New year-round yurt open near Jewel Basin
Two Missoulians are taking the definition of a small, rural business to a whole new level, and doing it on one of the towering boundaries that contain the Flathead Valley.
Aaron Deskins and Landon Gardner spent last fall hauling building materials up a steep mountain road to build a yurt on private land in the Swan Mountains near the Jewel Basin area of the Flathead National Forest.
First by truck on a Forest Service road only passable in summer, then by snowmobile, the two fashioned the space complete with bunk beds, a stove, a toilet and a wood-burning fireplace.
Measuring 24 feet in diameter with 452 square feet of living area, the yurt sleeps up to eight people. It’s the only year-round yurt in the Swan Mountains.
The shelter sits on the precipice of the Jewel Basin Hiking Area, 12 miles from Bigfork, which offers first-rate backcountry skiing in the winter and spring, and is a popular hiking destination through the summer and early fall.
Deskins and Gardner said the first winter saw a lot of guests from the backcountry skiing community, and they are looking forward to their first summer season.
Gardner, a former U.S. Ski Team member and current coach of the Missoula Freestyle Ski Team, said operating a recreation-based business in Montana “had always been a dream.”
He began gathering data and found that the Jewel Basin area commonly receives a settled snow depth of over 100 inches annually. In fact, the lower section of the property previously operated as a community ski area serviced by a homemade rope tow fashioned out of an old pickup truck in the 1940s by the family that originally homesteaded the property, Gardner said.
Care-taking for the yurt is modeled after the system of cabins and lookout towers the Forest Service operates — guests are expected to clean the yurt before leaving. Due to the remote nature of the place and the fact that both Deskins and Gardner hold down other jobs and have families in Missoula, they can’t always make it to the yurt between guests.
Deskins and Gardner said the biggest challenge in operating the backcountry yurt has been sanitation.
“You can’t just dig a hole, have an outhouse and expect their refuse to just go away,” Gardner said.
Applying for and obtaining all the necessary permits was also a challenge.
Some upgrades and renovations are planned this summer, including a permanent woodshed.
Guests are required to book a minimum of two nights. Deskins and Gardner said they want guests to relax and enjoy the seclusion, which is a tall task to achieve in just one night.
The yurt can often be reached by car from mid-May through the end of October, depending on snow. After the road becomes impassable to cars, it can be reached by hiking, skiing, biking or snowmobile.
The Jewel Basin is off-limits to bike, horses and motorized use, but the yurt resides on private land near the hiking area so it can be accessed by those modes.
More information, including how to make reservations, can be found at www.jewelbasinyurt.com.
Reporter Peregrine Frissell can be reached at (406) 758-4438 or pfrissell@dailyinterlake.com.