Time and time again our guests have told us that while they want to experience remote wilderness, they also want to remain comfortable. We have built our basecamp accommodations to reflect this desire.
At our wilderness bascamp we live in yurts, made by the famous Pacific Yurt Company in Cottage Grove, Oregon. They are remarkable structures with Douglas fir lattice work, pine floors, circular skylights and large windows that may be covered at night for warmth and privacy. The large yurt has a full kitchen and a wood burning cookstove, and a dining area where we all gather for family style meals. There is a living room in which to socialize and relax around the blazing wood stove. (The seating around the stove is so comfortable that we often have to wake our guests for dinner!) Guests sleep in their own smaller yurts. These yurts are equipped with cast iron stoves and twin beds that may be joined at the guests' request. Regardless of the wintry weather outside, we are always guaranteed a goodnight's sleep!
There is also a sauna / shower house which seats four guests and our famous "dutch door outhouse" with an insulated seat and great view of the Northern lights! All of the dogs have their own houses here as well, filled with straw to keep them warm during the winter months. Although the basecamp is definitely rustic, we think that you will agree that after a long day of dogsledding it could not be much more inviting!
The camp is located in an amazing wildlife oasis where we are the only human inhabitants. A wolf pack lives up river of our camp and on crisp evenings several wolves will come down the river to howl back and forth to our dog teams! There are grizzly bears in the warmer months, though they only come around when we are not in camp. Because of this, solar powered electric fences keep the yurts from being ‘visited’ by these magnificent animals.
Wolverines sometimes visit in the winter. One enterprising fellow ate through the two inch wall of the meat cache and helped himself to over 100 pounds of horse meat (the dogs were not impressed!). River otters play in the Ibex River and in the winter, you can easily see where the ‘slides’ deposit them belly-first into the freezing water.
‘Home Pool’ is located right behind the main yurt and many an arctic grayling has been taken on a dry fly and ended up in a skillet on the wood cookstove as the evening’s appetizer! A campfire area is right next to the main yurt. The grill lets us enjoy spruce grilled steaks and the surrounding benches are a perfect place to enjoy a hot chocolate while admiring the aurora borealis dancing overhead.
Very few people ever make it to this magnificent place and those who do, leave with memories of a wilderness that rarely exists anymore.
