We skied into Vance's Cabin from our camper parked at Tennessee
Pass, on January 30th. Join us for an exploratory trip to Vance's
with pictures taken on a digital camera. You can click on any of
the thumbs to view a full size version.
Well, the sun's just coming up, it's -9F, and time
for one of us to get out of bed, start the furnace, and get the stove going
to melt that pot full of solid ice for a morning hot drink.
A half hour later, it's warm enough to do some remote computing
while we cook pancakes.
Then the sun comes out, and it's starting to look pretty nice out
the window.
So, let's get going! Here's the view about 1/2 mile from
the Ski Cooper trailhead.
Just so you know, there are some good hills to climb on the way
in. About 1/3 of the way, we climb several fairly steep hills, gaining
a few hundred feet of vertical in the process.
Whew! After a couple of hours of climbing, we reached this
field, an old burn, with a great view of the Holy Cross Wilderness.
The tracks in the foreground lead down the hill, for a couple hundred yards
to Vance's Cabin, hidden in the trees on the left. Now we'll ski
on down to the cabin.
Made it! Vance's has a great view. This is a picture
from the back of the cabin, looking south. The cabin is at the top
of a steep south facing slope, and has a nice big, sun drenched deck on
the south side. As you can see, it's been a low snow year here in
Colorado due to La Nina, there will most likely be a lot more next winter!
And here's a view inside Vances on the main, middle floor (it has
three floors). It's smaller than Janet's, with a cozy, funky feel
to it. I like it!
There are beds on the top floor and the bottom floor. Here's
a view of the top floor from the top of the stairs. The large amount
of south facing glass (out of sight on the left) keeps it so warm in here
that the current occupants had the window open even though the outdoor
temperature was in the teens.
On the bottom floor there's a nice sauna heated by a wood stove.
I wouldn't mind living here at all. If you're up for a ski trip into
Vance's in February or March of 2001, send us your $50 deposit before February
11th.
This was taken on our way out, a couple of miles from the cabin.
The snowcapped ridge is Chicago Ridge, a great spot to telemark or just
take in the views. The wide angle lens setting on this shot distorts
distances. I've skied to the top of Chicago Ridge before from Vance's
Cabin. I remember it being perhaps a 2 mile ski each way. There's
also the slope that the cabin's on for skiing, some glades around the cabin,
and Taylor Hill, just above the field that the cabin is in, for more glade
skiing.
Some of those steep hills that we climbed on the way up made for
some nice telemarking on the way back down.
And that's it for pics! Don't forget to click on any of them
if you want to see a larger version.
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