Peter Estin Hut, Basalt,Co.

Here I am on the deck of the Peter Estin Hut, the sun finally appeared!

Porcinis and Puffballs, rainstorms and wildfires, and a knife edge ridge walk in the wilderness of Colorado all come together in our recent annual 10th Mountain hut trip, this time to the Peter Estin Hut.

Snuggled on the edge of the Holy Cross Wilderness and bordering the still active Sylvan Lake wildfire is the palatial three-story Peter Estin Hut, named after a famous ski instructor. I say palatial because it is the largest hut in the system we have been to; sleeping 16 people, the hut has two kitchens, two fire stoves, one old time wood-fired cook oven and a massive deck for viewing the valley below. Having been closed down due to the wildfire, we were lucky enough to snag a couple unbooked days as it only recently opened back up. So recent, in fact, that the wildfire crews were still on scene as we drove in; we waved at the firefighters hanging out at the base and along the road acting as a radio relay for the teams in the field doing mop-up operations.

The sunsets were eerie, part smoke, part rain clouds, deep purples and subtle oranges

The visit was rather surreal. Coming from the near 100 degree valley floor, we reached the hut to be welcomed by rain clouds, smoke still lingering in the valley, and 40 degree weather! It felt more like winter than the middle of summer. We even got a blanket of hail one afternoon as we snuggled inside the wood stove-heated cabin and played games. But the weather didn’t stop us from getting on the trail. Though cloudy, we managed to avoid the rain, and worse yet lightning, to hike into the Holy Cross Wilderness along the Iron Edge trail for stunning views of the surrounding mountain range. The wild flowers were exploding all over the hillsides which once were mined for nearby gold deposits.

Did you do a double take? It is the Holy Cross Wilderness National Forest we are entering, but the sign has decayed to the point that only “Holy Forest” is left! I felt saintly crossing across the border.

In some places you swear you are hiking straight to heaven, well it is the Holy Forest after all!

I love the deep crimson red of this Indian Paint Brush

The classic Colorado Columbine in all its beauty

These cabin ruins along the Iron Edge trail are undoubtedly from a bygone gold miner seeking his riches. Nearby is aptly-named Gold Dust Mountain and Gold Dust Basin.

There were many beautiful Colorado Columbine nestled in the rocks along the Iron Edge trail, this one came complete with a bee harvesting nectar. So you see him?

A panorama of the surrounding mountain range as seen from the highpoint on the trail, Mount Holy Cross can be seen in the distance

Ethan returning through the Sunflower fields bordering the hut

The sunflowers are all pointing to the sun in the sky

My personal gold, however, was finding and harvesting (outside of the wilderness mind you) a massive King Bolete Porcini mushroom and a Western Puffball which we promptly ate for dinner and breakfast respectively. This year has been especially great for both mushroom species as we also found many in Summit County, but I will never tell where! This would have been a great year for black morels as well, which appear after the wildfires, but alas, most of the trails we needed to access the burn areas were closed this spring due to downfall hazard, so sadly no morels…sniff.