Hut Trip up to the brand new Broome Hut. Trip-master extra-ordinaire DougJ organized a very fun trip up to the 16-person hut. Great group of people, gorgeous area (if only it weren't so windy up there).

Trail up is steep but less than a mile, nicely marked. First 2/3 of the trail is in the trees and out of the wind, top part has beautiful views.

Hut has a few quirks, like the pellet stoves are automatically fed from a bin on top of the burner, which means pellets are added by opening the top of the stove. This means the top of the stove is not hot and thus cannot be used to melt snow for water. There is a cistern for water from rain off the roof, and snow can be added to the cistern via a way-too-small hole in the kitchen. A second pellet stove in the basement melts the snow in the cistern. Bad thing is that the standing water in the cistern has been sitting for ? how long ? so that water has to be boiled before use. Overall the "regular" huts with wood stoves and just melting clean snow for water is MUCH simpler - no moving parts to break. Both pellet stoves did break down while we were up there, the auger feeding the pellets gummed up but it was tough to diagnose because the pellet feeder is complicated eletronic, not simple mechanical.

The solar panels and batteries are very nice, good lighting and bright even late at night. The indoor composting toilets are awesome - no having to get dressed at 2am to go outside to pee! Zero smell, very well vented.

Other things in this hut are very nice like the bunk beds are attached to the walls not free-standing, which means they don't move at all when the person on top moves or gets up and down at 2am to go pee. But other things are not well thought-out like there are tons of pegs for hanging wet stuff (hurrah!) but some of them are poorly placed and even somewhat dangerously placed. Still, a gorgeous new hut in Grand County. Hoping Grand Huts Assoc builds more!

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	Coming up the trail.	2nd time up on Friday (Sue's pack is too small to haul everything up in one trip).	Bob	Getting to the windy section, nearly at the hut.	dead tree to the left side is one of two near the hut.

			Pellet stove died, working on it...	Broome hut dining / lounging area	Day use side of the hut. Blowing snow is causing drifts.

	Yeah that's a drift!	Hutmaster Dave hands a shovel to Bob who dug this side out today.	Picnic table just east of the hut, wold be gorgeous on a calm sunny day.	Ed is out taking pictures	Still working on the stove

	Doug, Tom, Ed (camera lens fogged up)

		Day use side of the hut - has sink with water from the cistern, propane burner, is heated from 2nd pellet stove in the basement. And its own indoor composting toilets, all separate from the other side of the hut. Cushy!		Sharon	A group was training for mountain rescue.

			Saturday out for a short morning snowshoe - Tom and Sue.	Gorgeous view to the east.

	Tom	Tom

		Bob and Sue - view from the picnic table outside the hut.	Snow is very crusty from all the wind.	Strange wind shapes in the snow.	Heading down into the trees to get out of the wind.

					John

					Chris

		Serious cornices up high west / south-west of the hut.		Heading into the hut for Saturday lunch.

	Chris - the blown snow is taller than he is!	The generator got dug out but we never figured it out.		Broome Hut elevation 11,350. Built 2013.	Very nice signage at the hut.

	Ed lovin' his mustard sardines	John		Paula

			Bob checking his email on his tablet, with full keyboard.

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