Trip Report
Intermediate Snowshoe - The Yurt
Roughing it at the MTTA huts
Alina Badus
- Wed, Feb 19, 2020 — Thu, Feb 20, 2020
- Intermediate Snowshoe - The Yurt
- Snow Bowl Hut, High Hut & The Yurt
- Snowshoeing
- Successful
- Road suitable for all vehicles
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The Upper Snow Park is still open; we brought two big trucks, so cannot comment on how a smaller vehicle would do. Groomed trails were in perfect condition and easy to follow. Lower Yurt Trail (ungroomed) was also well-signed and already broken by skiers.
Type I fun all around with a great team. We had booked the entire Yurt back in November and were very lucky that the dates picked (at random) happened to land on the two most beautiful days of the week. With the landslide just past Ashford, this is about as close as you can get to Rainier right now:
Day 1: start snowshoeing around 9:45am, stop by for long lunch at Bruni's Snow Bowl Hut and admire the views, including three volcanoes (Rainier, Adams, St. Helens). Chill on the couch and maybe even take a short nap.
Then continue on to the Yurt, get settled by 3:30pm and discuss what to do. Given the comfort of the Yurt, several from our group decided to hang out and relax. Two others decided to make the most of daylight & sunshine and bag an unnamed summit.
How to put on weight on a snowshoeing trip: prepare a gourmet dinner, no dehydrated meals for us...
Appetizers: smoked wild salmon; wild chanterelles sauteed in butter with other vegetables. Wine pairing: Sauvignon Blanc.
Main course: pasta with homemade tomato sauce with vegetables; sausage on the side. Kale salad with sunflower seeds. Steak (yup!) marinated in spices and black pepper. Wine pairing: Cabernet Sauvignon.
Dessert: brownies.
How to make an awesome day even better: go out to watch the stars, on a clear (but not too cold) night, just outside the Yurt, no city lights whatsoever.
Day 2: return to cars on beautiful, secluded but already broken Lower Yurt Trail (maximum enjoyment, minimum effort).