Cabins offer comfort in backcountry

DENVER — Miles away from the sprawling city lights of Denver, a series of mountain cabins have helped outdoors enthusiasts explore the Colorado backcountry in comfort for a generation.

Skiers, hikers and mountain bikers can ditch their tents for one of 29 large log cabins scattered across the central Rockies. Each hut is built about eight miles apart, connected by 350 miles of sometimes rugged terrain.

Managed by the Aspen, Colo.-based 10th Mountain Division Hut Association, the cabins offer a good night's sleep on hut-to-hut trips.

"There's nothing comparable in North America to the 10th Mountain system," said Buck Elliott, who has been guiding tours using the huts since the early 1980s through his Vail-based Paragon Guides.

"To get something similar, you have to go to Europe and the Alps," he said. "It's a feather in Colorado's hat."

The two-story cabins have wood-burning or propane gas stoves, large kitchens, sun decks and enough room to sleep 16 or more. Outhouses make up for the lack of indoor plumbing, though some cabins boast saunas and water pumps. The views are spectacular: Most of the huts sit above 10,000 feet, nestled amid snowcapped peaks.

In July, 17 huts open for the summer. Hikers and mountain bikers can access lakes for fishing or rock climbing spots, and day hikes offer bird watching, wildflower spotting or other outdoor recreation.

"It's pretty much across the board of what you can do, plus comfortable shelter," said Ben Dodge, executive director of the hut association. The group operates 14 of the huts but takes reservations and offers information for the entire system.

In the winter, there are suggested routes between huts that require strong navigation skills. Summer routes are better maintained, Dodge said, ranging from four-wheel-drive roads to single-track trails.

"You don't have to worry about bushwhacking or carrying your bike," Dodge said.

Two-wheeled carts are often available at the trailheads to help carry gear and Forest Service roads come within a quarter mile of some of the huts. Bringing vehicles is discouraged, though a support vehicle can help young children or older adults who may have a hard time hiking, Dodge said.

The namesakes of the hut system are soldiers who trained in the 1940s at Camp Hale near Leadville, a mining town 100 miles west of Denver.