Ostrander and winter

I spent my first night in the hut at Ostrander Lake in April of 1974, the first night of a 10 day ski trip east past Mt. Ritter, north over Donahue Pass to Tuolumne, and in to Yosemite Valley after a night on Clouds Rest. Why the two of us thought we could do that on wood skis and waxes is a mystery; ignorance is bliss. And for nearly 50 years the untracked backcountry has drawn me, uplifted me, never disappointed me. So in the fall of 1974, I drove a pickup full of food, 10 volumes of Muir's works and folders of notes for a doctorate, which proved less interesting than exploring on skis. The combination of solitude/reading and the social/sharing, plus the physical challenges that the hut provides have been a comfortable match. For some of the aesthetic delights I'm happy to share, click on this link.