Memorial Day Camping at Rock Creek Reservoir - Mt Hood National Forest, Oregon

We spent Memorial Day weekend camping in our travel trailer at Rock Creek Reservoir near Wamic, Oregon. Katie and I were both fortunate enough to get Friday off, so we made it an extra long weekend and left Portland Thursday after work. Rock Creek Reservoir is a small, 100 acre lake (when full in the spring) located in Tygh Valley within the Mt Hood National Forest. The lake is about 6 miles WSW of the town of Wamic and is stocked several times each Spring with rainbow trout. Rock Creek Campground is located on the Southeast shore of the lake and has 33 sites with water and outhouses nearby.

We drove over the pass on Hwy 26 and found wet pavement, but several inches of fresh snow on the side of the road. It was fun to see snow again and made me reminisce about all the fun we had this past winter. When we arrived at Rock Creek Reservoir around 6 PM, there were sun breaks overhead and a temperature around 50°F. After setting up camp and eating dinner, I went out fishing in our raft for a few minutes at dusk. I managed to land a small rainbow trout on my first cast and lost one more before it was time to head back in to camp.

   

It rained overnight, but cleared up by the next morning (Friday) when my friend John arrived to join Katie and I for the rest of the weekend. After enjoying dutch oven-baked cinnamon rolls, John and I went fishing from the bank and started getting bites left and right. We hooked several and took a break after getting snagged a couple times.

We spent the early afternoon cutting firewood and exploring some 4x4 roads around the old Barlow road. We managed to find some big mud puddles, but I failed to remember what a joy it is to have to clean a muddy truck!

Later Friday afternoon, John and I tried taking the raft out to do some more fishing, but were blown off the lake in short order. We fished from the bank after that and then relaxed much of the rest of the day while periodically splitting firewood.

We ate a delicious dinner of fresh trout, chicken, corn, and corn bread (baked in dutch oven). What a feast!

   

Saturday was an exciting day! We started it off with John landing a monster trout, maybe 6 pounds. After that my parents and grandpa drove up to spend the day with us. We had a lot of laughs and a fun time together.

   

After another great dinner, we enjoyed apple cake cooked in the dutch oven. I am really starting to get the knack for cooking over a wood stove. Everything tastes so extraordinary in the outdoors.

   

   

On Sunday morning we awoke to light rain, but luckily the showers tapered off and gave way to partly sunny skies. Another friend, Ryan, drove up to spend the day with us. We hung around camp most of the day, enjoying the sun. We said our goodbyes that evening to our friends Ryan and John and enjoyed the last night of our trip with just each other.

   

On Monday we packed up in the pouring rain, but at least we were not tent camping! We had a fun trip and some decent fishing. I even brought home a couple fish to give to my parents. It was great to be able to have some sun over the weekend despite the rain as we were leaving. Rock Creek Reservoir is in a rain shadow and the weather is often dry even while it is raining in other parts of the state.

Gear List

'07 Fleetwood Pioneer 18CK Travel Trailer
Honda EU2000i Companion Generator
Costco Aluminum Instant 10' x 10' Canopy with Sidewalls
Camp Chairs
Kni-Co Alaskan Jr Camp Wood Stove
Fiskars X25 Splitting Axe
Stihl MS270 Chainsaw
Camp Chef 10" Dutch Oven
Sevylor Colossus 3-Person Boat
Spin Fishing Gear
First Aid Kit
iPhone w/NeoTreksGPS