www.RogerWendell.com
Roger J. Wendell
Defending 3.8 Billion Years of Organic Evolution^SM

Solar panels at Margy's Hut

Margy's Hut (and Hunter S. Thompson)

In the fall of '04 my good friend Steve Farley suggested I join the SGSC (Slalom Gates Ski Club) and I'm glad I did! This page of photos is from the club's cross country ski trip to Margy's Hut over Presidents' Day weekend (February 19, 20, 21) 2005. Margy's Hut sits at about 11,300 feet in the Rocky Mountains near Aspen, Colorado. The hut is maintained by the 10th Mountain Division, a volunteer organization that evolved from the efforts of folks involved in winter training for our troops during World War II. Margy's Hut, itself, is named after Margaret Craig McNamara (1915 - 1981) - wife of then Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara. The McNamara family, in Margy's memory, provided funding for the first two huts in the system. The hut itself was filled with many fond and loving thoughts about Margy (Click Here for more information about Margy's Hut and the 10th Mountain Division).

Ron Rak

Our group was led by seasoned SGSC Leader Ron Rak. The photo, above right (taken by Steve), is of Ron preparing an over-abundance of freeze dried beans our first night in the hut. There were a total of 11 in our group for the weekend and we were kind of divided up into groups of three to rotate through breakfasts and dinners throughout the weekend. Ron, Steve and I were assigned the first night's meal and got a little carried away with quantity - the excess beans burned nicely in the evening fire... The trailhead for this adventure is near Lenado, Colorado - a small hamlet near the town of Woody Creek outside of Aspen. Unfortunately one of Woody Creek's more famous residents, writer Hunter S. Thompson, committed suicide during our last night in Margy's Hut - I took a few photos of his home, on our way back down the mountain, and posted 'em at the bottom of this page. The trail itself, to Margy's Hut, was pretty steep - rising about 2,700 feet in 6.3 miles (10 km). Although our group was strung out a bit (some used snowshoes while Bruce and Carrie pulled a sled) we averaged just over five hours going up and about half that getting back down. It all turned out to be a fun trek with lots of great scenery, good friends and pretty interesting food - I highly recommend the trip to skiers and snowshoers alike! - Roger J. Wendell, February 2005

Click Here for my backcountry skiing page...

Click Here for my page about Snow Caves and Quinzhees...

Click Here for my Snow Day page...

Click on any of these thumbnail images for a larger view.
A "mouseover," on each thumbnail, will provide a small written
description. Also, all photos were taken by me unless otherwise noted...

Trailhead:

We had bit of confusion, in the beggining,
because there were two ways up the mountain!
(Photo 4 taken by Annette)

1	2	3	4	5
6	7	8	9	10

Accommodations:

The hut was very comfortable and easily warmed by a wood burning stove. The cooking stove can also heat things up but isn't used that much except maybe for drying the skins we use on our skis for uphill travel - you can see the skins drying in photo 14 behind Alan. The outhouse (photos 17 and 18) was obviously very cold...
(Photo 13 taken by Steve)

11	12	13	14
15	16	17	18

Along the trail:

Mark, Bruce, Carrie, Ron, Steve and others have good telemark skills that I wasn't able to keep up with on the hillside. However, I have plenty of stamina along the trails so I was able to capture these few shots. For me, kick and glide along a narrow trail is like being on a path to Heaven. And, of course, following a steep trail down through the trees can be more exciting than a roller-coaster!
(Photo 21 by Carrie)

19

20

21

22

23

24

Miscellanea:

Photos 25 and 26 were taken by somebody from another group while photo 25, itself, includes Tom and Dennis from another group. Since the hut can accommodate about 16 people there were others with us, off and on, over the holiday weekend...
(I believe Debrah took photo #31)

25	26	27	28
29	30	31	32

Hunter S. Thompson

As I mentioned near the top of this page, journalist Hunter S. Thompson killed himself during our last night at Margy's Hut (February 20, 2005). Although I've lived in Colorado most of my life I never paid much attention to Mr. Thompson nor did I read any of his work. However, what I did know of him I liked - he always sounded like the kind of guy that my home state is (or at least was...) all about - independent thinking, freedom, and a kind of feistiness that scares churchgoers and politicians.

Anyway, the road to the trailhead we used, at Lenado, ran right in front of Thompson's property. Steve was driving and agreed to stop in front of what was clearly Thompson's home - it was the only place with security guards strategically stationed in the driveway...

I got out of Steve's Ford Exploder (I think that's what he calls it!) to take a couple of photos. Ron stopped, on his way down the mountain as well, and agreed to take a photo of me in Mr. Thompson's driveway (photo #33). That's when the two security guards (photo #33) approached me from behind to ask me to leave.

These two particular guards were very much moved by Mr. Thompson's passing - probably having known him or being neighbors or something. One said to me, "I hope someday somebody does a carnival dance on your grave when you die!" as he was escorting me away from the property. I assured the guards that I didn't mean any disrespect and explained that we had heard of Thompson's death while on the trail coming down from our skiing trip. That night I returned home to find that Mr. Thompson's passing was making international news. After hearing all the reports about him he sounded even more like somebody I would have liked to have known...

33

34

35

36

37

Apparently Hunter S. Thompson was very fond of the Woody Creek Inn (photo #37). The day after his death the dirt road in front of the bar was completely full of media vehicles (photo #35) in addition to our small caravan making its way back to Denver. (I have a few photos of the Woody Creek Tavern's restroom on my Toilet Matters page.)

Click Here for red, pink, and "Watermelon Snow" at the bottom of my Snow Day page...

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