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All about the time I backpacked, in the dark, on snowshoes, to spend the night in a yurt. Really. It happened.

Very few people would ever peg me for the “Outdoorsy” type.  In fact, I don’t think anyone has ever volunteered the statement (or any derivative of) “wow heidikins, you just seem like an outdoorsy person.”  It doesn’t happen.  I’m sure the 4″ heels throw most people off.  So it may come as a bit of a surprise to you (and myself, let’s be honest) that I spent my weekend being all outdoorsy and stuff.  As in, I went backpacking.  On snowshoes.  In three feet of fresh powder.  And I spent the night in a yurt.

That’s correct, a yurt.

What is a yurt?  Well, the short story is that it’s the Mongolian/Central Asian version of a teepee.  It’s a biggish tent-thing with wooden supports that can be folded up and moved fairly quickly.

This yurt was about 25 feet across with a wood floor and lattice-and-canvas walls.  There was a wood-burning stove, a propane stove to heat water and some shelving.  Additionally, there were  four bunk beds that held sixteen people and a few extras slept on the floor.

It was a bit of a tight fit, but awesome all the same.  The not-awesome part was the fact that it was freezing cold and a middle-of-the-night pee trip required coppin’-a-squat next to a tree a few hundred yards from the yurt in three feet of fresh snow.  It was cold, yo.  Really cold.

I’m actually getting ahead of myself.  Let me tell you a bit more about the actual getting to said yurt.  Our group left Salt Lake City at 6:45 pm on Friday night.  We had about an hour-and-a-half drive up into the mountains before we could hike into our camp spot.  By the time we got to the parking lot, loaded up our gear and strapped on snowshoes it was almost 9:00 pm.  (This means it was really dark and really cold…I am unashamedly fishing for sympathy.)  Hiking a mile and a half in the dark, in the snow, in the cold was both the hardest and most awesome part of this trip.  We all had either headlamps of flashlights so we could see, but the moment when we turned everything off and just looked at the stars was, without question, one of the most amazing things I’ve ever seen.  The stars!  There were millions of them!

[Pause to think of the blackest sky possible, smother it with twinkly white stars, framed my a mountain meadow of fresh, untouched snow and tall pine trees....beautiful, right?  Now multiply it by a hundred to start to see how it was to actually be there taking it all in.]

…And then the hiking continued.  It was so cold that my hair actually froze.  My legs ached–even in snowshoes I was sinking almost to my knees in the fresh powder.  My back ached from my pack (I’m not used to carrying my bed, my snacks, my water and my toothbrush on my back.  That stuff can get heavy!).

When we got to the yurt we had to shovel/scrape away the snow to open the door.  And inside was just as cold as outside, only now we weren’t traipsing about carrying all the heavy stuff.  We were standing around watching steam come off of our backs and shoulders and heads.  It took a few hours before the little wood-burning stove generated enough heat to make things comfortable.  Until then, we bundled up, had some dinner, and huddled together to stay warm.  Luckily, my brother-in-law (the one who can be described as “outdoorsy”) set me up with a really great sleeping bag and sleeping pad.  I was warm and snuggly all night long, even though I was sleeping on a big slab of plywood.  A million thanks, S., for keeping me toasty!!

Those are my pretty, new snowshoes.

The next morning after breakfast and cleaning up, it was time to play.  Snowshoe races, snowshoe angels, snowshoe hikes…the weather was gorgeous and warm.  Well, warm-ish; no more frozen hair.

After a few hours, it was time to strap on our backpacks and head back home.

This was one of the better weekends I’ve had in a really long time.  And I’m actually hoping to get another in before the snow is gone for the year, so if you’re in the area, are not a psycho, and would like to spend a night in a yurt, let me know.  We could maybe work something out.

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