I know, I know, I know. I’ve been hyping this experience up! You may have noticed the cliff hanger from my last post featuring my Wyoming and Montana trip. It deserves the hype. My friend Jordan suggested that I camp at the Under Canvas in West Yellowstone after I told her that I was heading that direction. After staying on the Twisselman Ranch, I was definitely up for glamping in another beautiful location.
I’ll start by sharing that we woke up this particular morning, overly excited to head into the north western part of Yellowstone. While exploring this region, it was raining and really cold. Well, “really cold” for a Central Coast California girl. It was ranging around 40 degrees. Before driving in through the north entrance, we learned that there were some road closures due to snow. “Snow?!” Yup, I’ve always known that winter starts early and ends late in Wyoming, so it wasn’t too much of surprise, although, it did feel a tad early.
We made it to Under Canvas in West Yellowstone. We were in awe from the ark and edgy clouds that were appearing. The landscape was absolutely gorgeous and leaves you lusting a slower-paced and minimalist lifestyle.
I had been keeping an eye on the weather leading up to our trip and didn’t really see any low temperatures that concerned me. I packed for weather in the 80’s – 90’s. But, you know Mother Nature, she has a mind of her own.
We had one of the tent suite’s that sat right along the river. Next to the tent were lawn chairs, which would’ve been great for fishing if I had my fishing pole. There were also hammocks, but it was a little too cold to enjoy sitting still in the cold. I would’ve been all-over the hammocks on a warm day, though!
Our suite came with:
- Bedroom wing with king size bed and luxurious linens
- Lounge area with leather queen size sofa-bed
- Private bathroom with shower, sink & flushing toilet
- Private deck with lounge chairs
- Wood burning stove with complimentary firewood
Time went by and we started realizing it was getting significantly colder. Colder by the minute. Actually, it was so cold and I was so unprepared that I kept walking into the tent lobby, where they had an outdoor heater and hot coffee for tea. I would fill up a cardboard cup with the sizzling water, just to keep my hands warm.
Of course, I threw on the one jacket that I brought with me. Luckily, it was Patagonia, so it did help keep me slightly warmer. We were really excited when the Under Canvas crew started lighting the various fire pits around the property. We made s’mores. It started to rain again while we were roasting marshmallows.
We were starting to become a little concerned about the rain and the temperatures dropping. One of the staff members left us four extra blankets in our tent. While thanking the staff for the extra blankets, we learned that it was going to drop to the mid-20’s that night. That’s when we started to panic.
“Wait, did you say the ‘mid-20’s’?”
“Can we get more blankets? I don’t think the extra four are enough.”
“Absolutely; You’ll definitely need more.”
“Oh…That’s comforting.”
More blankets were brought. And then, even more blankets were brought. And, again, MORE blankets were brought. I believe by the time we hopped in bed, we had about eight or nine blankets, on TOP of the bed’s normal bedding. We cacooned ourselves in blankets, and then slept underneath all of the layers. My point is…There were a lot of blankets. We learned that every tent was asking for the same thing — more and more blankets.
There aren’t televisions inside of these tents, of course, so after dinner we pushed some chairs over to our pellet burning fireplace in order to keep warm. We sat there, with our feet directly next to the heat, and just chatted. We finally got the courage to hop in bed. To be honest, we were pretty nervous. We weren’t sure if we’d quit in the middle of the night and throw our stuff into the car and check-in to a nearby hotel.
By the time we woke up in the morning (…yes, we survived the night!), the tent was actually so warm. The blankets became too much and we were perfectly fine. If anything, we were too hot!
It had snowed. Yes. I repeat: It snowed that night. It was THAT cold.
This story may have painted an unbearable picture in your head, but this experience was actually one of my favorite parts of the entire trip. The staff was incredible and unbelievably helpful. They understood that most of their guests were unfamiliar with sleeping outside in such low temperatures. They were fully prepared and made sure everyone was comfortable. They truly went above and beyond! I can’t say enough wonderful things about them.
The Under Canvas in West Yellowstone is currently closed because season just ended. It’ll open up in May 2021 and I highly recommend booking your reservation sooner rather than later. Also, take it from me, keep an eye on the weather when booking your trip. Although it was still a blast during the freezing cold, I would shoot for a warmer experience if you can!
