Snow Camping Near Bennett Pass Sno-Park

It seems like we had a very short winter this year, with Spring now in full swing. I am not quite ready to say goodbye to the snow. Luckily we still have snow in the upper elevations, so my friend John and I decided to go snow camping one last time this season. We hitched up my snowmobiles, loaded up my gear sleds, and headed toward Mt Hood. Our original plan was to head to forest service road 44 and see how far we could drive before unloading the snowmobiles and continue on FSR 4410 toward Lookout Mountain (before entering Badger Creek Wilderness Area). Unfortunately, when we got there, we ran into large snow patches separated by long stretches of bare ground. We decided the bare ground was too much for the snowmobiles and the snow patches were too deep for the truck, so we initiated plan B and headed to Bennett Pass Sno-Park.

There was still plenty of snow at Bennett Pass Sno-Park and we were soon on our way, riding up the narrow trail. The weather was mostly cloudy in the low 40's F. There are only a couple miles of trail that is snowmobile friendly this time of year due to a very steep section known as the "Terrible Traverse". This section of trail is usually only passable on snowmobiles early in the season after the first couple snows. My plan was to only ride about a mile to the first intersection where I knew of a nice flat spot to setup camp. I was hoping it would be a quick ride.

Unfortunately the ride was anything but quick. The narrow trail was pitched the whole way, turning the one mile trip into one long traverse. Unfortunately gravity got the better of us. We had a tough time keeping the heavy gear sleds from tipping over. We ended up having to have one person follow on foot, holding onto a gear sled to keep it upright. After a short stretch, we would then walk back to the other snowmobile and repeat the process.

About two thirds of the way, someone from the Naked Winery (Hood River, OR) came walking up behind us. We chatted for awhile and discovered she was organizing a snowshoeing event that day. She was burying wine ahead of the group she would be taking out a couple hours later. Before sprinting on ahead of us she offered us a bottle of wine which we happily accepted.

After many breaks over a couple hours, we finally made it to our intended camping spot. We unhitched the gear sleds and went snowmobiling up spur road 222 and then further up Bennett Pass road (3550) to a viewpoint. Unfortunately it was mostly cloudy and we could only see the base of Mt. Hood.

   

On our ride back to our gear, we came across the group from the Naked Winery. They were a lively group headed toward the last buried bottle of wine further up the road. They planned to enjoy a glass of wine back where we planned on camping so we said we would be there waiting to join them. Back with our gear, we started unpacking, but before long the Naked Winery snowshoe party was back. We took pictures, chatted, and enjoyed some wine before they headed back to Bennett Pass Sno-Park. The cool thing about the wine they brought was it's packaged in plastic bottles - perfect for for any outdoor adventure. Check them out: Naked Winery.

   

We finally got camp set up and enjoyed the mixture of sunshine and clouds. At one point the sun was so intense, we both wished we had brought shorts. But soon after the clouds and fog came back, cooling things off. We picked a pretty good spot, as the fog seemed to hang just a couple hundred feet above us.

   

We spent the rest of the day relaxing and enjoying camping in the snow one last time. This was my first trip with my new canvas spike tent and Four Dog wood stove, so I was excited to test them out as the temperature dropped in the evening.

   

The Four Dog wood stove worked great, heating up my 10' x 10' tent. At one point we had it over 95°F inside and had to open the windows. We heated up canned stew for dinner and enjoyed playing cards while staying toasty warm.

   

The temperature dipped below freezing overnight, but we remained comfortably warm until the fire went out as morning approached. We started it back up and within minutes we were roasting yet again. The clouds had cleared overnight, but started to retrun in the morning. We caught a few glimpses of Mt. Hood from our camping spot before it clouded over.

The ride back was much better, probably due in part to the trail packed by the snowshoers from the Naked Winery the day before. Only one of the gear sleds tipped, and only a few times. It took us about 15 minutes to get back to the Sno-Park where the sun was shining. It was a fun trip and a very successful test of my tent and wood stove. They should come in handy come hunting season and next winter.