Getting ready

Go Pros before the rain

Gates Hut

After being home for only 2 days Katie got the privilege of taking another adventure with her best friend, Wendy and her 10-year-old son, Cole. Heading to Aspen, CO for a couple days of pretending to be famous! Warms Springs, a production company out of Missoula, Montana is filming a new TV series called ‘Extreme Destinations’ on the Travel Channel where they are featuring extreme places to spend the night after a day of activity to get to these locations. The 3 of us were filmed mountain biking an 8-mile stretch of road/trail to Gates Hut, which is part of the 10^th Colorado Division Hut Association. These huts were originally designed for winter activities of snowshoeing and cross-country skiing to the remote destination.

In Aspen, we stayed at a cute lodge, Annabelle Inn, decorated in fish and bears like an appropriate mountain lodge should be. Never spending time here before, the town surrounded in mountains with high-end restaurants and antique shops was impressive. The next day we set off for a VERY long day. Lunch in Basalt, an hour and half drive by the Ruedi reservoir, through some tiny towns and then winding on a lonely dirt road with some of the most beautiful views brought to our starting point. This area was covered in aspen and pine trees with meadows concealed in colorful wild flowers. It felt great to back in Colorado.

Mason filming

The crew was 3 guys from Montana, all looking similar to Zane, we instantly liked them! First interviewed about the upcoming adventure then filmed getting geared up we took off on our bikes. Thank goodness we were prepared with rain gear as the clouds rolled in with some heavy rain and hail. A fun (and cold) moment of the day was biking with GoPro cameras on our helmets in a complete downpour! It was a blast getting filmed from different angles in the sun and then in the rain. Cole did amazing and the crew’s patience and demeanor with him was top notch. Arriving at the hut for unprepared interviews, we are relying on the crew to make us look good! 14 hours later we did not envy the crews schedule and long days.

Dinner!

Sunset at the hut, steaks over the fire and beers to top the day was awesome. The hut itself can house up to 16 people and was so cool. Can’t wait to go again and bring the guys and more friends to truly soak up this area. It is highly recommended to do a hut trip in Colorado, summer or winter.  Heading back to Boulder we had intentions of hiking Hanging Lake, outside of Vail. The parking lot was so full that cars were circling for spots and people were parked across the bridge. Bummed, we turned back and will plan that for another day and show up really early in the morning at the trailhead.  Our first week back has been a busy one. We will soon post a 2-week update about cars, jobs, moving into our town home and much more!

Muddy Bikes

Besties!