Pre-Season Snowmobiling Near High Prairie/Lookout Mountain, Oregon

With record rainfall in Portland for the month of September, I have been eagerly awaiting a temperature drop and the mountain snow that would follow. I got my wish this week with the first snow of the season falling in the higher elevations (above 5,000'). I am still off work for another week or two (due to knee surgery), so I loaded up my new Polaris 800 Switchback Assault snowmobile on Thursday and headed up to the mountain. Timberline Lodge was reporting 18" of snow on the ground at about 6,000' elevation. My plan was to head to High Prairie just East of Mt Hood where I could drive to 6,000' elevation. There is normally less snow East of Mt Hood, but I was hopeful I would find enough to at least snowmobile a few yards.

As luck would have it, my FLM Quicky sled deck had just arrived from Canada the day before. My friend helped me get it installed on my truck Thursday morning before I went off looking for fresh snow.

   

I started seeing a dusting of snow above 5,000' and consistent snow right around 6,000'. At High Prairie there was about 6-12" of snow. There were several hunters in the area and all the vehicle traffic had hastened the snow melt. After taking a walk down the road, I decided there was still enough snow to putt around for a few minutes. I was already there and figured I might as well, especially since I had a new sled to try out.

   

I rode almost a mile down the road to where it started heading back downhill and the snow thinned out. My sled performed flawlessly and received a fresh coating of mud as I drove through a few muddy truck ruts. It was fun to be back in the snow. It seems fall arrived about a month early this year, so hopefully that means winter will be early too and last into July.

   

Gear List

2013 Polaris 800 Switchback Assault Snowmobile
HMK Summit V16 Pack
GMAX GM76X Helmet
Smith Phenom Turbo Fan Goggles
Columbia Men’s Bugaboot Max Electric Boots
Columbia Men's Echochrome Ski Pants
Columbia Titanium Hightail II Softshell Jacket
Columbia Triple Trail Shell Jacket
Triple Star Packable Down Hooded Jacket
Head Digital Sport Liner Gloves
Outdoor Research Ambit Gloves
Columbia Men's Fast Trek Fleece Hat
Balaclava
Petzl TIKKA XP 2 Headlamp
Olympus Tough TG-1 Camera
Sony Action Cam HDR-AS15
Lifeline Aluminum Sport Utility Snow Shovel
First Aid Kit
iPhone w/NeoTreksGPS
Suunto A-10 Compass