Snowmobiling to Timothy Lake, Oregon
On Sunday Katie and I headed to Skyline SnoPark to ride our snowmobiles. The area is South of Mt Hood and popular with snowmobilers due to the many groomed trails. This particular day started off cool and overcast, but later became a beautiful sunny winter day. We arrived at the SnoPark early, but there were already several others including many motorhomes in the parking lot. There was still plenty of parking, so we quickly unloaded and set off on the recently groomed trails.
The snow was hard and frozen, but soon softened up as we dropped in elevation and headed toward Little Crater Lake. We stopped at Little Crater Lake campground and hiked the short couple hundred yards to Little Crater Lake. We had camped here a few years back in our first tent trailer on a busy weekend. It was the only campground in the area with an available spot on a Friday night. Today it was completely deserted and blanketed in snow. The only sign of other humans was our own snowmobile tracks and footprints. Unfortunately it was foggy, so we were not able to get a view of Mt Hood from the meadow.
From Little Crater Lake, we made a loop around Clear Lake Butte before heading back down Skyline Road/FSR 42 to Clackamas Lake. We stopped to enjoy the sunshine that now dominated the sky.
We continued on to Timothy Lake and stopped for a snack at Hoodview Campground. All the campgrounds around the lake are closed and gated in the winter, so we had to park our snowmobiles and walk down to the shore. The weather was so nice I had to take my coat off.
On our return trip we made a short detour to the Clear Lake Lookout Tower. There was no one there, so we went up and had lunch while enjoying views of Mt Hood, Mt Jefferson, Clear Lake, and Timothy Lake. If only the weather had been this nice when we stayed at the Lookout in February.
We had a great day and ended up riding about 40 miles round-trip. We came across many other courteous snowmobile riders also enjoying and respecting the great outdoors.
Disclaimer: You are responsible for informing yourself of the hazards of backcountry travel and taking the necessary precautions. Loomis Adventures may not be held liable.
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