other couple with a 3 year old, and us with our 2 kids. (My boss and her 2 little girls decided not to come after all.)
I had one huge backpack while Jason had a smaller backpack but towed the 2 girls in the Chariot, which was also packed with stuff. We put our skins on our skis and started the 6.3 mile trek. Other members of the group wore snowshoes, and one friend decided to scrap her wobbly cross country skis and walk the whole way on foot. She was as fast as any of the rest of us!
It was sunny and beautiful and we were thankful to be in the mountains, just up the street from where we had our wedding.
The 3 year old (Zoe) rode in a makeshift sled that was ingeniously engineered by her parents. They strapped a light carrier to a plastic sled with zap straps and then used PVC piping to attach it to a waist belt. It seemed to work quite well, but struggled when an area showed a double fall line.
It quickly became apparent that:
a) 6.3 miles was going to be a long way
b) the altitude was really noticeable
c) I shouldn't have donated blood right before this trip
d) we packed too much stuff
e) we had all better hurry up if we were going to get to the hut before dark
Jason was feeling really strong, and at the half-way point of the water tank, decided to pull the kids more quickly and get them there without me. I was much slower and struggled mentally and physically. My boots and toes felt very uncomfortable and the road (Boreas Pass Rd) seemed to go on and on and on. I was frustrated at the evidence in my poor fitness after 4 recent months of very little exercise, compared to my confident and fit summer of 2014.
My colleagues were having their own issues. One couple did well to get there just fine, but even their very fit bodies found it challenging. The couple with the 3 year old battled their home-made sled more and more as the trip went on, and the Dad had some bad blisters and lots of sweat!
Another couple was going slowly as my poor friend Rebecca was feeling the altitude and was sore from the day before's strength workout at the clinic.
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| The first view of the hut |
We all made it in just before dark, but most people felt quite trashed. I think the trip took me between 4.5-5 hours, and my feet really hurt. I was surprised that skinning seemed to be about the same pace as snowshoeing or walking, although this was hard to measure as everyone had different fitness levels and pack sizes.
Our girls did quite well overall. Rachel rode in the Chariot most of the time, slept in there some, and walked some. Ava had some complaints in the second half of the ride, but her sister sang to her to help her stay happy. They both seemed warm and safe and were drinking water often.
We had booked both Section House (sleeps 12) and Ken's cabin (sleeps 2). After fires were made, clothes were changed, dinner cooking began. The outhouse door was a problem for some and several people had to escape out the window of the outhouse when they got locked inside!
Unfortunately, we were terrified at one point when Zoe slipped on the steep wooden stairs and took a tumble. She bruised her back badly and had some blood in her mouth, but recovered quickly with no serious harm. Thank goodness! I felt terrible! I still do!
Dinner took up most of the evening as the kids tried to read, play and color together in the hut. Rachel was in her element, having adults read to her and sleeping bags to set up.
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| Kurt reads to Zoe and Rachel |
Sadly, everyone was too zonked to do much socializing and everyone went to bed quite early.
There was lots of room for everyone and all parties were able to keep quite warm with an electric fireplace upstairs and a woodstove downstairs.
Overnight, Ava moved back and forth from her travel crib to our bed, and I slept very little. Rachel slept wonderfully, despite the howling wind outside and the very hot room with the fireplace. Zoe's Dad spent some of the night reorganizing their sled so it wouldn't blow away in the wind. And poor Rebecca struggled with the altitude and did not feel well at all.
Sunday morning, the packing up began. Different parties left at different times and traveled at different speeds. Rebecca was really sick all the way back to the car, and was a real trooper but struggled.
The way home seemed quite long to me. Our large black backpack felt like a Harry Potter Horcrux, and I ended up making Jason carry it and tow the girls for much of the trip out.
Unfortunately, the steepness of the terrain wasn't quite enough to take skins off and ski out, which was very disappointing and much more work than I had hoped for. Rachel, however, put on her downhill skis and had a blast skiing behind the Chariot sled for about 2 miles.
Turn up volume and hear Rachel ski by
We really enjoyed catching snowflakes on our tongues and playing outside as we got closer to the car. I took off my skins for the last 0.25 miles but was glad I hadn't done it any sooner, since some major poling and skating was required. I had nothing left in the tank and only a few toenails left in my ski boots.
Just before we got to the parking lot, we met an old Mountain Woman near the trailhead. Jason and I both laughed later because she looked exactly like Bathilda Bagshot (again, from Harry Potter) and was all cloaked up and stooped over, but out in the snow anyway.
Ava did great all the way down, which took us less than 3 hours. We packed up the car with all our stuff, changed into fresh clothes, and headed to Dillon for some Noodles.
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| Rachel's crazy hair after having a hat on all weekend |
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| Sweet Ava |
We arrived in the restaurant and Ava promptly threw up all over my fresh clothes and hers, as well as the restaurant high chair and carpet. She had no clothes left, so had to wear Rachel's, but didn't seem upset or unwell.
Just before Idaho Springs, she threw up again, all over herself and her car seat. Thankfully, there was very little I70 traffic due to a Broncos game, and we were able to get home by 5pm. We spent the evening cleaning up her car seat, unpacking the car, and preparing to go back to work for a regular week.
We've now stayed at Ken's cabin (when Rachel was 4 months old) and Section House. I enjoyed both of these experiences but both of them were long and tough. I wish I had done snowshoes instead of skins for this particular journey, since there was no benefit to having heavy ski boots.
I'm ready to go explore other huts now! I think for the next hut trip we will not take a travel crib, we will only go as far as Rachel can hike or snowshoe or ski herself, and perhaps we will even be done with diapers! Also, we have to be more organized to take less clothes for ourselves and more for Ava.
I apologize to my work crew for the length of the trip, as it was much longer and harder than I had envisioned. I'm glad Zoe's fall down the stairs was no emergency and Rebecca was able to get down safely and recover. It was odd to feel like a 'trip leader' but not feel able to help others or lead much because it was too physically challenging for me and because the kids take so much of my focus. I wish I had been able to talk more to others, help them feel more comfortable, and have the energy to stay up playing games and chatting.
We still had fun as a family and enjoyed the company of our colleagues. Jason did an awesome job of using his fitness to pull our girls, help some others, and take a lot of the weight. Rachel, in fact, had an awesome time and can't wait to do it again. I think she had even more fun than I did, and I'm really excited about the fact that she loves playing in the mountains and the snow.
