Camping

With our recent warm weather and torrential rains, the snowpack has receded from the lower elevations in Northern Oregon. Instead of snow camping, my friends Tyler, John, and I decided to go car camping to Shellrock Creek Campground where there had been over a foot of snow just two weeks prior. Shellrock Creek Campground is on the lower portion of Shellrock Creek, which flows into the Oak Grove fork of the Clackamas River. We arrived early Saturday morning and found we would have the campground to ourselves. There were still patches of snow, but alot had melted.

We began snowshoeing a little after 8 AM on Saturday in about 18 inches of snow. Our hike was about 3.5 miles uphill to 3,000 foot elevation near Shellrock Creek in the Upper Clackamas, Oregon. My brother-in-law Scott and I had been looking forward to this snow camping trip for a couple of weeks. The weather was calm with off-and-on snow showers and a temperature around 30°F. We chose this location for the relative solitude.

The weather Thursday in the Northern Oregon Cascades can only be described as perfect. The sun was shining, wind absent, and temperature around 20°F. John and I headed to Frog Lake SnoPark (SE of Government Camp on Hwy 26) on what turned out to be one of the busiest days of the year. The traffic was so bad it made the news. After about an hour delay, we finally made it to the SnoPark and set off on snowshoes to Twin Lakes.

My brother-in-law Scott and I went backpacking near Mt. Hood this weekend. We woke up early Saturday morning and were on the road shortly after 6 AM headed to Frog Lake SnoPark. Once we parked and had our gear sleds (Paris Expedition Sled) unloaded from my truck, we strapped our snowshoes on and headed to the Pacific Crest Trail toward Twin Lakes. Our destination was supposed to be Birds Butte, a little over 2 miles uphill overlooking Twin Lakes. Two hours later we had managed to pull our gear sleds about two miles uphill along the trail.

My buddy John and I ventured to Hideaway Lake in the upper Clackamas River area (outside Estacada, Oregon) on Friday. I was able to get the afternoon off, so we were on the road shortly after 11 AM. We were hoping to hit some snow, but not too much to where travel would be impossible. As luck would have it we got our wish. Area map.