Built in 1982, Margy’s Hut (along with the McNamara Hut) was one of the first two huts in the 10th Mountain system. The building of these two huts represented a major step for the fledgling organization, which had to promise the Forest Service that the huts would be razed if they were not used. Hut construction was funded by Robert McNamara (former secretary of defense) and friends, in memorial to Robert’s wife Margy.
Our mixed group of 16 people (7 skiers and 9 snowshoers) started from the Lenado Trailhead, about 4 miles as the crow flies northeast from Aspen, and climbed 2,615’ over 5.8 miles to the hut which sits at 11,300’. The weather was cloudy and gloomy the first two days of the trip, yielding only a dusting of snow on top of the pretty old snow that was already there, but we did get some clear skies on the last night and some sunshine for our hike/ski out.
On our off day, most of us opted to climb nearby Mount Yeckel, a 4 mile round trip trek climbing to 11,759 feet and offering amazing views of the Elk Range and the Fryingpan river valley. This gave us a chance to get our legs moving again and offered the skiers a chance to descend on snow that could best be described as “Yeckel”.
We ate extremely well (as always) at the hut and had a great time playing games, discussing how AI was going to take over the world, and working on puzzles!
Our sunny descent was pretty fast for the skiers, dropping back to the trailhead in about 1.5 hours (much of which was “exciting” survival skiing down the steep and icy trail), and about 2.5 hours for the snowshoers. As we left the trailhead, there were some small avalanches covering the side of the road in snow, but still maneuverable around. Rick, however, left about an hour later and encountered significantly more snow in the road - adding to the adventure!
