Alpine Touring Weekend

My experience with Alpine Touring is minimal at best but I'm no stranger to spending time in Utah's back country. In the past my access has primarily been by snowshoe, but over the weekend I had the opportunity to join a few close friends for an overnight tour to the Steam Mill Yurt, in Logan Canyon.With loaded packs we set out up Franklin Basin road which happened to be congested with snowmobile traffic. After about a mile or so we hung a left up Hells Kitchen Canyon and began our quiet and much more peaceful accent towards the yurt. After a few hours and some good skinning up the mountain, we made it just before nightfall. The yurt was cozy and fully stocked with a wood burning stove, a set of bunk beds and some basic kitchen supplies. Not a bad place to crash in the middle of the winter.The following morning we set out to test the snow conditions and hopefully make some fresh tracks on some of the surrounding peaks. It didn't take long to notice visually how unstable the snow actually was, which confirmed what the National Avalanche report was saying. Nearly everything on the mountain was moving. With that in mind we stuck to some pretty shallow slopes but still had some great skiing.