Yurts in the new year

The new year began with a new adventure: a three-night, two-yurt, snowshoeing, snowboarding fest organized by my high school friend and his wife. I've always wanted to go on a hut trip, but could never quite find a way to tag along till now. I was relieved to find most of us would be on snowshoes rather than xc skis, since I figured I could manage walking more easily than gliding (see skate skiing entry below). Snowshoes were purchased, a never-used pack was fitted for snowboard hauling, free poles were acquired and I was set. Sort of.

The weather and scenery were perfect. Southern Colorado's been dumped on for much of December, but it let up just in time to give us three cloudless days in powder. After an overnight at the Pueblo Days Inn, most of which was spent guiltily zoning out in front of the tv, I met up with my friends for the shorter of our two yurt journeys. BJ and Ethan, on their skis, pulled our group along through the snow-covered pines and we soon arrived at the Neff yurt. Yurts are still new to me, but I was pretty impressed early on. Once the woodstove got going, we found that it really was possible to leave the door open just to cool off. Another great feature was the portable, heated toilet seat that hung behind the stove - ah, luxury in the wilderness.



Free time in the yurt on New Year's Eve was spent playing card games, devouring chili, cornbread, and brownies and toasting with California champagne. We wandered around outside after dark looking at the constellations in the crystal clear sky; Orion was easily pointed out, his "sword" was a topic of brief derision, but we never did find Gemini's feet. As much as I dreaded the late night walk to the outhouse, I found consolation in the views above me. One of the best parts of camping in a remote area is being able to stumble out of the tent/yurt/cabin, look up at the cosmos and give it the reverence it deserves - for me that usually results in stopping in my tracks and muttering "well, damn..."

The trip to yurt two was a bit more involved, so we only used our boards to get back to the road the next morning. With four + miles to cover on steeper terrain, we pushed through the pretty scenery in the afternoon and I was again a little envious of the skiers in our party. I think I've convinced myself that classic xc skiing is in my near future, though I doubt my debut will be as smooth as I imagine. It was so sunny that we were able to shed a few layers.


Since we had two nights at this yurt, we took time to ride in the front yard and then hike up behind the next morning. The top of the hike looked like the undulating, white hills of a golf course in winter and just below, a pristine bowl. The conditions were great and we all got to lay fresh tracks. I hadn't been on my board in at least two years, but once I remembered how to turn, I also remembered how much I love the feeling of floating down the side of the slope. Got to get out more this winter.



We also had some of the coolest clouds I've seen in a while; some reminded me of seaweed or something gelatinous, while these were more like waves of silk.


The rest of our holiday was, thankfully, uneventful. The closest thing to an emergency we faced was the disappearance of the Baileys after the first night (it was later located in the depths of someone's pack and the hot chocolate was saved) and the near overflow of JiffyPop onto the floor.

Yurt number two also had Jenga, a game I had never actually played, but picked up faster than Hearts.


The last day of our adventure provided us with a little more excitement due to the sudden arrival of snow. We made one last hike up to the bowl for a quick descent before loading up all our gear and heading out into the weather. The return trip taught me that I probably shouldn't attempt more than one sport at a time. Falling on a board in powder I can handle; falling on a board in powder while carrying a full pack on my back and snowshoes and poles in my arms is another thing entirely. Think turtle, upside down. The constant switching from snowshoes to board and back again was tiring and I lagged behind. Fortunately the rest of the party was patient and, more importantly, we had left with enough time to meet their shuttle back at the road.

This was definitely my best New Year's Eve/Day/couple-of-days-after ever and I thank Adam and Rachel for the invitation and Heather, BJ and Ethan for their company. What a great way to start 2009!