Dates: Jan 19-21, 2019
Crew: Diana Anthony, Dillon Arey, Hannah Neville, Grant Oakley, Hannah Neville, Kevin Shenk
Area: Yosemite National Park, CA
“Guys, I’m just hooked on fresh tracks and powder”
Nothing says “Classic Sierra backcountry” like a trip to Ostrander Ski Hut. Built by the CCC in the late 1930’s, it was intended to be a single stop in a whole series of backcountry huts. Unfortunately, the popularity of chairlifts would effectively kill this plan, but luckily Ostrander remains. And given its 3 foot stone walls, I’d say it’s likely to be around for a while.
For me, Kevin, and Hannah, this was a return trip after visiting during a fairly, um… “sparse” snowpack last season. For Dillon and Diana, this would be their first slog into the historic hut. We would be the first guests of the year following a massive storm cycle, so we were looking forward to plenty of fresh lines.
The hike into Ostrander is fairly arduous. 10 miles of rolling hills and packs laden with excessive quantities of delicious food make for a long hike in. Luckily, we were well-equipped for plenty of food stops.
The long hike ends with the infamous Heart Attack Hill. More deadly than a heart attack, though, were the ploppy bombs falling from the trees as the warm Sierra temps made the storm snow rain down on us.
The hut sits on Ostrander Lake and looks out on Horse Ridge. It is lined with triple bunks and a sleeping loft, and sleeps about 20 at capacity. There is a full-time hut keeper (who happens to be Kevin’s old babysitter).
After dropping off a pound or twenty of food, Kevin and I hurried off to get in a quick bonus lap up Horse Ridge. We were treated to a wintery sunset over Yosemite.
The weather began to move in overnight, giving the moon an eerie halo.
After night of well-earned sleep, the gang woke up for a full day of laps.
Given signs of recent natural avalanches and plenty of good snow near the hut, we opted to stay on the north side of Horse Ridge.
In the late afternoon, fog and snow blew in, dropping visility to near zero. We had quite a bit of difficulty picking our way down the featureless upper ridge in the flat light, but eventually managed to negotiate the drifts and gullies to reach the hut.
We battened down the hatches in the hut while the storm developed outside. Hut life proved cozy as always, and it wasn’t long until the guitars and violins were pulled out for a jam session.
For me, at least, a major highlight of Ostrander is getting to prepare delicious, hearty camping meals with a real kitchen. We ate well throughout the trip, sometimes even too well.
We woke to several inches of pristine light snow, and hurried out to get in a few laps before heading home.
The hike out also proved challenging, but we were graced with plenty of fun, deep turns in the fresh snow. By the time we reached the car, we were all pretty beat.
Grant's Loose Parts Bin 