We left Boulder in four separate cars (two 2wd and two 4wd cars) arond 4:15 am, and started driving up I-70. There was between 2 to 6 inches of new snow from about Empire up to Vail, the roads were snow packed, temperatures were between 0 and 8 F, and the winds were raging at times, creating white-out conditions on the road (this storm system created 100+ mph winds reported by the CAIC).
We exited I-70 at Spraddle Creek around 8:30 am and started driving up an un-plowed steep, windy road to get to the trailhead. Two cars stuck in the snow (oops! :-) and about 90 minutes later, we were at the trail head and ready to go.
The motley crew started trekking up to the hut.
But Jonathan was struggling quite a bit from his heavy ski pulk. Famous last words: "The website said a 50 lbs sled should be comparable to a 10 lbs backpack!" Here is the sled unknowingly/accidentally sliding down hill when we stopped for a short break. Oops! :-)
We securely attached the sled & started trekking up. About 1 hour into the trek, I stopped to wait for Jonathan. Waited for about 15-20 minutes with no sign of Jonathan & the sled... I skiied down to find him repacking the sled. Another 15 minutes later, we finally caught up the group, which was waiting at the first and only critical junction: when we turn off the jeep trail and on to the marked 10th mountain trail that veers north.Everybody was getting cold & anxious to continue the trek up. The only problem: No one knew which way the trail went. We all went in separate directions to look for the trail. By the time I found the closest approximation to the right trail, the 12 people in the group were spread out. Getting everybody together and back on track was like herding a group of cats.
In retrospect, we should have regrouped, spent 5 or 10 minutes carefully using the map & compass to compare the route with the GPS I was carrying. You think I would've learned this lesson already. Oops!!
While attempting to cross Spraddle Creek to join up with me, James punched through the snow & was ankle-deep in water. Oops! :-) His snow shoes were frozen solid on his feet for the rest of the day.
In the picture below, the blue route is my tracks, while the red is a close approximation to the actual trail.
We stopped for lunch about 30 minutes later. Of the 12 people in the group, 9 decided to turn back & head for the car.
The three that trekked onwards descended too early & wound up in a deep creek bed with very thick vegetation. When describing the conditions to me, they made it sound like walking through a 3-ft deep vat of molasses. Oops! :-)
The three ditched their expedition sled in the deep creek bed, which had my backpack and probably enough food to feed 40 people. Approximate GPS coordinates of the sled: 39 39' 47.57" N, 106 22' 25.7" W. It's probably gone for good. Some bear, mountain lion or some lost hiker is going to find a delicious treat in the spring!In case things weren't exciting enough, a very tall (100+ feet?) 3 foot diameter tree fell, missing Sara by 10 or 15 feet. The way the three described it to me, it sounds like it would've been certain death had the tree hit Sara. Yikes!
Here's the correct route (red) and our route (blue). We barely made it halfway to the hut. I'm glad we turned around when we did.
Anyway, it was a disappointing weekend, but at least we all made it back safely. I learned a lot of lessons about leading such a big group of people with very diverse backcountry experience in unfamiliar territory. You can check out my GPS trip log (Note: We forgot to turn the GPS off, so the last mile or so is inaccurate).
