Has anyone gone on adventure weekend winter vacation? I am referring to a weekend stay at a hut.

Is hut to hut trip enjoyable compare to hotel ?

I am planning a 3 day/2 night trip in February with my nephew. I am hoping for a very cold (hard to get in Lousy-anna), wet (no big trick here), so he can get some serious cold weather training.
I just went back through my pack and found some redundant items. I will be cleaning those out and topping off my nephew's gear with those items (sewing kits, etc).

I've done winter camping before, but not in a hut to hut type of trip. How does something like that work? Is it set up thorough the local Parks Department or something?

It sounds like fun, though.

Can you tell us more about it?

Whereabouts are you going? I know they do hut to hut in the Whites in NH. Typically, you bunk with about 8 other people. It can get noisy, especially with small kids (may not be a problem in the winter). They usually have a communal dining room/kitchen too. Not sure if the one in the Whites staffs the kitchen in the winter, but I know they do a breakfast & dinner, included in the price, during the summer. I havent stayed at the huts mysel overnight (they charge hikers $25 to stay, on the floor. Kind of a ripoff), but I have heard of other hikers who have stayed there, and they would have rather stayed at a campsite. Mind you, this is durng the summer, when tourists drive up to a hut, stay overnight, then drive to the next one. Winter I would think that there are more outdoorsy type people, who are there to enjoy the outdoors via skiing, snowshoeing, etc.
I have done several winter camping trips in the pemmigawassett wilderness area, and loved every second of it. There is nothing quite like waking up in a tent, with 6" of fresh snow everywhere. Enjoy, get pics, and share!

I have spent several weekends camping in previous years between Christmas and New Year's Day. Sometimes just in a sleeping bag under a canvas tarp by an open fire. Other times in tents. A hut would just ruin the whole outdoor adventure/experience for me.

I have, but winter camping in Hawaii doesn't mean what I think you mean.

And, I refused to use the hut/cabin. I slept outside next to the fire. Less mosquitos that way. The folks that slept inside were the buffet line for the mosquitos that had already gotten in and were eaten alive.

I've done it here in the Sierra Nevada, where the Sierra Club maintains about half a dozen cabins you can ski or snowshoe to. There's usually a downstairs with benches and tables and a counter (no running water, but lakes or streams are usually near), and an upstairs with mattresses (but no bedding). We bring stoves, food and sleeping bags. Usually there's a pellet or wood stove for heat, too.

I prefer camping out in the snow, but the huts are nice for an occasional change of pace. No comparison with a hotel - much more rustic, and some of them are fairly remote.

Here's a link to one:

Ostrander Hut

My understanding of the huts in the White Mountains and in Europe is that they often have caretakers, serve food, and are a bit more like hotels.

Hut to Hut camping is very popular in Europe. The US has some of those camp sites but I don't know the location. Outside magazine mentioned about it once.

The hut is located in remote places. Hikers or skiers must hike a few miles from parking lot to the hut. The Hut looks like a Mongolian circular tent. It has wood fire place for cooking and keeping warmth. I don't know about the food availability at those huts. I assume hikers must carry their own food there.

It sounds like a blast. I'll have to look into it.

If I run across anything I'll post a link or get you some info if possible.

Backpacker magazine trailside did an episode in colorado outside leadville hut to hut on bicycles interesting show and liked it alot.

Lee

Found a few links.
I don't know where you're located, so these may be way out of the way.

Some look more like the small cabin trips mentioned above, but now I'm fully locked on the idea of staying in a yurt or something similar. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Aspen Expeditions

Colorado Hut to Hut

Huts.org

Appalachian Mountain Club

Alpine Club of Canada

Sawtooth Guides (Idaho Yurts)

White Mountains, NH

The Colorado Rockies seem to be where the most hut to hut opportunities are in the US, but there are some on the Appalachian Trail in the Eastern US, some in Alaska, and others spread out across the country depending on terrain and season.

My son & I went camping with his troop at the end of October and again in mid-November. Both were cold enough to be considered winter camping (40-45 degrees midday, below freezing at night), but there was no snow in the area at the time.

It actually rained the second night of our November campout - the rain was frozen on the tents in the morning. My son had left his boots outside his tent. You live - you learn.

I find that my feet get cold at night. Maybe its an old age thing as I didn't have this problem when younger. I've tried two different mummy sleeping bags - one by Marmot rated to 15F and another from Cabelas rated to -20F. It can be brutal if I don't put wool socks on before turning in for the night. BTW, I really like the Cabelas Summit bag though it is HEAVY compared to the Marmot bag.

Last March (and again this coming March) we camped in a cabin two wood stoves. Those stoves make a huge difference temperature-wise. We had lots of snow outside, which was fun.

I've stayed at several of the AMC huts in the White Mountain National Forest in NH. They are great for doing a traverse type trip, where you want a reasonable hike each day, but, a nice dinner at night and hearty breakfast the next day to get started. (The food is usually pretty awesome). It makes your pack a lot lighter. Instead of carrying a full tent and food and cooking gear, you take more of a day pack, plus survival gear just in case you have to spend a night out. In the winter, most of the high huts are either closed, or self service, so it's a very different scenario. The huts along the AT in New Hampshire are all about a day hike apart, so it's perfect for travelling a little lighter. Many of the popular ones get very crowded on summer weekends, but, spring/fall, and mid-week are ok. My son loves going up to Lakes of the Clouds hut.

We're doing a winter weekend camping trip in 3 weeks. We'll be camping in adiriondack shelters, which are basically simple three wall structures with a slanted roof, open front, and large fire pit just beyond the overhang of the roof. There are usually wooden bunks on each side that you put a pad on and then lay your sleeping bag on top of it. You can either keep a decent fire stoked through the night, or rig a tarp across the front of the shelter to close it in. I use a pretty decent 0 degree bag, with a fleece liner, and a bivvy sack on the outside when I am in this type of setup because you are out of the weather, but, not out of the cold.

In a hut, sometimes the woodstoves are heating the place to a point where you could get by with much less. I have literally been sweating in the huts, and wished I brought a summer bag instead of a winter bag, but, you have to plan for the worst scenario. Camping in a cabin, or hut is going to be a lot warmer than an open shelter like we're using, or a tent, but, they are all fun. Have a great time!