I started the day by following Fiddler Creek for a quarter mile up to the remnants of Fiddler Creek Road. It looked like someone collapsed trees onto it a long time ago. The remnants of the road were easy to follow for a while, but I lost it higher up and mostly followed a contour to Road 731. The road slightly dropped over 0.7 mi to Vance’s at 11,012’, so I was quicker. I went by some mining ruins just before the hut and arrived at 7:41 am. Vance’s Cabin was built by Vance Faulkenberg using timber from the site and holds 14 on two levels. Construction began in 1981 and was finished in 1988.

The 700’ descent over two miles down to Ski Cooper was also quick. It took me a lot longer than I expected to find the road to the Piney Basin, which I have been on many times. I followed a ski area access road to a saddle below the resort’s summit. The black ski trail I used to drop to the road to the Little Horse T-Bar on the backside of Ski Cooper was sandy and loose. I took a good slide on the way down and scraped my right shin a little.

It was supposedly 2 miles to Sangree's, but it took forever and I swear it was like 4 (Addendum: it was 2.2). It went from 11,000’ up about 700’, then rolled up and down over 0.7 mi for no apparent reason. I finally climbed steadily to the ridge above the hut at 12,100’ over the last 0.4 mi. After dropping another 400’, I finally got to Sangree’s. It was built as the Belvedere Hut in 1998 by Ty Hall, the current owner of Tennessee Pass Nordic Center. The 10th Mountain Hut Association purchased the two-level structure in 2003 and it can accommodate 16.

I climbed back to the ridge from the hut and saw black clouds out over Holy Cross. The way I came also wasn’t fun, so I descended a gully 1300’ over 1.5 miles straight to the Cooper Loop. Both my heels were bothering me by this time, but I was smart enough to put Vaseline on them today. 2.4 miles of roads going by the sleep yurts to Tennessee Pass Nordic Center were a nice break. When I got to the nordic center, they shoved leftovers at me. I ate a bunch of bison tenderloin, a chorizo breakfast burrito, and an Uncrustable. While I ate, I charged my electronics and looked at the route ahead. There was one substantial blue diamond route before the end of the day. I put a bandaid on my left heel and moleskin on my right to compare.

After plenty of food and sugary beverages, I got moving towards Point Breeze and Continental Divide Cabin. It was a 0.8 mi hike with 100’ of elevation gain from Highway 24. I made it to Point Breeze at 3:21 pm and Continental Divide a minute later. Owned by Lee Rimel, these huts were built to encourage a family-friendly hut experience. Both are about 10,500’ and have a capacity of eight. Point Breeze was built in 2007 and Continental Divide Cabin was added in 2011.

From there, I took the CDT 2.5 mi to Warts Ditch Road. I followed the road for the remaining three miles to The 10th Mountain Division Hut. At 11.370, it was built with funds donated by 10th Mountain Division veterans in 1989 to hold 16 on two levels. The moleskin was already failing, so I put tape over it and that stuck until the end of the day. After the hut, I started another wet blue diamond route, crossing 7 drainages in 2.8 mi. Most of it was a lot better than I was expecting, except the last second to last creek. At the West Tennessee Creek crossing, I had to wade through about 100 yards of willows.

The 10th Mountain Division Hut (#16 - 17:21)

The route went into the trees and became a lot drier and easy to follow again for the last 1.2 mi. I reconnected to the CDT and it was a breeze once I did. My plan was to hike two or three more miles, but I started hearing thunder that sounded like it was coming from the direction I was going. It looked like I was coming to treeline and the thunder seemed about two or three miles north, so I stopped and camped after 1.2 mi on the CDT. 6/10 level.

8/14 - Sun - Fiddler Creek to CDT

8/15 - Mon - CDT to Chapman

8/13 - Sat - Guller Creek Trail to Fiddler Creek