So far this winter (2000/01) I'd already been on a 4 day hut trip to Uncle Bud's Cabin and Skinner Hut, which Erin had organised a year ago. A month after that, Erin has plans for a 4 day yurt trip in the San Juan Mountains in SW Colorado and luckily I get invited along. These mountains are south of Gunnison and east of Ouray. See this map  if you don't know where that is.
Yurts are smaller than the 10th Mountain Division huts and are considered more "primitive", but they're basically a large tent with wood stove and gas cooker - pretty luxurious if you ask me. They can hold up to eight people .. or in our case 7 people and 2 dogs. The "7" of us were Erin, her sister Heather, Dagan, Dave, Shad, Tom and myself. The dogs were Keni, Erin's husky, and Stella, Shad's pooch of various breed. It's a 6am departure and a 6 hour drive to the San Juans, just south of Lake City.

It was quite nice to have a couple of 4WD's as there had been a good amount of snow recently. Dagan's 4runner had a "rocket box" on top which was quite useful. All of us were in Tele skis except for Shad, who opted for his small Alpine Touring Skis and a snowboard. From L to R we have Shad, Tom, Dagan and Dave.
 
 
 
 

Everyone was excited about heading out, especially the dogs. That's Keni in the centre of the picture.

We started at Slumgullion Pass - well known for the fact that there was a massacre of some sort here with an early exploration party (Alfred Packer) .. yes, must check my Colorado history. The pass is at an altitude of about 11,000 ft (or about 3,600m) - which in Colorado is still below treeline. A bit of grunt and we're out of the trees, after which we get a killer view of much of the San Juan Range.  The peak in the background is called Uncompahgre Peak and is the 6th highest in the state at 14,309ft or 4,361m. (Dagan, Dave, Heather, Erin)

Rambouillet Yurt was our first night - and what a great little place it was. We had enough wood to keep the place cosy and warm and dry off anthing that got wet. I had cooked an Indian Tikka Masala Curry the night before and frozen it for the first dinner of the trip, which went down pretty well with everyone.

Over the course of the night, the fire slowly goes out and the temp in the yurt drops to around freezing, but happily, not below freezing.... the urge to remove oneself from a sleeping bag can be somewhat low !

After a quick-ish breakfast, we're off for the ski to our next destination, Colorado Trail Friends Yurt. We opt for the high road to this yurt and take in some great views. The touring around these parts reminds me of the Main Range to a degree, just because we're above treeline .. that doesn't happen all that often in Colorado .. and there were wide open snowfields.

Lots of snow !!! And great steep mountains !

We make it to the CTF yurt on a beautiful day, but a few drama's occur. One of Shad's bindings fell apart (which he was able to fix with duct tape !) and the dogs had a bit of a fight .. that resulted in Stella losing one of her main canine teeth and Keni having a deep cut under her chin. After a bit of whimpering from Stella, application of snow to wounds and Erin attempting to body slam Keni for a bit of discipline everything calmed down

The afternoon is spent cutting turns on the local slope and watching the outside world as more fresh snow dumps. Yurt life is pretty good !

Dave had a few issues with chopping onions but a pair of goggles came to the resuce and he could bravely continue. Dagan & Dave made some great burritos for dinner. The nicest thing about staying in huts or yurts is that whatever weight you save by not carrying a tent tends to be compensated for by bringing gourmet food.

Seeing as we had 2 nights at CTF yurt, Erin, Heather, Tom and I decided to go for a bit of a tour to the south towards the John Wilson yurt. These 3 yurts and another who's name I can't remember form the Hinsdale Haute Route as they are all in Hinsdale County. We skied up to the local high piont and got a great view, then cut turns through knee deep stuff on the way down.
We came back for lunch and then Shad found a nice steep chute for us to go and bomb in the afternoon .. a great ski down, but a bit of a grind to get back to the yurt.

Heading out from CTF yurt

Erin's track !
Stella, Shad and Dave hanging out at CTF yurt. I think Stella's pose says it all.

Dogs having fun in the snow.

These are all Erin's photos !!