By Marty Basch

This is one styling tent. After imitating a pack mule during a half-mile journey on thin snow through the forest hauling everything in a sled behind me, we arrive inside the mountainside  yurt to find plastic wine glasses, fondue pot and mini-espresso maker.

A welcome bag of granola sits next to the candles on the table. A quick inventory finds items like a  cork screw, cheese grater and pancake skillet. Warm embers left by previous guests glow in the wood stove.

There's even a tiki torch next to the outdoor port-a-potty.

For those who think a tent means roughing it, get  to a yurt.

A yurt?

A yurt is an ancient circular nomadic shelter with roots in Central Asia. Modern versions come with wooden lattice frames and are situated atop wooden platforms. There are vinyl windows and a skylight at the top of the dome. There can be bunk beds and pullout futon couches.

Three of them are found along a small trail network on the 60 wooded acres of Frost Mountain Yurts in rural Brownfield. Opened in 2004 and owned by husband and wife Patrick and Erika Fagan, the yurts offer a backcountry experience not far from civilization. A short drive from the region's hub in North Conway, N.H., the yurts are a funky alternative to the motels, inns and B&Bs.

Fondue for you

Try yurt apres ski, perhaps with the fondue recipe - equal parts emmentaler, gruyer and cheddar, 1/2 cup white wine and 1 tbsp. white flour - we found in the yurt's log book. One entry told of a couple tramping back to the yurt in darkness after going to a local concert. Use the yurt as a game parlor, as we did for cribbage, first by glow of the gas lamp and then by flickering candlelight.

Off a dirt road, two of the yurts are a short two-tenths of a mile jaunt into the woods, over a bridge and along a flowing brook. Guests can use the snowshoes, carts, ski poles  or sleds (some for gear, others for old-fashioned sledding) found at the self-contained check-in. During summer, wheel in the gear. In winter, be that mule. 

The third yurt is a tad more remote and is a half-mile in.

Keep it clean

That yurt sleeps 6 to 8. Upon entering, we discovered one of the drinking water containers (guests supply drinking water) I had lugged in the sled had sprung a leak. The remaining water was put in a bowl and used later. It's also a good idea to stay clean in a yurt as uninvited snow, mud and dirt can come in. That means sweeping. There should also be a system for washing and drying dishes as that can become a chore if not completed the right way.

The yurts are a spring board to lesser used hikes in the White Mountains. It's possible to hike up Frost Mountain, about a 90-minute or so roundtrip, to a Presidential range vista. Short drives reach other hikes like the leg-stretcher up Fryeburg's Jockey Cap with its bronze profile on top naming the area's natural landmarks and Peary Mountain. That small peak is named after Rear Admiral and polar explorer Robert E. Peary who lived in adjacent Fryeburg. The relatively easy trek leads to commanding vistas of New Hampshire peaks like Kearsarge and Washington and western Maine's ponds and peaks.

What else is inside?

Housed in the yurts is well-researched area information provided by the Fagans, a couple of canvas concierges.

"We want to be sure we answer all of the questions people have in the yurts," said Erika.

In it are maps and directions to hikes and area attractions. The couple rates its favorite area restaurants. Staying at the yurt for a couple of days and need that hot shower? There are even driving directions to those, more than 30 miles away.

Sometimes people just want to stay in the yurt. .

"The yurt is the entertainment," says Patrick, a handy man who makes much of the yurt's furniture.

My partner Jan Duprey was the yurt  cribbage champion while time was also spent unplugging from the world with a good book.

When the lights are off

At night, a few lights sparkled on the horizon and the drone from trucks on a nearby road stopped. We lazed on the outdoor hammock. When we wanted a break from the quiet, out came our hand-cranked radio (about the only thing we couldn't find at the well-stocked yurt). First for a slow dance to an Aerosmith ballad and then as Skynyrd and Zeppelin came on, the wooden platform became a stage for an impromptu air guitar concert with legions of trees as fans and tiki torches twinkling. 

About the only other wildlife we saw during our stay was a group of about seven wild turkeys going through the woods. I hope the concert didn't disturb them.

One Tank Away

Brownfield is:

*116 miles from White River Junction, Vt.

*181 miles from Greenville, Me.

*25 miles from Black Mountain in Jackson, N.H.