Ashcroft, Colorado
Cross Country Skiing
The Markley Hut - Part 1
Saturday, December 29, 2003
We headed out of Denver around 2 pm, west on I-70 to Copper Mountain and Leadville.
A nice picture of the Buffalo Herd Overlook. Taken through the car windshield.
The mountains opposite Cooper Mountain in the afternoon sun.
Sunday, December 30, 2003
We spent the night in Leadville Saturday night and we had a nice dinner at the Tennessee Pass Cafe. We skied at Ski Cooper and the cross country area near it. We drove to Basalt where we spent Sunday night at Robert's
Mount Massive the next morning in Leadville
Monday,
December 30,2003
We started out cross-country skiing towards the Markley Hut. Jim was pulling the sled, rented from REI.
When we were discussing the plans, the night before about when we would head out, etc., Roz said, "Now I want to be underway no later than 11". Jim told her, "This is the way it's going to play out. You want to be underway by 11, but by the time we're ready, it’s going to be more like 1. We'll get to the hut around 4; there won't be anyone there. Around 7, just when we think we have it for ourselves, the other party will show up". Roz had determined from Internet research that another party had also reserved the hut for that night.
We actually did get underway around 12:40 and we were up to the cabin around 4.
We skied past the Danger sign and up the trail through 5 avalanche shoots. The avalanche danger was low.
The trail up. Roz had to herringbone quite alot. Jim had on skins so he could pull the toboggan.
The first avalanche shoot.
For more information on the Braun and 10th Mountain Huts in the Aspen and Vail region, go to http://huts.org and the Markley Hut in particular.
