Adventure Review: Winter Yurting
Did you know Idaho State University’s Outdoor Adventure Center (ISU OAC) rents out yurts in the winter? I surely didn’t, because I’m new here. But in case you don’t either, allow me...
Don’t know what a yurt is? It’s a circular tent hailing from the region of central Asia. Before this, I’ve only ever seen yurts on HGTV luxury yurt shows. To be clear, the ISU yurts are much more of a camping experience than a glamping (glamour + camping) experience.
The gist with the ISU yurts is: snowshoe / ski into a remote area, cozy up around the piping wood burning stove, and enjoy the beauty and serenity of the Idaho backcountry.
Apparently, this has been on my Idaho-native husband’s bucket list for quite some time. He’s a pretty even-keeled, go-with-whatever-the-wifey-wants-to-do kind of guy, so when I happen to get wind of something he wants to do without my prompting, I jump on it.
We’ve done warm-weather backpacking to remote areas before, but never anything cold-weather.
And we’ve never snowshoed.
And I haven’t really worked out (save a weekly yoga class) since motherhood started 9 years ago.
But never mind the minor details. Life is an adventure!
Reservations
I make an easy call to the ISU OAC to book our 1-night stay in the Inman Yurt on the Portneuf Range near Inkom, ID for the end of January. (If you’re an ISU student, you’ll spend about half of the $70 we spent to stay the night. No grief on our part – I’m happy the university opens the space to those of us far past our college prime.)
Reservations are taken over the phone, and the office sends plenty of information on how to find the yurt (should be easy, right…?) as well as safety precautions for remote backcountry hazards, including avalanches (Chicago girl, say what?). Again, minor details**.
The ISU OAC offers 4 different yurt excursions (none of them near each other), all with varying levels of necessary experience and hiking distance.
We opt for Inman Yurt, which seems to be the 3rd most difficult to get to and classified as “advanced beginner” by the university. Having gotten there myself now, I’d call it “intermediate” level.
Getting to Inman Yurt
We park with a whole bunch of snowmobilers (that’s Midwestern-er for ‘snowmachiners’) at the end of Inman Road in Inkom. Keep in mind that you’ll need a Park n’ Ski pass on your car to park here overnight. (Available online at https://parksandrecreation.idaho.gov/registration-renewals-permits-passes) Also, you’re going to lose cell reception about a mile before you get to this parking lot, in case you need to let someone know you’re headed out on your journey (news flash – your Mom wants to know where you are, so you should do this.)
Geared up for the trek in
We head out onto the trail at about 1pm. If I were to do it again, I would have left by 11am for a couple extra hours of buffer. Within the first 20 minutes, I’m sure I’m going to pass out and die. Once we find the right pace, I’m much happier.
The hike in is about 3.5 miles and 1,000 of elevation climb evenly spread over the entire distance. So, keep in mind, you’ll be climbing up the entire trek in. (I’m sure my left hip is going to fall off at about mile 2.)
The first 3 miles is on a cleanly groomed snowmobile road in a valley with a babbling brook skirting the road. Find the right pace so you can enjoy the scenery and natural soundtrack of that. It’s not a race.
Unless you’re racing the sun. Then pick up the pace.
Groomed trail. Also, this is my groom on the trail. So it works both ways.
At the 3-mile mark, you’ll hit the North Fork #207 on your left where you’ll veer off the nicely groomed road and into what feels like a desolate backcountry.
Because it is.**
On our trip, it was clear that no one had been off the road in quite some time, so there was no trail to be found.
North Fork #207 “trail”. It’s probably there under 3 feet of snow somewhere.
Supposedly, a Boy Scout troop in the area had marked trees with blue dots to help you navigate to the yurt in the last 0.5 miles. The blue dots are not maintained by ISU and are very sporadic in some lengths of the “trail”. (Yes, I put trail in quotes. Because when you’re faced with 18 inches of fresh powder, there’s no trail to be found.) So….
Use a GPS app.
My husband used the free version of ViewRanger to navigate us to the yurt on this portion of the trail. Plug in the exact yurt coordinates (provided by ISU) before you start off and you’ll always be able to see where you are in relation to the yurt - no WiFi or cell services needed. This was psychologically comforting to me when I felt like we were knee-deep in snow and would be left for dead.
We make it to the yurt in about 3 hours at our pace – 2 hours on the 3-mile groomed trail and 1 hour on the 0.5 mile North Fork, because we were literally blazing our own snow-bound trail. During the 3 hours, we stop twice for a legitimate sit-down break, because #iloveoxygen. (If you’re coming from a lower elevation, keep in mind that this trail starts at about 5,000 ft.)
Fine accommodations
At the Yurt
Once at the yurt, there’s work to be done!
Shovel deck, Cinderella! Chop the wood, Cinderella! Shovel a path to the potty, Cinderella! Start a fire, Cinderella! Melt the snow for water, Cinderella!
Out house (with a view) on the top left and wood pile on right.
The first fire
At about 5pm, the sun starts to set and our fire goes out due to the moisture in the wood and the yurt. ISU warns that this could happen and is completely normal, but I still silently panic that we’re going to freeze and never see our children again.
We start another fire and do not perish. All is well.
The yurt warms up to a truly lovely 65 degrees and the hubs and I enjoy a lovely date night of sausage, cheese, crackers, beverages, and reading the yurt guest book (when read with a mug of wine and in different accents, it’s more humorous that you’d guess).
Date night dinner
Overnight Warmth
We couldn’t get the fire and the warmth to last longer than 1-2 hours at a time before we needed to add more wood, so we woke up throughout the night to keep ourselves warm.
We even ran low on wood in the middle of the night, so we got to chop wood under a full moon at 1am. My dad would say that it was “character building”.
It was. (But it was also beautiful.)
Hiking Out
The next morning, we have a nice easy breakfast, knock down our fire, sweep out the yurt, and leave fresh chopped wood for the next guest (a requirement by ISU). We head back to the car in a fraction of the time (only 1 hour!), because…it’s all downhill!
Who doesn’t love a good camping breakfast? Am I right?
We are not cross-country skiers, but if you are, here’s what I would suggest: If you are up for hauling your skis up to the yurt, I would recommend snowshoeing in, while packing your skis. Then pack your snowshoes on the way out and enjoy the 3 miles of groomed trail downhill.
Yeeesss, ma’am.
Unfortunately, I think you need the snowshoes regardless to get through the last 0.5 miles of ungroomed trail, otherwise, you could just ski the whole way up.
Bottom Line
Thank you to ISU OAC for opening these yurts to the public. It’s an unmatched experience to get out in the Idaho backcountry in the dead of winter.
This excursion is perfect for those adventurous couples, families, or group of friends (the yurts sleep 6-8 comfortably). Just know what you’re doing before you head out and follow the OAC’s guidelines for your own safety.
Worried About Animals?
I was a little worried about lions and tigers and bears (oh my) being so remote, but we didn’t see anything more than a few bunny tracks where we were. When we were there (Jan 31-Feb 1, 2020), the snow was DEEP. I can’t imagine that you’re going to come across anything bigger than what can walk on top of fresh powder. Nonetheless, it never hurts to pack some bear spray or “alternative protection”, just in case.
Want more info?
Check out ISU OAC’s website here: https://www.isu.edu/outdoor/rentals/yurts-and-cabins/
**A cautionary note – clearly my writing style is sarcastic and light-hearted. Safety precautions in any backcountry should never be taken lightly. Always be prepared and know what you’re doing on any adventure that life brings you. …Except adventures in parenthood…none of us know what we’re doing there.
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