danadanalexgenevieve: Camping at The Hut

For my birthday, Dana had a surprise in mind. For months (years?) I have been lamenting our lack of backpacking. Before kids -- indeed, before Dana -- it had been one of my greatest pleasures.

Dana found a back-country cabin in Grand County that was far enough away to allow us a long hike, at least by kid standards: 2 1/2 miles each way. When we left on Friday afternoon, accompanied by Ali, Eric, and Olli, the only instructions Dana gave me were "Meet up in Idaho Springs." We rendezvoused there, and from there headed up over US 40 to Berthoud Pass, and then Winter Park, and then, up.. up.. to? Some strange guys in a big pickup truck were waiting for us at a pull-out along the dirt road. Ali and Dana had already loaded most of the stuff into the pickup truck. I was completely clueless. As it turned out, they had planned to send all the stuff ahead in the truck, and trick me into thinking we were all backpacking for the weekend! We just arrived a few minutes too early for the ruse.

But even without the trickery we were in for an outstanding mountain adventure and an amazing birthday surprise!

The Stangels and Bulsons headed into the woods

All of the kids handled the trail pretty well. Always thinking several moves ahead, Dana borrowed our friends' jogging stroller to help any tired legs. Eric and Olli had fun tromping around together.

Alex was a champion hiker. He hiked the whole way there and back! And on a couple of long hikes during our stay.

He's from Colorado

Genevieve spent a decent part of our hiking time on my shoulders -- which was ok with me.

Dana and Genevieve exploring

Genevieve pretends to be a "beautiful tree"

Is it possible that everyone is looking at the camera and not crying?

"The Hut" was pretty awesome too. It has solar power for lights and small electrics (laptops and phones were no problem - a toaster oven probably would have been a bad idea), and propane and wood for cooking and heating. A potable well, propane hot water heater, and working flush toilet, shower, and sinks completed the package!

Outside "The Hut"

Inside was very cozy. It easily sleeps 12, so our 7 was not a big deal.

The boys relaxing on the sofa

Ali and Dana outdid themselves cooking throughout the weekend. Not that I'm much help in the kitchen anyway, but since it was a complete surprise, I had no way to help out ahead of time. I tried to at least keep the kids busy with Eric :-) We had steaks and birthday cake Friday night, and pasta and s'mores on Saturday night.

Dana at the stove

Alex and Genevieve honing their s'more making skills

In addition to be gorgeous, brilliant, and a great Mom, Dana is also a consummate outdoors woman. She can build a roaring fire in about 15 minutes starting with nothing more than some dry leaves and half-damp twigs. She can also pick the juiciest, most flavorful wild strawberries and raspberries along the trail!

A mug of red wine doesn't hurt, either

The forest around us was absolutely beautiful. It was so moist and green, it felt like the Pacific Northwest -- complete with tons of colorful mushrooms decorating the forest floor.