Woah.. where did summer go? I mean, I can trace back most of my weekends and remember what I did, but what the heck? Here we are now, early September and settling in for Fall. In all seriousness, I feel like I didn’t get to do many “summer things,” but Fall is probably my favorite season… at least early Fall. That being said, I’m ready to see my friends September and October.
Labor Day was Monday, and I was lucky enough to get the weekend off. I didn’t even know I would have the weekend off until last Thursday. I couldn’t have been more happy to find out, being that my friends Joel and Jennifer had The Yurt reserved since Spring. I tried to put in for time off Labor Day Weekend, but was denied and told to “see what happens.” Well, I “happened” to get it off. Lucky me!
The Yurt as seen from the incoming trail. I love this place!
We headed south Saturday morning packed with all our gear and food, ready for adventure. Due to some navigational errors on my part, Kaylee and I showed up an hour late, but Joel and Jennifer were nice enough to wait for us at the trailhead to set out. After some cheery hellos and one or two slammed beers (to save pack weight, of course), we headed out. To our misfortune, the upper parking lot was closed and added about another mile uphill to our hike. The next 5.something miles, we trekked up mostly logging roads, mostly uphill. The incline intensity wasn’t the difficult part, it was the extent of it. It seemed like around every turn was just more of the same hill. Over and over again. For most hikers, it really probably wasn’t that bad. But the four of us don’t usually hike. In fact most of the time, we’re more forest road/campground car campers, so this was quite the excursion for us.
After what ended up being about six to seven miles, we finally crested the hill and found The Yurt. It was a welcomed sight, and all of us let out a little cheer when we saw our home for the weekend. A few minutes later, our bags were dropped, shoes were off, and beds were picked. It was time to unwind and have some dinner. The Yurt’s amenities made it quite a comfortable stay. Between bunk beds, futons, and sleeping mats to pull out, there was bedding for up to eight people. A lone solar panel over the bathroom (separate from The Yurt, outhouse-style) powered all the lights and electricity, and there was residential-style propane to heat and cook with. Firewood and splitting axes were provided, so I volunteered for campfire duty while Joel and Jennifer cooked us a nice spaghetti dinner inside. With dinner and some cognac in us, dusk faded to dark and the stars came out and danced for us. It’s not often we get to see the night sky like that, living in the urban environments we do. We soon found ourselves laying back on the benches looking at the heavens, arguing about what was a satellite or a plane as the fire died out. It didn’t take long for the cold hands of the night to usher us inside and into some Scrabble, then our beds.
Joel and Jeniffer’s sunset kiss <3
Next morning was beautiful. We made breakfast and found coffee stocked in The Yurt and ate until we could eat no more. To our surprise, an intermittent rain storm came through that morning and dampened our spirits a bit. Joel and Jennifer wanted to hike Griffin Mountain and Kaylee and I planned on heading back down for home that morning. To kill some time and wait out the rain, we got down on some dominoes and I got my butt kicked pretty good. Eventually the rain let up and we all decided to go our separate ways. Joel and Jennifer headed out for their hike and Kaylee and I packed up and made the trek back down.
Just a little trail selfie with Kaylee.
Between the company, the views, and The Yurt itself, it really made for a great experience. It came as a surprise to us that the summer is actually the “slow” season on this trail system. The Mount Tahoma Trails System maintains the trails, The Yurt, and three more “huts” year-round. Turns out, winter is actually the busy season for this area. The trails system is modeled after the hut-to-hut system in the Alps, where chalets are interconnected. I don’t know that I’ll visit The Yurt again in the winter, I’m not that hardcore of a winter sports enthusiast. Maybe one of the close huts, like High Hut or Copper Creek Hut. Either way, I would LOVE to go back for another great experience and try out one of the other beautiful huts.
If any of you are interested in staying in The Yurt or any of the MTTA’s other huts, you can find information and reservation details here: https://skimtta.org. The MTTA is an all volunteer-run organization and always accepts donations as well as volunteers. We were lucky enough to meet the managers of both The Yurt and High Hut on our way out of the parking lot. After chatting for a bit and learning how generous they were and how much they cared for the trails, we really felt touched. So if you’re interested, check out the trails and stay for a night or two! Not only are you getting a one-of-a-kind experience, but you’re supporting an amazing organization. Go have some fun!
Sunset at The Yurt.