Hugged by Mother Nature: Our Stay at The Lodge at Blue Sky
In February, a few of us advisors at Jetset World Travel had the incredible opportunity of experiencing The Lodge at Blue Sky, an Auberge Resort. Just 35 minutes from Salt Lake City airport but a world away, this 3,500-acre private retreat in the Wasatch Mountain Range dissolves your worries and stresses from every day life. There’s a saying we were hearing throughout our stay at The Lodge at Blue Sky, “Here, you are hugged by Mother Nature.” The most brilliant way of encapsulating the feeling at Blue Sky. You really are hugged by the landscapes, the sunlight, the snowfall, the fresh smell of the outdoors. You’re wrapped in Mother Nature’s embrace.
SOCIAL PURPOSE
As gracious travel industry citizens, we have a great appreciation for partners that take every opportunity to be kind to the planet. At the Lodge at Blue Sky, they take their efforts to the next level by carrying the desire to form meaningful connections with the earth. Their team crafts the Blue Sky experience to promote a positive impact on the environment. First, there are no single-use plastics. The bath products are specially made with sage essential oil that has been distilled from wild sage harvested from the Blue Sky property. They even have their own wastewater treatment facility so that they can clean the water before it gets returned to the earth.
To make things even more impressive, Gracie’s Farm is an organic, regenerative farm on property. This entirely female-led farm has a carbon neutral footprint and supplies vegetables, herbs, wildflowers, and honey to The Lodge at Blue Sky’s signature restaurant. No food goes to waste! Any scraps are composted and used at the farm as a natural fertilizer.
SAVING GRACIE'S EQUINE HEALING FOUNDATION
This foundation is a horse-rescue sanctuary founded by The Lodge at Blue Sky’s owner, Barb Phillips. Of course, it comes with an incredible story. It all started when Barb came upon a mistreated horse on a neglected ranch in Utah. She couldn’t bare leaving the horse to suffer. Driven by heart and determination, she stole the horse, treated it, and gave her a better home. When the police threatened to take her to jail for this, she told the officer, “You can put me in jail, but I will not allow that horse to go back!” With ongoing passion and pursuit, Barb has since rescued 24 horses and 30 cows through the foundation, named after her inspiration – the graceful horse, Gracie.
EDGE SPA
The Edge Spa at Blue Sky is a wellness sanctuary with energy that instantly grounds you into the present moment. The spa is inspired by regional physical and energetic massage therapy. The natural products feature bloom-to-bottle ingredients, some of which have been grown or wild-harvested on the property. The relaxation area includes an outdoor heated plunge pool, overlooking the mountains and creek. Plus our favorite part, there’s a heated infinity pool with a hot tub that we definitely took advantage of every day.
We personally received special treatments, including the essence facials and custom massages. Each treatment is customized to the individual and their own body’s needs. One thing is common throughout – every treatment room has an incredible view of the mountains. As you rise from complete tranquility, you’re welcomed with a view of nature to complete the experience. It’s magic.
FIRE & ICE
Our itinerary included a fire & ice experience, which begins with a snowshoe hike through Blue Sky’s powder mountains to a fireside mindfulness yoga practice. A morning experience that will wake you up and warm your body and mind at the same time.
If you haven’t been snowshoeing yet, it’s a lot more fun than it looks! It’s not hard to love snowshoeing when you’re constantly surrounded by bright snow capped mountains and blue skies. It was even a bucket list item for one of our advisors!
GRACIE'S FARM
The team at Gracie’s Farm have curated a selection of activities for guests that inspire a direct connection to nature in various artistic ways. You can discover methods of making natural dyes with crops grown on the farm to design a silk scarf, use foragable plants to paint a unique piece of art, and create your own medicinal tinctures and salves from ingredients in the greenhouse. We were able to experience their tea-making activity! We created our very own special tea blends to take home with us.
SPORTING CLUB
Meet Henry! One of our amazing instructors at Blue Sky as we learned safety and foundations of sporting clays. Henry teaches using an 1800’s sport style technique, just like the scenes from Downtown Abbey and The Crown!
In keeping with The Lodge at Blue Sky’s deep commitment to the environment, all of their clay discs are biodegradable so that they don’t pollute the Earth. Additionally, the ammunition is specially ordered from Europe to include paper wads instead of plastic, and all bullet casings are recycled.
NATURAL HORSEMANSHIP
At Blue Sky, the equine program focuses on working with each rescue horse’s unique personalities and healing journeys. This ranch is also the only property in North America that has a full-time on-site veterinarian, providing the very best medical care for the rescue horses.
We attended the Natural Horsemanship experience, an introduction to the philosophy and practice of building a relationship with the horses through non-verbal communication, action, and perception. It’s remarkably rewarding to spend time with the animals and understand the process of gaining the horse’s respect and trust before getting in the saddle. An experience that will forever change your relationship with these majestic beings forever.
GO HOME WITH A STORY
Snowshoe atop a mountain to a yoga session in a private yurt. Curate your own tea blend with fresh dried herbs from the farm. Relax in a heated infinity pool with views galore. Take a helicopter to go backcountry skiing. Go fly-fishing or snowmobiling or mountain biking. The possibilities are endless!
