Article Contributed on: 1/30/2009 12:31:55 PM
Taking a break from jobs and family chores, 14 moms from East Denver snowshoed to the Sangree M. Froelicher Hut outside of Leadville for two nights during the last week of January.
And best of all, for the third consecutive year they were accompanied by a personal chef,
Pam Read of Park Hill, owner of "Goddess Foods," a catering company that offers everything from custom desserts to corporate lunches. A typical 'hut' dinner included penne chicken and prosciutto with warm apple crisp for dessert.
Pam did all the shopping, some pre-cooking, allocated all the food to separate baggies and the hut moms hiked in with less than three pounds of sumptuous food in their backpacks. The wine and water they each carried often weighed more than the food!
On the only 'off' day of not hiking to or from the hut, six intrepid hut ladies finished a delicious lunch of mushroom, onion and gruyere crepes and ventured out in 5 degree weather to go sledding (hut provided) and exploring.
Great sled runs through deep powder were carved and snowshoeing above timberline featured an extraterrestrial world of wind and white as sky and earth merged to become one. Closer to the hut, a huge snowshoe hare leapt deftly from one tree stand to the next.
"Preparation is essential to a great hut trip," said
Carolyn Woody of Hilltop who co-organized the trip along with
Kass Schwappach and
Leslie Madsen. "We make reservations as early as August or September through the 10th Mountain Division Hut Association."
Participants in the 2009 snowshoe adventure also included:
Bridget Moran,
Andrea Glass,
Mo Wulf,
Mary Wells,
Stacey Eshelman,
Deana Macdonald,
Julie Morrison,
Joan Hamrick,
Darcy Schlichting, and
Pat Klass.
For more information about Goddess Foods, visit Pam's website at
http://www.adomesticgoddess.com/. To check hut routes and availability contact the 10th Mountain Division at
http://www.huts.org/.