Glamping can take many shapes and forms, there are opportunities for the more rugged glamping that is closer to typical camping and then it can swing the other way to luxurious camping with all the extras of gourmet meals, 500 thread count sheets, and butlers. I personally have stayed in a range of glamping accommodations; from simple canvas tents with shared facilities, to airstream trailers, to inventive containers with canvas roofs, to full on canvas glamping apartments complete with kitchen and fireplace. However, what if you were to find a glamping spot that you could customize a range of basic to luxury experience? I found it nestled high in the mountains of Colorado.
Glamping doesn’t just have to be canvas based, it can be anything that really brings you uniquely closer to nature that isn’t a hotel. Glamping accommodations vary but, the most common types of glamping includes, airstreams, trailers, barns, farmhouses, cabins, pods, domes, cubes, eco lodges, huts, yurts, tents, tipis, villas and tree houses. So when I heard about the hut-to-hut system in Colorado, I was eager to try them out as a glamping opportunity.
A hut is basically a large log cabin found in remote places in the Colorado Rockies. There are 20 to 30 huts that are located an average 6 miles apart, perfect spacing for hiking or backcountry skiing between huts. They run from Aspen to Eagle or Aspen to Vail, depending on how far you’d like to go. Or you can simply stay in one of them and use it as a base to explore the area. They are administered by the 10th Mountain Division Hut Association. The huts are quite basic facilities, there’s typically no plumbing, they are heated by stoves, and almost all of them are off the grid – so leave the cell phones at home! Each hut has 15 to 20 beds that can each be reserved for a night or multiple nights.
Now it’s up to you how much you want to ‘glamp up’ the experience.
Basic Hut Glamping
Just hike into the hut, bring all of your own food, a sleeping bag, and a sense of adventure! You share the kitchen facilities with others staying in the hut. You cook your own meals, clean up after yourself, and share in the responsibilities of hut living with the other people who have rented beds. Take hikes during the day and sit out by the campfire by night.
Shared common area of Harry Gates Hut
Hike on numerous trails or between huts
Catch spectacular sunsets!
Intermediate Hut Glamping
If you want someone else to do all of the planning and hard work, bring along your own local Aspen Alpine Guide who can help you arrange all of the provisions and will hike/ski in with you! The guides know the area better than anyone else. They can prepare meals, lead you on hikes around the area, provide sleeping bags & gear, and generally take care of all arrangements.
Breakfast cooked up by Aspen Alpine Guides at the Hut
Guides lead hikes to waterfalls and other hidden gems in the area
Guides made up a bonfire to enjoy after dinner
Luxury Hut Glamping
And if you don’t want to lift a finger, and also have all the comforts of home high up in the mountains, it is possible to actually rent out the entire hut by purchasing all the beds (this must be done well in advance), and bring a whole group of friends with you! The Aspen Alpine Guides will help you lux it up to your desire. You want a private chef to come along to cook gourmet meals made from local ingredients? Done. Hold a happy hour out on the deck? Done. Bring a yoga instructor to hold yoga sessions in the morning? Done. Want a masseuse to work on your aching body after a good long hike? Done. Whatever your heart desires they can arrange it and make it part of the experience.
Mountain yoga!
Organize a personal chef to be at the hut to cook meals and educate you on local ingredients
Yoga and Pilates on the deck led by instructors/mountain guides
Which one would you choose? In Aspen Colorado, you can have your Glamping experience the way you want it!
Sherry Ott is a long term traveler, blogger, and photographer with one goal in mind – to make you wish you were somewhere else. She seeks out epic adventures to intriguing places and writes about her around the world adventures on Ottsworld.com. You can also follow her live travels on Instagram and Twitter.
