Two seperate trips reports below.
Nine of us departed the Trailhead at the winter closure road called FS 505. The road hills frequently, it ascends slowly and descends the exact same way. Small flakes of snow fall in the air infrequently and low clouds hang during our slow ascent.
Wildcat Mountain sprouts small cliff bands that line the road to our north.
Eventually the turnoff marked by blue blazed diamonds leads us to steep switchbacks. Just as we prepared for the climb, a cloud bearing heavy snow and strong wind moved through our winter playground.
The sunbaked crust received a much welcomed freshening up.
The heavy timbered route eventually balances out in pitch and opens to treeless meadows.
Last leg.
A pretty common photo angle of the Betty Bear hut; This time with a little oomph.
Everything you’d expect out of a hut in 10th, in addition to an impressive construction, minded layout, and one massive wall of windows with big views.
Dessert Prep.
The clouds finally broke overnight. This the view from the deck the next morning.
Despite some thick glades and unsuspecting cliffs, the ski back down to Road 505 was exciting. Bottoming out on the crust layer happened, but the fresh snow on the steep pitch carved like butter.
SECOND TRIP REPORT BEGINS HERE.
The prospect of using snowmobiles to gain access to our weekend winter hut getaway was too much to pass up. Instead of skinning on skis the 11 miles to the Harry Gates Hut, our group had opted to go the motorized route on the motorized road (albeit snow-packed in the winter and high clearance in the summer). This allowed us to bring more gear, food, liquids and also rest our legs for our layover day while touring around the hut.
Fresh snow the day and night prior gave the landscape an extra boost of white and made ski and sled conditions favorable. Our trailhead began at Sylvan Lake State Park, just outside of the town of Eagle. The Lake had groups of anglers dot the ice.
This is the not the popular route to the Harry Gates hut. Our path on Crooked Creek adds roughly 4 more miles than the most popular access: Montgomery Flats lies 26 miles up the Fryingpan River road outside of Basalt.
Digging out a fallen snow machine. Views of the southeast side of Red Table Mountain.
The Sawatch Range is plain to see once we rounded the corner from Crooked Creek Reservoir and came into the rolling hills of the Lime Creek drainage. All of our tracks were the freshest of the day. It felt ironic driving something so loud in a landscape so silent.
After low oil scares and leap frogging our crew of 7 to the hut, we had joined several other groups of people at our full cabin destination.
Murph enjoying the remaining rays of the day.
Avalanche Peak.
The summer prior I hiked the entire valley directly north of these peaks.
Hoarfrost of the morning. A beautiful start to a warm March day.
Getting after it the next morning.
We decided to target the nearby Burnt Mountain.
CAIC issued a special avalanche advisory for our region the previous morning. We took it upon ourselves to study the snow first hand by digging one very large snow pit. Burnt Mountain we knew was mellow, but for the sake of learning we spent a good amount of time examining the layers. I for one was the snow pit rookie.
Fractures found, but for the most part the layers tested stabile.
We eventually bottomed out on rock and estimated the snowpack to be somewhere around 6 feet deep.
The shade provided felt nicer than the blazing sun while route finding the summit of Burnt Mountain.
Escaping the trees. Big views opening up. Faint skier tracks going down as we blaze on up.
The views on top of Burnt Mountain were incredible; high alpine views on a 360 degree axis. I’d reccomend clicking on the photo above.
The Sawatch range wrapped around us to the east and south. The distinctive Maroon Bells and the Elks could easily be seen to our West and a sliver of what (I thought) looked like the Flat Tops to our north.
Our ski down was accompanied by soft snow on the mountain bald top. Big smiles were all around. Some nice open meadows guided us northwest through heavier mush as we dipped farther down and back to the hut.
Deck party.
Some Notes:
-I need to go much lighter in my winter touring set-up (Skis, Boots, Bindings) if I want to get serious about winter ski travel. Half of this problem is due to my lack of gear knowledge, whereas the other half is due to the high price tag, and my past desire to balance my equipment between the resort and the backcountry.
-Harry Gates can be cramped for space if the hut is booked full. I believe a total of 7 beds are located downstairs in what many would call “common space.”
-I’m trying to resist the urge of spring fever. With that in mind, I’m planning an early April backpacking trip to the Colorado Plateau.
