Cathy: "This Place Is Off the Chain Incredible"

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Colorado Hut-to-Hut Adventure – Day 2 – 9/9/12 – Jackal Hut –5 Miles?
Between tossing and turning and getting up to visit theprivy, my headache abated sometime during the night.  I was thankful to be in a room by myself andnot disturbing others with my restlessness, and even more grateful not to beunzipping and zipping a tent door.  I wasup by 7:00 a.m., feeling 98% better, although my puffy face was a littledisturbing.  I was ready for somefood.  First:  my cheesecake from last night. 
Since I missed thefun earlier, it was my turn to wash dishes with the 3-step technique I wasfamiliar with camping with Girl Scouts – wash with soapy water, rinse in warmclear water and dunk in cold water treated with a little bleach.  We swept up the cabin and carried out all ourtrash – this makes you very aware of leftover food. 
We hiked back out the .8 miles to Mike’s van.  I was still not ready to run, with heavy legsand still labored breathing.  Acclimationtakes a few days.  And a tough climb toour next hut was coming up.
We stopped at a vacant campsite at Camp Hale (now a statehistoric site) and repacked for our next two days and nights.  We divided up some of the fresh food thatMike planned for our suppers and hit the trail.
Jeff is ready
A gentle climb?
Our hike began on the Colorado Trail and the ContinentalDivide Trail, which run concurrently through central Colorado.  Our first mile would be considered moderateback home, but it was strenuous at this elevation above 10,000 feet.  Everyone was going slow andbreathing was a whole new concept reminiscent of summiting Mount Whitney lastyear.  The great news was that it seemedto be peak week for the aspens changing to their signature fall yellow, sothere were millions of excuses to stop to take a breath and a photograph.
Paint-by-number
Aspen tunnel
Moon shot
Layers of colors
Jeff
Just keeps getting better
Yellow aspens and sunbeams
One perfect little cloud


After a mile or two, Mike turned us off of the CDT onto across-country ski trail, known in the summertime as a mile-long nonexistenttrail or, as he put it , “an hour of excruciating pain or an hour-and-a-half ofjust pure hell.”  We all focused andwalked extremely slowly, step by step, and it was actually over sooner than hehad led us to expect. 
And we had this so- awesome- it-might- be-a-fake- backdrop viewfor our lunch break.
Climbing higher still
Our last 300-foot climb on an old jeep road – this lookssimple but it didn’t feel like it
Our first view of Jackal Hut - 11,670 feet elevation – WOW




Before we took off our boots, Mike told us with a grin thatthe “hut fairy” had also been to Jackal Hut. He led us a few hundred yards to a stand of trees where he had cachedeight (yes, eight) gallons of water.  Yousee, Jackal Hut dwellers use only snow melt in the winter and the closestsemi-reliable summer water source is two miles down a dirt road.  Like the other huts, it has a cistern tocollect rain water, but at this time of year we couldn’t count on it to have a sufficientsupply for us and anybody else coming along. As we each carried two heavy gallons back to Jackal Hut (remember, justa few hundred yards) I marveled to myself that Mike had spent an entire dayhauling these jugs in two trips, four at a time, up several miles from the parkingarea.  Was I going to complain aboutcarrying a little bit of food?  Not onyour life.
AND…the “hut fairy” had also brought up some wine. 
Let’s walk around outside a little bit.    Front view, privy on the left
View from the privy
Privy up close
On the front deck
Fire ring in the front yard


Another view from the front deck – Jeff is going exploring
Come on in!
Jackal Hut is much larger than Continental DivideCabin.  The main floor is a huge openspace with very wide seats along all the windows and a wood-burning stove.  The eating area has two picnic-style tableswith benches.  The kitchen portion isU-shaped with two propane stovetops, two sinks with hand pumps, anotherwood-burning stove for cooking, and open shelving for all the dishes, glasses,mugs, pots and pans.  Large crocks andmugs on the countertops hold eating and cooking utensils.  There are even oven mitts. 
Looking at the kitchen from the dining area
Living area with wood stove



Outside the back door is a covered porch attached to astorage room for cold food storage (cold in winter, that is) and a shed full ofsplit wood.  From there a wooden walkwayleads to the nicest privies I have ever seen. 
Upstairs (sorry, I never took photos of upstairs) is a mainbunk area with a couple of double wide beds and four singles and a room off toeach side with either four or six beds. I was expecting squeaky bunk beds with lumpy mattresses, but all thebeds were at one level, not stacked, with very thick foam mattresses that wereway comfortable.  Cathy and I claimed spacesin the main area and spread out.  Welooked at each other in amazement and Cathy said, “We sure picked the righttrip to go on!”  We thought that 10people were scheduled to join us that night but nobody showed up.  Imagine, a lodge equipped for 16 people andjust the 4 of us in it!  Heaven!
After marveling at our great good fortune, we settled on thefront deck to enjoy the strong sun and the panoramic view.  I was very tired and soon migrated backinside to the window seats, where I laid down for a little nap amongst the cushions.  The altitude was still playing with my head,though, causing a headache when I laid there too long, and I found that I wasmuch better when I stayed upright and moving around.  This would be the case for at least fivedays.
We prepared a sumptuous meal (chicken, pasta, sauce, salad,and chocolate pudding cups for dessert) and ate while looking out at the greatbig wide world.  Our supper wasinterrupted to capture the sunset -  nota problem at all.
After supper and cleanup, Cathy introduced us to the cardgame called Phase 10, which we played halfway through before crying “uncle” andheading for sleep.  On my last visit tothe privy before bedtime, I stood on the walkway and traced the Milky Wayarcing over Jackal Hut.  When was thelast time you saw the Milky Way?
I slept by the big front window, looking at all thosestars. 
“The Colorado Rocky Mountain HighI’ve seen it raining fire in the skyThe shadow from the starlightIs softer than a lullabyRocky Mountain High…” ~John Denver