Teton Staycation: A Brief Escape to Baldy Yurt
I didn’t have a group, a gameplan, or any idea of what life would look like five months down the road, but in October I booked two March nights at Baldy Yurt, up Fox Creek. They were the last available nights in either February or March.
It was challenging to piece together a crew that could take time off mid-week. I didn’t manage to fill the yurt (maximum occupancy is eight) but our crew of five ended up being the perfect number and the experience was worth the added cost.
Picking those two nights five months ago proved to be serendipitous. In the week before our trip, the Tetons saw gradual accumulation of cold, light snow on a stable base. On our ingress we broke trail and dragged a heavy sled of food and adult beverages. Visibility was poor as snow continued to fall.
The next day the sun emerged and helped us plot our days of uphill skinning, glade skiing, and miniature cliff lines. We laid down tracks in pristine bowls and toured until our feet and legs begged for reprieve.
The group communicated and made decisions well, and peacefully divided up the yurt chores, like hauling snow, cooking, and chopping wood.
We reemerged from the backcountry after three days of nothing but powder. Our phones were flooded with little dings and beeps from stale notifications. It was so refreshing to escape that for a little while, in our backyard mountains.
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