Bogley

cachehiker · Joined: 30 Dec 2005 Posts: 144 Location: Logan, UT

Our weekend yurt trip went about as expected. The forecast called for 18-24" of snow on Sunday and I went a little overboard with the safety margins and packed as though we would get 30". This meant a 55 lb. pack and no time to get out and rent telemark gear. I might've tried a 30 lb. pack on my basic backcountry xc skis but the extra gear forced me on to my snowshoes instead.

We had to dig through 7-8 feet of snow to get to the entrance and there was another 3-4 feet of snow to take off of the roof. The last group didn't put the porta-potty back inside the yurt and we never found it in 6 feet of snow. Sunday's blizzard conditions kept us inside talking, reading, and listening to the radio in between trips to shovel more snow. In the end, it was still better than staying home.

I'll post another four or five pics in a few days.

Bri

accadacca · Joined: 02 Dec 2004 Posts: 7405 Location: On Your Screen

That is SWEET! Thanks for sharing..... :2thumbs:

marc olivares · Joined: 19 Jun 2005 Posts: 614 Location: sugarhouse

hey Bri, where's this yurt at and how do you go about getting it reserved?

cachehiker · Joined: 30 Dec 2005 Posts: 144 Location: Logan, UT

marc olivares wrote: hey Bri, where's this yurt at and how do you go about getting it reserved?

Powder Ridge Ski Touring Yurts
Located up Logan Canyon. Two yurts are available Steam Mill and Bunchgrass. Steam Mill is 3.25 miles from the trailhead with an elevation gain of 1500 feet and sleeps 4. Bunchgrass is 4 miles from the trailhead with an elevation gain of 2100 feet with a 6 person maximum. Weekends $138 per night, weekdays $120 per night, $80 for guide in and orientation. No pets allowed. Contact Stuart Reynolds 435.752.7853

The Steam Mill Yurt fills up quicker than the Bunchgrass Yurt. I think it's reserved for the entire season already. There are probably still some open weekends for the Bunchgrass Yurt. Four people is comfortable in Bunchgrass. The fifth has to sleep on the floor/kitchen table. You had better like all five friends if you're going for six. You can actually fit five in Steam Mill but it's just as cramped as Bunchgrass with six.

Finding the Bunchgrass Yurt with just GPS coordinates could make for a long day as you cross a couple of drainages to get there. Sometimes the tracks are easy to follow and sometimes not. The pull-out is on the south side of Highway 89 about 500 yards past the Tony Grove turnoff.

If you manage to leave the Frankin Basin Road at the right place, the Steam Mill Yurt is easier to find. You fight with the snowmobilers for about a half mile head up the Franklin Basin Road before turning left and taking a straight shot up Hell's Kitchen.

packfish · Joined: 17 Feb 2006 Posts: 293 Location: Cache Valley

Gone up there many times but never stayed in the Yurt- just up, looked and then back out. Wonderful area, the snowmobile deal ticks me off. Miles and miles of other areas but they seem to need this one also. That pushed me to donatating to the Nordic ski assoc.

Nick Danger · Joined: 03 Jan 2005 Posts: 25

packfish wrote: ... the snowmobile deal ticks me off. ...

What snowmobile deal?

cachehiker · Joined: 30 Dec 2005 Posts: 144 Location: Logan, UT

Bunchgrass Creek is adjacent to Tony Grove Creek where snowmobiles are allowed. Many of them could care less about the marked boundary.

I heard at least one of the offending snowmobilers got themselves busted the weekend I was up there. After seeing someone writing down registration numbers from their snowmobile, they decided they would steal that someone's pack to get back at them.

They dumped it a half mile away but:

Oops! that was a ranger's pack!

Getting busted for theft of a federal officer's backpack in addition to violating the usage boundaries by riding in circles around the yurt makes you look real intelligent and respectable in front of the judge.