A yurt is a yurt of course, of course

The key to a good winter hike with toddlers is to carry them and bring lots of food. And leave your expectations at home. Don't forget it will take 3 times as long as you think too.

I took the girls on a hike today--in the snow. I carried Hannah on my back and Kenzie rode in a sled, pulled by my friend. (True friends pull your kids in a sled and pretend they aren't annoyed by the children's whining/bossiness. I'm sorry I am not a true friend to anyone. Look closely, that's Kenzie in that sled) She tried out some kid snowshoes but that lasted all of 2 seconds as she decided they were "hard," and saw that a sled had been prepared.

Her Highness Kenzie was being pulled up a hill, laying down all comfy cozy when she commanded grandly, "Guys, guys. Let's rest for a minute."

My friend, Tracey, is an awesome hiker and always goes out and does these really fun things. So when she said she knew of a Yurt up by Snowbasin and said we could come, I jumped at the chance to find out where it is. (First I tried looking all over the Internet, but apparently the Yurt's location is all hush, hush.)

It took us an hour to hike in, and this place was so cool. For some reason they call it a "Churt" but the only reference to "churt" that I can find anywhere is some town in England. So I don't know what the forest service is smoking. Perhaps they have a lisp, or maybe they speak Russian (where the word originated) and know we're pronouncing the y all wrong. Anyway, it's a yurt. And it's an awesome one at that. A yurt is a tent-like structure, but it's a little bit more sturdy and permanent, and you can stand up in it. This yurt had a nice big picnic table, a small wood burning stove and a sleeping mat. (Umm, I would probably bring my own, as nice as they are to provide that one)

We made a fire in the woodburning stove, had lunch, and Tracey made some hot chocolate and popcorn. She had all sorts of fun things for the girls. Kenzie had a great time spraying colored water on the snow, drinking the hot chocolate and eating the popcorn. She asked, "When can we bring Daddy? On Saturday? Tomorrow?"
Hannah wandered around the "house" contentedly. She played in the snow some, but was more interested in staying warm and eating all the treats I brought.

The way out also took an hour, but if you're not pulling a sled/carrying a 50 pound pack of child (maybe I'm exaggerating, but only a little) on your back then I imagine you could go faster. The last 15 minutes seemed like an hour themselves as Hannah decided she'd had quite enough of the adventure. Even a rainbow chip granola bar couldn't soothe her. Her boots kept falling off and I think her feet got cold. Note to self: Buy kids non-itchy wool socks and figure out something to keep boots on.
Also, my camera was not having a good time, and all I could get were these five shots. I'd turn on the camera, quickly snap a picture of the closest thing and then it would turn off.