It was hard to know what to expect given the general lack of info available on the Wallowas. We had not really talked to anyone who had stayed at the Norway yurt in the Wallowas so were were very curious about ....everything! I did not know much about that part of the state and was curious to see what that little corner held in store for us.
Day 1 - we met in Halfway, Oregon and stayed overnight at the 'Carson' house which is either owned or has some affiliation with the Wallowa Huts. We met our future yurt-mates that evening and the excitement and questions built and loomed. We were fortunate enough to have an incredible legacy visitor. George had been up the the yurts for 18 yrs running! So we quickly picked his brain about what laid in store for us. Out of the three yurts/huts available in the Wallowa's, the Norway hut seemed to be our best option and it did not disappoint!
We woke up and the guides brought in breakfast for us at the Carson hut. We did some quick intros around the room and then discussed the plan for the day. Day 1 started with some egg and sausage muffins, and a spread with bread and lunch-meats to pack up for our adventure to the yurt. The transportation to the yurt included a quick drive up to the trailhead where we would get towed in by snowmobile for 6 miles. I was curious to see how the tow in was going to be considering I was the lone splitboarder amongst the yurt-mates. The tow in kept my attention as it was a bit of an art trying to stay in synch speed wise with the sled.
We got to our drop off point where we transition into skin mode and skinned into the yurt - roughly 2 1/2 miles and 2K of elevation gain. We made our way up the road and were quickly treated to nice peak-a-boo views of what was in store for us over the upcoming days. The higher we skinned, the better the views.
Eventually the skin skin skin up crested a saddle where the crux of the day awaited us...a short descent on skins to the yurt. There were a couple of snow angel casualties by for once I was not one of them - considering my lack of skill in 'ski mode' while on the split board, I felt like that was a nice little personal mini triumph.
The guides portered our gear (except our day bags that we used for our skin) via sled to the yurts so it was nice not having to carry up the extra lbs/load on our skin in.
Once we got to the yurts, we picked our beds for the next few days and settled in. We ate lunch and then waited for our group to re-group so that we could head out for a couple of quick runs before the sun set.
The location of the Norway Hut is incredible. It sits on a little flat spot overlooking some of the surrounding peaks (Granite, Red, Cornucopias, Norway). It is a double decker yurt with the kitchen area on the bottom floor and the sleeping area on the top floor. Each level has a stove so there is plenty of heat to go around. The yurt proper is pretty nice and it is a huge bonus that sleeping bags and thermarests are provided for the visit.
Soon enough, we were back in skin mode, hiking up to the ridge close by to find some snow to descend. We headed up the ridge and the views just continued to get better and better!
The temps had been relatively warm as of late so the snow conditions were a big question in my mind. As it turns out we lucked out big time. There was some recent snow earlier in the week that help freshen everything up - and the warm temps meant we had views for miles with incredible bluebird days.
Our first couple of descents gave the guides a chance to suss out the crew they had to contend with for the next few days. We got some great turns in and I snapped pix as if it was my first trip ever,...yup yup. trigger happy on the photos but it was hard not to marvel at the terrain.
All too quickly, our day wrapped up and we found ourselves skinning back to the yurt where the guides were already getting some apps ready prior to dinner. The crew inhaled food and quickly started working on the keg of IPA (one of 2 kegs no less). Pretty soon, the beer was flowing freely and the stories of the day were recounted and revisited. We were treated to the first of several awesome warm meals at the hut.
The guides were not only incredibly knowledgeable of the area and snow pack, but they were kick ass cooks and people to boot. We all discussed how this level of catering and babysitting was making us soft soft soft....but ohhhhh so nice....
some pix of day 1:
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