I thought an outhouse at a cabin near Leadville was a dealbreaker, then I spent 4 days there in January

Hayden Scott · 2026-10-03T23:15:05.707999+00:00

My buddy inherited a 1962 Forest Service cabin outside Leadville and I almost backed out of our trip because it has no indoor plumbing, just a wood path to a plywood outhouse about 60 feet from the door, and I fully expected to hate it. We got there on a Thursday, temp hit 4 degrees that first night, and I laid in my sleeping bag convinced I had made a huge mistake. But by day two something switched. That 3am walk with a headlamp, snow squeaking under my boots, no phone signal, just pine trees and stars everywhere, turned into the best part of the whole trip. Back home I scroll my phone on the toilet for 20 minutes without even thinking about it. Out there you get in, you get out, you look up at the sky once, and you walk back. It made me realize the flush toilet was never the thing I loved, it was the excuse to disappear for a few minutes. We're going back in March and I'm honestly looking forward to the cold walk. Did anybody else have a cabin feature they dreaded that turned into the part they miss most?

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I thought an outhouse at a cabin near Leadville was a dealbreaker, then I spent 4 days there in January | Cabin Life - Talk Freely