Apr 4 - Lost Lake

There is some snow on the approach to Lost Lake once you cross to Lost Bridge to the south side of the creek, but not enough to warrant putting skis on. Microspikes were pretty much necessary, though.

Very little snow at Lost Lake.

We transitioned to skis at the Lost Lake campsite, but we were still forced to take them off one or twice immediately above the lake. It wasn't until we got just above the mine ruins - into the broad gully that leads up to the pipeline trail - that there was enough snow.

Plenty of snow on the Pipeline trail, still.

Apart from a big bare patch about 1/4 mile from the hut. We were able to skin around it, though.

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Mar 5 - Jenny Creek

We got a late start due to traffic and skinned in via Jenny Creek in the dark the whole way. The beginning through Eldora was covered, but then about a mile in there was a half mile stretch that was very bare that we booted (see pictures). After that, it was skinnable on a refrozen track all the way to the hut that progressively got softer as we gained elevation. It took us just under 2.5 hours to get there. Overnight, we received quite a bit of snow and by the time we left on Friday afternoon there was about 16 inches on the ground. The storm came in just right, starting warm in the high 20s and cooling into the mid teens producing an upright storm load. We skied the south aspect above Yankee Doodle lake in the trees which had good coverage thanks to the storms, but it was clear that there was low density snow over grass and rock in the more exposed areas. We skinned out via pipeline to the Eldora top gate. Coverage along that route was great thanks to the storm, but a little thin along frostbite Ridge where it was low density snow on rock (classic). Overall, we had a wonderful trip!

Regarding hut status, we brought two rolls of paper towels and now we are at five rolls of paper towels up there and plenty of wood for the remainder of the season. It seems that folks heeded the food warning because the place was tidy with no food to be seen when we arrived. We gave it a good buff before we left and hope it’s a great rest of the season up there!

Feb 22 - Eldora gate to pipeline

We used the pipeline route from the Eldora gate to access the hut. Until we got to the trees coverage was really slim. We walked several portions to protect our skis. Once in the trees snow was good and rest of the route was really nice. We returned via Jenny Creek. Coverage there was great for ¾ of the downhill, with just a few rocks but totally avoidable. Coverage got thin and then for the uphill it was probably half dirt covered. We exited onto Jolly Jug from the service road to avoid more dirt.

At the hut, people(dogs?) have done some peeing along the paths. So that’s pretty lousy, be careful where you grab snow.

There were also some really dirty dishes in the hut so please leave it better than you found it!

Added by Lauren: The power went out and the control panel lights were flashing. Our admin team is troubleshooting it, but be aware that there might not be power when you get up to the hut!

Jan 24th - Jenny Creek

There are definitely still rocks and sticks poking up along the first half. Pretty good above there, but I did scratch up my bases leaving the hut in the meadow right by the hut just before you go through the dense trees, like right before the sign before the dense trees. :(

We saw a few inches overnight and it definitely helped.

We skied the whole way down from the hut to the meadow at the beginning of the one bigger climb on your way back. I skinned the whole way up that climb but scratched my skins a bit.

Do the snow dance. Ski a little cautious until we get another big storm or two.

Jan 18th - Jenny Creek

From Trevor: I just made it back from the Hut. Good snow coverage on Guinn Mountain Trail after Jenny creek. Lots of rocks poking through on Jenny Creek. Bring snow shoes or walk if people care about their skis.

Much of Guinn mountain trail is like this

There is about 1/4 mile of this kind of light coverage exposing rock at this early part of Jenny Creek.

Jan 10th - Lost Lake

From Bekah: I went to Arestua Hut from January 10th to 11th with six friends. We snowshoed up from Hessie Trailhead. We parked at the juncture where Eldora split into Hessie Road and 4th of July Road and walked in, using just our boots, to the former trail start. That added about 3/4 a mile each way, but all flat and easy. There was plenty of legal parking where we parked, but snow conditions were pretty minimal so the road was pretty wide. We actually stayed just in our boots walking until Lost Lake. After Lost Lake on the ascent, we put our snowshoes on and used them the rest of the way (even when we got onto the ridge). Snow conditions weren't great leading up to Lost Lake - pretty patchy. Above that, there was pretty consistent snow (~4" or more).