“Why don’t we go to the last trail marker and then try to find the hut from there?” I asked.

“Because the hut is off the trail by .8 miles.”

This answer felt like a punch in the gut. At this moment, the snowfall picked up, we were exhausted after nine miles of hiking in the snow, the cloud cover caused the sky to get dark earlier, and our group couldn’t locate our shelter.  Being exposed in the wilderness with no easy access to civilization (or any other building to provide shelter) made our group vulnerable to the mountain. Continue Reading