The Crew at Jackal Hut

The Jackal Hut was a lovely mountain cabin with large windows and a nice social area around the wood stove, which heated the cabin quite efficiently. The bunks were in the loft above and there was a large kitchen with propane burners and a full array of kitchen equipment and utensils. Cut wood was provided, but a continuing task in all the huts was the melting of snow for water, a slow process. We had a full course Thanksgiving dinner with turkey and gravy, green beans, mashed potatoes, stuffing and cranberry sauce. The different components had been distributed among different packs. After some game playing and apple crisp for dessert, most went to bed because there would be an early start on Saturday.

Ryan made sure that everyone was awake at 6:00 am. There was a great breakfast including French crepes and apple crisp. We started at 8:00 am for a nine-mile snowshoe to the Vance hut. I was able to give some of my weight to Tom and no longer had the wine and enjoyed the process of the long hike and the deep Rocky Mountain powder immensely.