The Yurt

"Stay in a yurt" was on my list of things to do this summer, and in mid-July, that's just what we did. On July 15, we drove to the bustling metropolis of Vernal, Utah, then headed north on Highway 191 to the Ashley National Forest. After a very bumpy two miles where there were times we had to get out of the car and move rocks out of the way, we decided we'd gone far enough up the jeep trail and parked the car and backpacked in another 1.5 miles. Our original plan was to pack all the way in, but we got a late start and were afraid we wouldn't reach the yurt before dark. It's a good thing we drove in half way because we walked up to the yurt just as the sun went down. Perfect timing.

As we unpacked our backpacks, stored the food and water away (we had to pack in five gallons of water - no source up at the yurt), and familiarized ourselves with the very cool Grizzly Ridge Yurt, the moon rose full and bright over the nearby ridge, and made us even more excited to be there. We stayed two nights in pure solitude and saw only four other people all weekend. And one deer. It was heaven and we are pretty much counting down the days till next summer so we can make this a tradition.

In the next week, I'll be posting most of my yurt photos on Flickr and if I've got time, a few more here. There are so many. Stay tuned!

PS: I hope you got to cross something fun off your summer to-do list!