This past weekend, Sammy and I left our sea level home in Florida for 5,280ft called Denver airport. We booked a hut with the 10th mountain division hut system, which offers a pretty diverse selection of huts... but they fill up fast. The ones leftover by this time of year usually involve long walk-ins or are in otherwise difficult to reach places. The Section House was going to be one of the easier huts to get to that was still available, so I signed us up!  Boreas Pass Section House. Photo credit: Sam Golden I should mention that we are backcountry noobs- this was only going to be our 3rd hut trip- our first trip was also with 10th mountain division, but it was the easiest hut to get to and the most luxurious: Shrine Mountain Inn (Jay's Cabin); just 2.7 miles away. Man, was that one nice compared to the second hut, which was actually a yurt. The difference between a hut and a yurt is that huts are typically structurally sound, whereas a yurt is basically a piece of fabric wrapped around some wooden frame. Our first hut was more like a cabin; it had running water, a propane stove, bathrooms inside...pretty sweet. The yurt had a wood-burning stove that we couldn't keep from smoking up the entire place and an outhouse that smelled like rotting bean dip and barfed enchiladas. A little after a week from booking the Section House hut, the avalanche report covered Colorado red, with historic avalanches likely. A few weeks later however, a snow storm came in, which compressed the most notorious layers and made the conditions relatively safe again. Some last minute plans allowed our friend Troy to meet up with us and some of his friends, making for a 6 person trek along boreas pass road.  Entering the backcountry up in Canada at Whistler-Blackcomb a few years ago! We skinned up precisely 6.4 miles to the hut, the longest we've traveled so far to get to one. Luckily, the weather was on our side!...until some dark clouds rolled in. It's hard to describe what a snowstorm looks like before it snows, the sky is dark but also entirely white. We had left the parking lot around 7:45AM; it was now three hours later with white-out conditions. I couldn't see more than 100 feet in any direction while my heel (which is supposed to be detached from the ski so you can step and slide easily forward) gets locked down mid-air, thrusting me backward abruptly, halting all forward progress. My binding plate was a bit messed up due to the fact that our split-boards are home-made (special thanks to Ed Hall, Carbo, and Sammy :D ) and some of the parts were just not screwed down tight enough. Sammy was right behind me trying not to smack into me every time this happened. We were separated from the rest of the group now; they were all in front of us as I was definitely the slowest and just glad Sammy had stayed with me. Did I mention it's hard to breathe up here? I could only manage to see one person in the distance and tried to follow them as best I could, but the snow storm was making it difficult as they inched further and further away. "Are we going the right way?" Ohh no. This is not what I wanted to hear right now. Even though we have a compass and map I needed more practice with navigation! We have to be really close by now. It's so cold and windy, I can't feel my hands, or the squashed pinky toes and blisters on my heel anymore as we picked up the pace to keep the last person in sight. As they disappeared somewhere off to the left a couple in snowshoes appeared. They told us we were almost there, it was right around the corner now, and they had left the hut in good condition for us. We thanked them for their reassurance and kept going. We were at the hut within 5 minutes. The change in elevation was not something I had taken into account before booking this hut. We were now at 11,481ft and had covered an elevation gain of 1,130ft in 4 hours. Sammy and I burst into the hut getting snow everywhere as we struggled with our heavy packs to kick off our snow boots and put them by the fire. I quickly ate up all the snack food and my lunch sandwich; maybe I should've brought more food. We sat around and got to know one another, exchanging stories of adventure and discussing our general distaste for most people. It was 2:00PM when we decided to head out again to get in some pow-pow shred gnar! Rachel in our group acted as our guide and broke trail for us just below the summit of some peak across from Boreas Mountain. All of the slopes on this peak were under 30 degrees indicating it would be pretty unlikely for an avalanche to occur here, though of course still possible. As the snow picked up again we headed down the thick, untouched powder moving from the open ridge line down through the trees and ending in a nice flat spot...Time for more hiking!  In shred mode! As we sat in the hut I could feel my head aching. I kept my head on a pillow while trying hard to pay attention to the chatter. I didn't feel like eating though I forced some spaghetti down. As I stepped upstairs to bed I could feel my heartbeat racing. I started to get really hot, partially due to the propane stove burning, but also from the onset of a fever. The wind was howling, and this 'recently renovated' shack built in 1882 was basically about to blow over. The wind was blowing so hard you could see the snow piling up outside the window, slowly burying the hut. At 3:00AM I had to go to the bathroom which meant bundling up, grabbing a headlamp and braving the cold. The door wouldn't open, something the couple we had met the previous day had said they struggled with for nearly an hour. Finally, the pin released and about 3 feet of snow collapsed inside. I moved quickly up and over the snow pile to "the john" which was in pretty nice condition aside from all the snow that now covered the floor, toilet seat, and toilet paper. My stuffy nose was running now, and the wind slapped snow into my face which stuck on. The rest of the night provided no sleep and my brain felt as if it had been bathing in lighter fluid, every time I opened my eyes I checked to see if it was light out yet. Surely, the wind will stop when it's light out... I thought for sure we were going to be stuck up here. I had been drinking water all day and night long, but it didn't seem to help. Finally some relief came in the morning when Troy asked if anyone wanted his extra banana. Thank you, dear Flying Spaghetti Monster, for this banana, because I almost instantly felt better. We packed up all our gear and prepared for the 1.5 mile hike across the barren, wind-blown mountainside, hopefully making it across without getting knocked downhill before reaching the safety of the trees.  So windy!
 The cure for altitude sickness?!
1 Comment
|
RSS Feed
