Ideal stay options while exploring the wilderness
The pristine beauty of nature is best explored by a backpacker. Choosing paths and locations which are offbeat and quiet; away from civilization with an option to stay amidst natural surroundings is what you enjoy when you choose to stay in backcountry lodges.
If you are a frequent backpacker, you are well aware of the trouble of carrying a huge backpack with all essentials. In addition to your clothing, you need to carry a good number of utilities that include a bed, stove and much more.
The backcountry lodges can lighten your load. Their vantage location not only promises breathtaking views but also offer beds, wood burning stoves, and at times, wait staff as well. Located in rustic surroundings, they offer you the necessities that you would need while on a backpacking trip.
Here are four of the the best backcountry lodges.
Garnet Mountain Fire Lookout
Located in Custer Gallatin National Forest in Montana gives unobstructed views of the Gallatin River Valley. Take the Garnet Mountain National Recreational trail and hike up 3.5 km and you will reach this two storied lodge. It offers bunk beds with mattresses, two burner stoves plus a wood burning stove as well.
Ostrander Ski Hut
Located in Yosemite National Park, in proximity to the Ostrander Lake, this stone hut is the perfect stay option for skiers and offers breathtaking views. It’s a hard trek indeed. Open only in winter; there are 25 bunks on offer on the bottom floor with an open kitchen. The huntmaster who stays upstairs can help you out.
Mint Hut
Overlooking the Talkeetna Mountains in Alaska, the cabin is located on the edge of a bowl. Accessed after an 8-mile trek across moss carpeted meadows and rivers of snowmelt, you can make this cabin as your base camp before you set to conquer the mountains or explore the Mint Glacier, which is half a mile away. Open only to members of the Alaska Mountaineering Club, the cabin offers an 8-person occupancy, with a two-burner stoves, cookware, beds and a composting toilet as well.
Nokhu Hut and Agnes Creek Cabin
If you have set out on a Colorado trail, this is where you must head to. A little more than a 2-hour drive from Denver, you leave behind the crowds and set foot amidst 12000 feet high peaks, dense conifers, unnamed lakes and lots of moose. Drive a 1.5-mile distance through a forest service road to reach the twin wooden cabins. Just a mile away is the Lake Agnes. Each of these huts can accommodate six persons. You’re privy to a well-stocked kitchenette equipped with a wood burning stove.
The next time you head out on a backpacking trip, make your reservations in one of these backcountry lodges and explore the virgin landscape.
