Around Colorado Yurt camping for the whole family
F R A S E R » I crawled out of my tent just in time to see the sun top out over the Continental Divide, its light washing over the yurt village at YMCA of the Rockies Snow Mountain Ranch. White rays pierced the clear plastic domes atop each of the round, Mongolianinspired structures, families still sleeping inside.
I’d slept in my tent outside our yurt so that my motherinlaw could use the queen bed inside with my three daughters (plus a friend) in the two bunk beds. My wife works most weekends, so her mom sometimes joins me and the kids on our travels around the state. Grandma has been exploring Colorado her entire life, but lately, she has skipped some of our camping adventures. The yurt site setup seemed like a good way to get us all around the campfire together.
The yurts — there are 24 of them, in two villages of 12 yurts each around a shared bathhouse — have electricity, Wifi, a mini fridge and microwave inside. Each site also has a grill, fire pit and tent pad. The bathhouses have flush toilets, hot showers and hair dryers. These amenities make it easier for some families, but being removed from your car — you have to park it a couple hundred feet away, except in the handicap accessible sites — adds to the camping feel.
It was chilly at this dawn hour in late August, a touch of fall in the air. We’d spotted the year’s first patches of golden aspen leaves on our way over Berthoud Pass. I savored the moment of quiet, a gift from my sleepyhead family, this silent sunrise hour. As quietly as I could, I fired up my stove, made coffee, then sat in my camp chair, admiring the