Had a great breakfast at Butte Bagels before heading out to Uncle Buds Cabin just outside of Leadville. The drive was gorgeous. We drove over Cottonwood Pass and the continental divide before coming to Leadville. The drive was about 2 1/2 hours. We stopped at Turquoise lake to swim, fish and have lunch. The lake was Crystal clear and the boys had great luck with their fishing!

Next, we drove up to Uncle Bud's Hut which is one of the 10th Mountain Division Huts. To reserve one of these huts go to https://huts.org. I had read that Uncle Bud's had some of the best views so was thrilled to get a night there. There was a very gnarly 3 mile dirt road to drive up. You definitely need a 4WD high clearance car to drive up. You can also access this cabin by hiking up from Turquoise Lake (about 3 miles up). We were all blown away when we finally arrived. The cabin was more like a chalet. It was perched on a mountain 11, 000 feet up with views of Mt. Ebert (Colorado's tallest peak) and Mt. Massive. We were literally surrounded by mountains. The cabin itself was awesome. It had a fully stocked kitchen with a propane stove, solar electricity and a water pump. We prepared delicious taco bowls and dined in the communal style kitchen. The hut sleeps 16. There were only 6 of us . There were two other hikers that stayed there that night. After dinner we had an awesome bonfire looking out at the endless sea of mountains. As the sun set the stars started to shine. We sat for hours taking it all in. We saw two shooting stars and enjoyed every second of being in this very special place.

The hut was built as a memorial to 10th Mountain Division veteran Bud Winter (1925-1945), who was killed in action in Italy during World War II, and was one of 33 soldiers who completed the legendary "trooper traverse" winter ski crossing from Leadville to Aspen in February of 1944.

There is a poem titled Silver Skis that was written by Buds father after his death. You can't help but feel his presence in this cabin and the love that his family has for him and put into building this beautiful cabin.

It was so hard to leave... I would have loved to have had a few more nights up there to hike and explore and just enjoy being on top of the world. Next time-

Margaret Pezza

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