The Hut

We had a wonderful Valentines's Day weekend at a place, that until last week, I didn't even know existed. The MTTA (Mount Tahoma Trails Association) maintains a network of cross-country ski trails and "huts" south of Mt. Rainier, near Ashford, WA. One of Megan's friends is a member of the ski patrol for the association, and every year, he books the entire hut for a weekend, hires a gourmet cook, and invites 14 or 15 people to join him for a great back country party. We were lucky enough to be part of the fun this year.

This is a picture of the Copper Creek Hut, at the end of a 4.3 mile trail in.


It was the first time that I had used my new randonee ski gear, and I soon discovered that they are not a very suitable replacement for more traditional cross-country skis. The trail in was not terribly steep (about 700-800' over the 4.3 miles), but it was steep enough to make for tough going without skins. So I used my new skins for the first time. I thought the skins gave you one-way traction going up while allowing the skis to slide downhill. After using them briefly, I soon came to the realization that they give almost as much traction in both directions. So I took them off again, and skied and skated as best I could with a 40-50 pound pack on my back. There were several sections where I took the skis off, strapped them to my pack, and walked. It took over four hours to get in, but it was well worth it. The good news is that the skis worked great on the way out. We made it out in a little over 40 minutes.


















Here's the view from one of the windows and our gourmet chefs in action. We had a Greek-themed meal, complete with Greek beer and wine (fortunately not the retsina variety!)

Bill and I managed to kill the beer supply that evening, but fortunately Layton had the keys to the Ski-doo and was able to replenish the supply the next day!

















Here's a few of us enjoying the feast!


On another note, I sold my Jag last week. I hadn't used it much over the last few years, and having the extra space in the parking garage is great. If you look closely at this picture that I took shortly after I had it painted in 2000, you can see my old friend Angus behind the wheel.