March 22-29, 2014, Montana Yurt Powder Shenanigans
3/22/14
27506
4
Full story and photos here. I've included a few teaser excerpts below. Some of this actually happened.
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What follows are the final entries from the diary of the last surviving member of the ill-fated Montana Yurt Trip of 2014.
March 22, 2014 - Seattle, Washington
It's been nearly two months since I last set foot in this little rainswept corner of the world. Before my recent move home to the sun-kissed shores of Southern California I spent over three years here braving the gray and cold and getting to know the locals. During that time my explorations led me beyond the salmon and coffee filled streams of the Puget Sound lowlands and into the Cascade mountains where Subarus roam wild and the natives enjoy the backwards diversion of skiing uphill instead of down. It is this last pursuit that brings me back here today.
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Day 3 - The Yurt, Montana
The wood stove went out overnight while we slept. Traffic Cone sleeps soundly in his Feathered Friends zero degree bag while the icy tendrils of death wrap around me like an arctic octopus. We spend the morning huddled around the wood stove trying to breathe life into a tiny fire of damp kindling. Last night the weather radio warned of an impending warm up, so today will be our big day to explore while the air remains cold and the snow fluffy. While the Snickers situation has not yet become serious, I can't help but suspect that somebody is hoarding. I eye all my expedition partners with suspicion.
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Day 4 - The Yurt, Montana
The Snickers situation has become dire. A pall of desperation hangs over the yurt. With temperatures warming and snowpack deteriorating, thoughts turn to cannibalism. Brenda will probably put up the least fight - he is small and, I suspect, a pacifist - though his meat is likely tough and stringy due to an all vegetable diet. The Handmaiden on the other hand offers plentiful meat but would be tough to take down in hand-to-hand combat. We all sleep with one eye open. Death is everywhere.
...
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What follows are the final entries from the diary of the last surviving member of the ill-fated Montana Yurt Trip of 2014.
March 22, 2014 - Seattle, Washington
It's been nearly two months since I last set foot in this little rainswept corner of the world. Before my recent move home to the sun-kissed shores of Southern California I spent over three years here braving the gray and cold and getting to know the locals. During that time my explorations led me beyond the salmon and coffee filled streams of the Puget Sound lowlands and into the Cascade mountains where Subarus roam wild and the natives enjoy the backwards diversion of skiing uphill instead of down. It is this last pursuit that brings me back here today.
...
Day 3 - The Yurt, Montana
The wood stove went out overnight while we slept. Traffic Cone sleeps soundly in his Feathered Friends zero degree bag while the icy tendrils of death wrap around me like an arctic octopus. We spend the morning huddled around the wood stove trying to breathe life into a tiny fire of damp kindling. Last night the weather radio warned of an impending warm up, so today will be our big day to explore while the air remains cold and the snow fluffy. While the Snickers situation has not yet become serious, I can't help but suspect that somebody is hoarding. I eye all my expedition partners with suspicion.
...
Day 4 - The Yurt, Montana
The Snickers situation has become dire. A pall of desperation hangs over the yurt. With temperatures warming and snowpack deteriorating, thoughts turn to cannibalism. Brenda will probably put up the least fight - he is small and, I suspect, a pacifist - though his meat is likely tough and stringy due to an all vegetable diet. The Handmaiden on the other hand offers plentiful meat but would be tough to take down in hand-to-hand combat. We all sleep with one eye open. Death is everywhere.
...
is the linky broken????
More please, la prose est excellente...ahhhhhhhhh La France!
More please, la prose est excellente...ahhhhhhhhh La France!
Nice. Much better than our week of dust on breakable and un-breakable crust at wallowa yurts with 50 mph winds
Fun report. Where was (I know, MT...)?
Steve - were you guided or unguided in the Willywowallyas? Which basin(s)? And did you find any of what guides down there optimistically call "sifted in powder" in any strips worth descending? That's more or less what we got a few years ago while skiing out of Norway Basin, and though I know there were some crust turns involved, the more powdery part is what I end up thinking back to :D.
Steve - were you guided or unguided in the Willywowallyas? Which basin(s)? And did you find any of what guides down there optimistically call "sifted in powder" in any strips worth descending? That's more or less what we got a few years ago while skiing out of Norway Basin, and though I know there were some crust turns involved, the more powdery part is what I end up thinking back to :D.
The Yurt is in the Southern Swan Mountains, northwest of Missoula. The company is called Yurt Ski and they have two yurts in this valley. The owners are very nice and heavily bearded, as referenced in the story. Lots of sweet treed terrain up there, plus some amazing looking alpine lines for a safer snowpack or a less risk averse group - we mostly stuck to trees due to windslab concerns on steeper open slopes. Just an all-around gorgeous area that has a more off-the-grid feel than Washington...probably because Montana is larger and has a population of about 600 people.
More info here: http://yurtski.com/about.html
More info here: http://yurtski.com/about.html
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