Goal ##: Go camping in a yurt

Although not included in my original 99 goals list (I didn't know what a yurt was then), I made a goal and made this happen...10 months ago (yikes--how did I get so behind?!).

Anyway, yurts are AWESOME! They originated with Genghis Khan, traveling with his fighters over mountain passes. They would need a warm place to stay for the night and wah-lah! The yurt was born. (or at least that's the story I liked best)

Who would have thought that this central asian dwelling for nomads would have made it to Utah? But it did. There are dozens of yurts all over the state. They range from being a camping experience (snow shoe or cross country ski in, build a fire, stay the night) to a 5-star dining experience (travel to the yurt in a a horse-drawn sleigh, be served gourmet meal by waiters, etc.), and cost adjust accordingly.

We were able to stay really economically:

Lodging:

Sun-Thurs: $50/night + BRORA membership=$65

1 night/8 people: $8.125

Gas:

130 miles, 2.5 hours away, at the end of HWY 150

30 mpg = 8.66 gallons of gas

x $3.30 = $28.60

/4 people = $7.15/person (2 cars, 8 people)

$6 Forest Service user fee/car = $1.25/person

Gear:

snow shoes $9/day from BYU Outdoors Unlimited or $10 in Evanston

Total per person cost: $16.52 w/o rental

Not bad, right?

If you get a little cabin fever in the winter and need your fix of the outdoors, this is a GREAT way to do it! Cheap (if you do it right), warm (in fact it got too warm!), beautiful, and fun. See?


We stayed in the Lily Lake yurt system, owned and operated by Evanston, WY Parks and Rec (if you're interested, call them at (307) 789-1770.

And if you do, here are some tips:

• bring chips and salsa. Seriously--it tastes so good after snowshoeing!
• bring "dinner in a bag" (aka freeze dried meals)
• start hiking in with plenty of daylight
• sleep on the bottom bunks (the top bunks get ridiculously hot at night)
• bring games to play at night
• go when there's a full moon--it's really cool to get out of the yurt and hike in the moonlight
• go when there's snow, but it currently isn't snowing...it obscures the path

My dollar for completing this goal goes to Mrs. Sanchez. A little 70-year old lady from Mexico that sells tomales in my city. I've seen her and wished I carried cash. This GoFundMe account was a way that I could still support her.