10th Mountain Division Hut Association — Attraction in Aspen

I actually hadn't heard of these for a strangely long time of living in Denver, but they are this amazing, unique system, a network of 34 rustic cabins throughout Colorado's high country. They are part of a nonprofit organization. They are all different; many require hiking, some have solar power, some have wells/cisterns, some have saunas. All have beds and benches, kitchens, and outhouses. They're mostly known for ski/snowboard trips, but are wonderful in the summer. ||||Adults are $35 per night, kids are half price. (I paid You don't rent the whole place; you rent beds in the hut. The organization likes to encourage intermingling of groups, but we felt like royalty when my friend, her 10 year old, my two sons (11 and 14), our 12-year-old neighbor kid, and I had the Peter Eiseman hut, which sleeps 17, all to ourselves. I think this happened in part because I tried to get three other families to go who ended up paying but backing out. There was space for 4 other people to sign up, but no one did. Most people probably opted to book dates when they could be more the majority I'm guessing. ||||I originally chose this cabin because I wanted to be near Vail for Vail Dance Festival. This was a ridiculous concept because the road to the cabin is not something you want to be driving at night. We got a very late start, and it was very nerve-wracking driving up a slightly technical, rugged, unfamiliar trail in my overpacked Subaru XTrek through dusk and eventually into the night. When we finally got to the top of the trail it was around 11:30 and we were beyond exhausted. We found the wheelbarrow I had read would be there, wrested it from under the gate we later realized it was supposed to stay above, and filled it with our massive amount of things. We slogged left down the path in the pitch black for around 20 minutes, packed down like abused donkeys, until we came to a clearing where the path stopped. Ugh, what an awful feeling. We turned back around, fought our way back up a steepish incline to where the wheelbarrow had originally been, walked up around 100 yards, and there was the hut. The relief! The exhaustion! The amazed elation when we realized we had this huge, beautiful, surprisingly nice cabin with no one else there to disturb at the late hour! My son had me put my phone in battery saving and airplane mode, and it kept its charge through both nights and days we stayed. We put our sleeping bags and pillows on our choice of beds and slept like dead rocks.||||The next day was spent preparing food, eating food/snacks, hiking down the road, playing a card game, reading magazines and the journals left in the hut, taking pictures, playing guitar, and searching for $100 someone had claimed to have hidden in the hut. We met the people who were to come in the next day because they were hoping to leave some of their supplies and vehicles and then hike up before their stay. They were super nice and offered us some of their beer. We told them we would leave in pots some of the gallons and gallons of filtered water I had lugged from Denver like a newb.||||You guys, I can't quite emphasize how beautiful this place was. There is a huge wrap-around porch with views that will change your life. There was a gorgeous cast iron stove we were not to use due to fire ban, two big propane stoves, a ton of matches, and every manner of kitchen implement you could use in that environment. Ironically, there were guitars there, which was insane because my son had dragged his guitar there as well despite my telling him now was not the best time for him to start playing. The outhouses were the only flaw in the paradise. They are a necessary evil, but I still detest them.||||On the second morning, we did a small hike up the hill and found more beautiful views. We cleaned, cleaned, cleaned, and cleaned some more so we could leave the cabin nice, as it had been for us. It was much more enjoyable driving down the trail even though we were somewhat filthy attempting to find an awesome place to lunch. We had such a feeling of accomplishment. A trip we will...

I actually hadn't heard of these for a strangely long time of living in Denver, but they are this amazing, unique system, a network of 34 rustic cabins throughout Colorado's high country. They are part of a nonprofit organization. They are all different; many require hiking, some have solar power, some have wells/cisterns, some have saunas. All have beds and benches, kitchens, and outhouses. They're mostly known for ski/snowboard trips, but are wonderful in the summer. ||||Adults are $35 per night, kids are half price. (I paid You don't rent the whole place; you rent beds in the hut. The organization likes to encourage intermingling of groups, but we felt like royalty when my friend, her 10 year old, my two sons (11 and 14), our 12-year-old neighbor kid, and I had the Peter Eiseman hut, which sleeps 17, all to ourselves. I think this happened in part because I tried to get three other families to go who ended up paying but backing out. There was space for 4 other people to sign up, but no one did. Most people probably opted to book dates when they could be more the majority I'm guessing. ||||I originally chose this cabin because I wanted to be near Vail for Vail Dance Festival. This was a ridiculous concept because the road to the cabin is not something you want to be driving at night. We got a very late start, and it was very nerve-wracking driving up a slightly technical, rugged, unfamiliar trail in my overpacked Subaru XTrek through dusk and eventually into the night. When we finally got to the top of the trail it was around 11:30 and we were beyond exhausted. We found the wheelbarrow I had read would be there, wrested it from under the gate we later realized it was supposed to stay above, and filled it with our massive amount of things. We slogged left down the path in the pitch black for around 20 minutes, packed down like abused donkeys, until we came to a clearing where the path stopped. Ugh, what an awful feeling. We turned back around, fought our way back up a steepish incline to where the wheelbarrow had originally been, walked up around 100 yards, and there was the hut. The relief! The exhaustion! The amazed elation when we realized we had this huge, beautiful, surprisingly nice cabin with no one else there to disturb at the late hour! My son had me put my phone in battery saving and airplane mode, and it kept its charge through both nights and days we stayed. We put our sleeping bags and pillows on our choice of beds and slept like dead rocks.||||The next day was spent preparing food, eating food/snacks, hiking down the road, playing a card game, reading magazines and the journals left in the hut, taking pictures, playing guitar, and searching for $100 someone had claimed to have hidden in the hut. We met the people who were to come in the next day because they were hoping to leave some of their supplies and vehicles and then hike up before their stay. They were super nice and offered us some of their beer. We told them we would leave in pots some of the gallons and gallons of filtered water I had lugged from Denver like a newb.||||You guys, I can't quite emphasize how beautiful this place was. There is a huge wrap-around porch with views that will change your life. There was a gorgeous cast iron stove we were not to use due to fire ban, two big propane stoves, a ton of matches, and every manner of kitchen implement you could use in that environment. Ironically, there were guitars there, which was insane because my son had dragged his guitar there as well despite my telling him now was not the best time for him to start playing. The outhouses were the only flaw in the paradise. They are a necessary evil, but I still detest them.||||On the second morning, we did a small hike up the hill and found more beautiful views. We cleaned, cleaned, cleaned, and cleaned some more so we could leave the cabin nice, as it had been for us. It was much more enjoyable driving down the trail even though we were somewhat filthy attempting to find an awesome place to lunch. We had such a feeling of accomplishment. A trip we will...

Three weeks ago we skied up to the Jackal Hut, in the Rockies above the old Camp Hale site. There was a lot of fresh snow, and too many snowmobiles roaring around the valley, but once we started up, the noise faded away. It was a pretty steep climb, but the hut, like so many of these mountain jewels, is situated in an open yet somewhat protected spot near the ring top, with magnificent views to the south, west and northwest. We had a fantastic time skiing the meadows and glades nearly, and it was a joy to return to the hut afterwards. These huts are very well built, beautiful, and practical. We had a group of 15, and plenty of room. There are two elevated pit toilets close by, so you can just wear slippers to get there. The wood stoves, which include an old cook stove, worked really well with all the firewood we needed right out back. This really is a "bucket list" kind of activity: lifetime memories are made up there! Just be sure to reserve early (they have an excellent website explaining how to do everything), as they fill up quickly. Don't be afraid to share with others, who will quickly become friends. You meet the nicest people...