Christmas Hut Trip - 2009

We left for a hut we have been to 3 times now... SANGREE M. FROELICHER HUT to celebrate Christmas with friends! We set out on Christmas morning and it was DARN COLD! The hike into the hut is only 3.5 miles and we had done it several times but with temps near and below zero it became a chore for at least one of us - Karyn. Sounds like Becky and I both showed up at the hut a little hypothermic. I also succeeded in getting a little 'frostnip' on 8 of my fingers and perhaps frostbite on two of those - time will tell. Frostnip is "the reversible freezing of superficial skin layers that is usually marked by numbness and whiteness of the skin". My fingertips were white, i.e. frozen, and I have numbness and swelling in those fingertips today - 4 days later - which can last up to a year.

Some parts of one finger are turning black (right around the nail) but I'm not going to worry about it because I already had a doctor's appointment scheduled for early next week - will be fun to explain to a doc I've never met before, huh.

Seemed like time to take a nap....


Xander (9 months old) got a ride up in the Chariot and still thought it was a good time for a nap.

We got settled in and the turkey got started! we had a phenomenol dinner of veggies, cranberry sauce, gravy, giblets, and TURKEY! Another Brinkelman wonder of hut tripping!


The next day we had a fantastic breakfast and headed out for some skiing - Jake took some great pics that I will post later!




Saturday night, after the sun had gone down, Russ came down with some sort of illness... not sure what still but he was immobile. Perhaps food poisoning? Or altitude sickness or both? We discussed our options - sled him out Sat night in the dark or head out first thing in the morning. Xander was dehydrated as he hadn't had any liquids (that had stayed down) in 2 days so we were already considering an early departure for him.... We set alarms for 6am and when we went downstairs to see how Russ was doing, he was sleeping soundly. David put breakfast burritos in the oven and sausage rolls and we all tried to sleep another hour. At 7 we started moving, cleaning, packing, etc. Fred, Karyn and Russ headed out first - about 30 minutes ahead of the rest of the group as we figured that although Russ was moving on his own power he wasn't going to move very quickly. We were back at the car about the time Tucker sailed to the bottom of the trail. Karyn brought the Jeep up to get Tucker and his stuff - and David and Becky showed so they got a ride too. We took them to the parking lot where Russ and Fred were patiently waiting. They left in an attempt to get Russ to lower elevation - and a flush toilet? Back to the trailhead to get the Lewis family. All 3 of them and their gear shoved into the Jeep and back to the parking lot - to a dead battery in their car. A quick jump start and Tucker and Karyn were off to Copper Mountain to ski the afternoon with Drew - a friend who now lives in California and we don't see nearly enough! What a great weekend!

Looking forward to next year's trip already!

Macaroni and Cheese!

I can't remember the year... I'm not sure I remember which trip...

But....

The Browns and the Allens were out camping by canoe...

This happened a lot when I was a kid. We took a few trips in Michigan, 1 trip on the sand, but the most memorable trip (overall) was Isle Royal.

The Allens had prepared one of my favorite dishes... Macaroni and Cheese. Not the real stuff... no real cheese. Just simply that Kraft style dehydrated goodness. But wait...

Ham? How did that get in there? I remember wondering why you would put Ham in Mac and Cheese?!!?!?!? I thought that Mac and Cheese was ruined!!!

Ahh these days I'm a bit older, I require a little protein in the meal. Karyn is downstairs mixing up a bit of Kraft style Mac and Cheese with a bit of habanero turkey sausage. That's what I'm talking about!!!

Oh, did I mention Karyn loves a little Mexican spice?

All dressed up with some place to go....

Handsome had no where to go but got dressed up anyway.....


Tonight was Karyn's company's holiday party!

We got all dressed up and had a blast! There was an American Idol star and some Dancing with the Stars - we don't know who they were since we don't watch those shows but the entertainment was fantastic!

Bye

I really loved having two fridges... Except for the part where you buy more condiments because you can't find them...

Well I filled the other two freezers, and it's time to go.



I posted it on Craigslist, within 30 minutes it was gone...

I hope you picked it up, it was a great fridge, but just make sure the front is higher than the back, or it leaks..


I love craigslist. :)

Hmmm

Jack and Sarah? What do you think of your dog?

Congrats on Graduation!!!!

What a weekend!

Well,

what what did we do this weekend??? We skied - surprised, I know! and then to a holiday cookie party hosted by our neighbor.... Hopefully Tucker will add to this posting but yesterday was Karyn's FOURTH day in resort on ALPINE skis in 10 years (and they belong to HER - bought them at the end of last season when she couldn't ski, after knee surgery #3)! She sure seemed to enjoy it though!

Hmmmmm.... telemarks will come out next weekend, right?!?!?!

Christmas Cards!

We finally got our act together on the Christmas cards... This is one of the traditions that came from the "Brown" side at our house...

But Karyn is a real trooper with it. She puts together the picture card, and prints all the envelopes... She's even caught with some help!

100th POST!

Woot! We MADE it! 100 posts.... some of you have been reading since the first one. Kinda scary but maybe we're a tiny bit interesting.

So.... what have we been up to? Well, walking to Thanksgiving dinner at the neighbor/friend's house Karyn did 'something' to her infamous knee....

*note the ice pack*

So, the next day we hiked in the snow 3000 vertical feet and 8 miles.... of course. The following Monday she was at the doctor... Thursday getting a MRI and today getting the results.

The pictures look a little more ragged but until the pain is chronic and/or preventing normal activity, nothing to concern ourselves with so we went ahead and skiied like crazy this past weekend. TWO days at Keystone. Never got above 10 on Sunday there and not above 10 degrees at the house in Denver today. Thank goodness the house remodel included a new high efficiency furnace for the upstairs!

So we are both upstairs taking care of a little bit of business. With 35 lbs of weight loss Karyn has realized that she has neither a formal dress (for holiday parties) nor a swim suit (for apres ski soaks) that fit! So Karyn shops online and Tucker is doing his duty of writing the Xmas letter - if you don't get it and want to, let us know!

We are also preparing for hosting Christmas Eve dinner while Christmas will be spent at a hut in the backcountry with our best friends. We do this every year although not every year we have stayed the night we have at least 'hiked' in and had dinner and then 'hiked' out in the starlight - incredible in the Colorado high country.



You might try posting a comment - I wonder who all reads this silly little blog of ours and what you want to hear about that you think you don't...? I don't know.

Stay tuned for your holiday letter as it will host the whole year's worth of stuff without having to read all of the blog posts!

luv ya all!