I joined my friend Bryan Wilkins and his friend Bryan Oakes on a winter camping trip this past weekend, and we went to an area in the hills above Boise. The area is called Banner Ridge, and it has many miles of groomed cross country ski trails. We headed up the trail pulling sleds with our gear, and quickly were on top of the ridge from the car, at about 2 miles. The ridge is open and flat topped, with incredible views of the surrounding area.
Once we got on top of the ridge we left the trail to a secret clearing in the trees, and began building snow shelters. Both Bryan O. and I snore, so we all made seperate shelters. I have been a bit nervous in closed spaces for the past few years, so my shelter had an open entrance and my head was right at the door.
We started by stomping down areas for our shelters, then cutting blocks out of a trench with snow saws. Once the trench was cut, we formed the blocks into a peaked roof. After the roof was up we cut back the sidewalls to widen out the trench in a flare that widened towards the ground. Inside the trench we placed a plastic tarp, a foam pad and our sleeping bag. I also had a candle lantern, and a thermometer with a probe that extended outside the shelter so I could see how cold it was outside.
Our cooking was at a little bench where we sat on foam sitting pads, with a kitchen table in front of us. It got down to 5 degrees F. and I was just fine in my warm sleeping bag. I had a bad dream that featured my two worst fears. I dreamed of being in an enclosed space with my ex-wife, and she wouldn't stop talking. That woke me up at about 1:30 AM, and the whole area was bathed in moon light.
Bryan O. had freeze dried eggs for breakfast, and Bryan W. had canned corn beef hash. He said that as he ate it he could feel his body temperature start to rise, from the fats and calories in it. They both looked on enviously as I started frying up my frozen Jimmy Dean hash, with potato chunks, peppers, onions and sausage pieces. When it was about done I added 3 eggs, and it was looking pretty good. Bryan W. read the ingredients on the package to find out some reason why it was unhealthy, but couldn't really find any bad things in it, and I didn't care anyway because it tasted so good.
There are two yurts located on or near the ridge top. They are operated by the Parks and Rec department, and anyone can book either yurt and stay there overnight year round. This looks like a fun way to spend a weekend in the mountains in the winter.
Man I wish I could have been there!!!!
Posted by: Josh | February 13, 2006 at 01:56 PM
Hi, Bob. It was interesting to find this blog posting about your trip to Banner Ridge. I was with the group that showed you the inside of Elkhorn Yurt. It seems you might have taken some photos of us while we were outside the yurt. If you got a good one of the group, would you share it with me? Thanks, Sue
Posted by: Sue | February 28, 2006 at 04:02 PM