On January 23-26, 2018 I skied into Uncle Bud's Hut from the Turquoise Lake trailhead in slightly over 4 hours. Stayed at Uncle Bud's Hut for two nights. The first night a tour group came through with Aspen Alpine Guides and the hut was hosted by Hut Master Dave and his friend Kip who shared some amazing soup, beverages and food with this solo traveler. Thanks guys!
The second day I got to do a loop below Galena Mountain in thin snow that absolutely trashed my skis with the shallowly covered rocks beneath.
On Thursday January 25 I made the 7.5 mile trek solo to 10th Mountain Hut following a track made from the previous day's group. At nearly 65 years of age I was able to complete the distance in 6.5 hours despite problems with my BD-O1 ski binding. The hardest part was descending the ridge into Porcupine Gulch. The track I followed had numerous places to side step in the trees on really steep terrain. Anyone going in the reverse direction would be in for a really big work out unless they took a different track.
The weather was good and mostly clear. The solitude was glorious. Didn't see anyone the entire day until I got to the 10th Mountain Hut. Skied out on Friday to Crane Park in 2.5 hours with 4" of fresh.