At 40.12 degrees north, -121.49 degrees west lies a little gem we call the Adventure Outings Backcountry Yurt. Like every gem, ours needs a little polish every once in a while. Yesterday AO staff had the privilege of visiting the yurt for the purpose of providing it with some annual maintenance.
Yurt maintenance is best performed in the summer for many reasons, one being that the network of Forest Service roads is open, making it possible to drive tools and a load of firewood in.
Once at the yurt stumps of different heights were arranged near the woodpile to allow for wood splitting at varying snow levels. Also, a good supply of kindling was cut to help start fires in the wood stove. Note: remember to always split more kindling than you use so the next group can quickly start a fire!
The wood stove, one of the greatest features of the yurt, was given some attention as well. The chimney was disassembled and swept out and the door gasket was re-glued in place. We hope this means fires in the stove will be burning as hot as ever once the snows begin to fall in Colby Meadows.
Several fire rings that had been built around the yurt were removed and the burn scars were covered as well as possible. We hope visitors to the yurt area, and wild places everywhere, will remember to utilize Leave No Trace practices when building fires to prevent others from finding scenes like the one below.
For more information on renting the yurt, take a look at our website.