Skiing into the Big Water Yurt

Before I fully embrace the coming spring I want to pay tribute to some fun winter adventures we've had namely skiing into the Big Water Yurt up Mill creek Canyon.

Our good friends Traci and Christian and hard core skiiers invited us to share their yurt reservation.   Yes you have to get a reservation to sleep in the Yurt.  For more info or to make a reservation click here.

Family photo at the Yurt. 

Skiing into the Yurt was cold, dark and long.  Actually it was pretty miserable. On top of that Spencer and I got in a fight (yes sometimes we fight.)  But once we got into the yurt we cozied up to the fire and everything was just fine.  

By the fire in the Yurt.  Poor Baby G's cheeks got a little red on the way up. 

Traci and Junuh were the perfect yurt hosts. 

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The Yurt was toasty warm.  It had a stove and we made lots of trips to the wood pile .  

We had to melt snow for water.  it all tasted like pine needles.  Yummm!

The Yurt had sweet bunk beds.

Don't let this picture fool you.  Sleeping was one thing Baby G didn't do so well.    It made for a long night for all of us. 

Christian returned from his extreme powder skiing adventure.  He is much more hard core than all of us.  

On the way up to the yurt I had Baby G in the snuggly.  On the way down  I set her in the Sled and pulled her. 

She stayed asleep almost the entire trip.  Snow covered peaks and mountain streams were all lost on her. 

No other skiers were pulling a puffy pink nine month old baby in a sled.  One of the extreme skier guys looked at me and said "That is awesome"

Baby G was pretty tuckered out after such a weekend. 

Our nine month old baby and the Big Water Yurt   

We were a little nervous about taking our baby but she loved it (other than sleeping and that was mostly my fault)  As we were packing up to ski back down the mountain, the new yurt tenants skied up to chat.  They thought it was crazy that we brought our baby.  "How old is that baby?"  "You brought your baby!?!?"

Yes I did.  Baby G did great.  I reaffirm my belief that you have to integrate your baby into your lifestyle.  What do you all think?  Do you ski with your children?  Any advice from parents on how to get kids to sleep while camping?  Any Yurt adventure stories?  Do share!

Baby G’s first slot canyon

Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

Proverbs 22:6

We love hiking.  We hope our baby girl grows up to love hiking too.  When she was only 5 weeks old we introduced her to some of Southern Utah’s most exciting slot canyons, Spooky and Peek-a-boo.  (Near Escalante Utah down Hole in the Rock Road and great gateway canyons to the sport of hiking)  

Spooky and Peek-a-boo aren't technical (no rope needed) but a hand is always helpful 

The debut of my brother in law Marshall on my blog.  He stole my little sister and married her 10 years ago.  I'm  over it.  really.  

My cute Mom and my cute Sister

Baby G wasn't too into the scenery.  

Not too into the scenery, but happy to smile at Dad!

My new desktop photo.  

Some of the more manageable twists of the canyon.
 Spencer was pretty sick of my taking pictures every 2 steps. 

watch those curves.  

Arwen and Eden

Baby G and me!

Sisters and babies

How old were your kids when you started them hiking?  My parents dragged us on many a hike when we were little, but it wasn't till college that I really enjoyed it and started going on my own.

Any tips for training young hikers?  Do share!  

BOX DEATH HOLLOW

What do you do with a three day Labor Day weekend lots of hiking gear and an appetite for slot canyons? You head to Southern Utah, strap on your hiking boots, and explore.

I had heard of the Box Death hollow in the Escalante region before, however Escalante is somewhat unexplored for me other than the very touristy places like Calf Creek Falls and Spooky, Peek-a-boo, and Brimstone canyons which are down the Hole-in-the-Rock road toward Lake Powell.

The full blown Box Death Hollow would involve a two car shuttle system or willingness to hitch hike. We had neither so we did a makeshift of the trip which, granted, is much less breathtaking than had we been able to do the whole trip, but it was fun to be outside in the sand.

Here is how we did it:

Saturday: Packed up and headed to REI to buy a map. (Never go hiking with out a good topo map) While at REI I managed to spend over $100 on camping equipment I’d always needed that just happened to be on sale. Yikes! I’m not even a shopper! I just love REI!

PICTURE RATTLESNAKE DINNER!

We slowly made our way south toward Escalante but by twilight we were only as far as a charming little Utah town called Torey. We found a camp spot in the Boulder mountains and then drove into Torey with all the Yuppies and suppered. It was wonderful. We had rattlesnake and salmon while we watched the alpenglow on the red rock and listened to some long haired hippy stroke his guitar. Sunday: We drove into Escalante and parked our car on the east side of town by the cemetery. We wandered into the canyon excited to be on the trail after about 20 windy turns of the Escalante River we were pretty tired and not as wowed by the scenery as we expected. We dropped our bags and continued up to the confluence of Box Hollow and the Escalante River.

As plain as the Escalante River had been Box Hollow was enchanting: a very narrow slot canyon with windy walls sloping up to the blue sky. We explored up the canyon for a while but eventually had to turn around. We supped on freze dried and then slept.

Monday: We hiked out in 3 hours and drove the 5 hours home.

How it should be done:

Day One: Park one car at Boulder Utah and one car at the Escalante River trail head. Hike the first day across the open on the old Bolder Mail Trail. Camp just before you drop into the canyon.

Day Two: Spend this day exploring swimming and enjoying windy Box Death Hollow.

Day Three: Get up early and push on out of the Escalante river canyon. Shuttle back to pick up your car and head on home.

I can’t wait to do it the real way.