Family Snow Day 2013 - Frog Lake, Oregon

We had family come into town this weekend from San Diego, CA (my aunt and two of my cousins), so we planned a snow day up near Frog Lake, Oregon. Originally Katie and I had planned to go up on Saturday, get everything set up, and snow camp overnight before l everyone else arrived on Sunday. Unfortunately the weather forecast for Saturday predicted rain in the mountains, so we held off going up until early Sunday morning.

Katie and I left our home at 6 AM Sunday morning with a truckload of gear and towing our snowmobiles. We arrived at Frog Lake Sno-Park (about 7 miles SE of Government Camp, Oregon) just after 7:30 AM to a mostly empty parking lot, 23°F, and a couple inches of fresh snow. It was shaping up to be a perfect day for our family snow day.

We quickly unloaded the truck and started packing everything up in our gear sleds which we tow behind our snowmobiles. We had less than an hour before our family and friends were planning on arriving. There is a great sledding hill about half a mile from the Frog Lake Sno-Park which was our intended base camp for the day. When we arrived at the spot, we began setting up our instant canopy (recently modified into a hot tent with the addition of a stove jack in the rear wall) and offloading our other gear and supplies. We were about ready to make one more trip to get the rest of our gear when my parents called letting us know they had arrived. We planned to ride people out to the spot, so we set off for another load of gear and to start shuttling people.

Soon everyone (15 of us in all) had arrived and we were frantically trying to give snowmobile rides and setup the hot tent at the same time. After the tent tried to blow away on us, we got it staked down and soon had a hot crackling fire inside. Some of our group chose to enjoy the short half mile walk to our spot in the beautiful winter snow.

   

My 83 year old Grandpa was one of the first to go sledding down the hill. And he didn't stop all day. I think he had more fun then any of the kids.

   

We took those who wanted to go on snowmobile rides to Frog Lake. The lake was frozen and fun to ride across.

   

   

Back at the sledding hill everyone continued to have a great time. We had hot chocolate, hot apple cider, lunch (thanks to Mom & Dad), snacks and desert (thanks to Katie).

I rode my snowmobile up the sledding hill a couple times and then built a snow ramp down in the flat area near the tent. It was small and only had a runway of about 30 feet, but still enough to get some air. My ramp only lasted two jumps, so Scott (my brother-in-law) and Jeff (friend) came over and helped build a better jump. I convinced Scott to give it a try and soon we were both flying through the air. I couldn't convince anyone else to give it a shot though.

   

Several people came by throughout the day and admired our setup. The hot tent was a hit. We even met a fantastic family from Hawaii on vacation that had visited www.loomisadventures.com before. It was pretty cool to meet people all the way from Hawaii that knew about us. They were fun to talk to and even enjoyed some sledding on the hill.

   

What a great day. It sounds like it might become an annual tradition going forward. It was so nice to be able to share such a fun day with our family and friends. Next year can't come soon enough.

If this sounds like a fun adventure and you want to do something similar with family and/or friends, please feel free to contact us and we would love to help you out.

Gear List

'02 Polaris 500 RMK Snowmobiles
Snow Sleds
GMAX GM76X Helmets
Smith Phenom Turbo Fan Goggles
Columbia Men’s Bugaboot Max Electric Boots
Merrell Women's Whiteout 8 Winter Boots
Columbia Men's Echochrome Ski Pants
Columbia Titanium Hightail II Softshell Jacket
Columbia Sportswear Men's Lhotse Mountain II Parka
Columbia Sportswear Women's Alpine Alliance Parka
Head Digital Sport Liner Gloves
Outdoor Research Ambit Gloves
Columbia Men's Fast Trek Fleece Hats
Balaclavas
Olympus Tough TG-1 Camera
Costco Aluminum Instant 10' x 10' Canopy with Sidewalls
Wood Stove
Chairs
Aluminum Table
Lifeline Aluminum Sport Utility Snow Shovels
First Aid Kit
iPhone w/NeoTreksGPS
Suunto A-10 Compass