Adventures

We began snowshoeing a little after 8 AM on Saturday in about 18 inches of snow. Our hike was about 3.5 miles uphill to 3,000 foot elevation near Shellrock Creek in the Upper Clackamas, Oregon. My brother-in-law Scott and I had been looking forward to this snow camping trip for a couple of weeks. The weather was calm with off-and-on snow showers and a temperature around 30°F. We chose this location for the relative solitude.

The weather Thursday in the Northern Oregon Cascades can only be described as perfect. The sun was shining, wind absent, and temperature around 20°F. John and I headed to Frog Lake SnoPark (SE of Government Camp on Hwy 26) on what turned out to be one of the busiest days of the year. The traffic was so bad it made the news. After about an hour delay, we finally made it to the SnoPark and set off on snowshoes to Twin Lakes.

My Grandpa, Katie, and I snowshoed to Twin Lakes yesterday. Twin Lakes are a pair of hike in lakes near Frog Lake about 8 miles SE of Government Camp, Oregon. Our dog Bella joined us outfitted with her own boots. This was my Grandpa's first time snowshoeing. It was a beautiful day with the temperature right near freezing with cloudy skies. We were the first ones to Frog Lake SnowPark at about 7:30 AM. The hike was about 1.5 miles uphill along the Pacific Crest Trail and then 0.5 mile down to Lower Twin Lake (the bigger of the two).

We hit the slopes of Mt Hood Skibowl again on Sunday evening. This time it was my wife Katie, sister Jessica, and myself. It was about 26 degrees and snowing lightly when we arrived at about 3 PM. Area map.

My Sister Jessica flew into town Friday morning. After a late arrival and lunch at the Olive Garden we took off to the mountain for a night of skiing and boarding at Mt Hood Skibowl. It was a beautiful evening about 25 degrees with clear skies, but unfortunately windy. The snow was perfect. It was fast, but not icy. Area map.

My brother-in-law Scott and I went backpacking near Mt. Hood this weekend. We woke up early Saturday morning and were on the road shortly after 6 AM headed to Frog Lake SnoPark. Once we parked and had our gear sleds (Paris Expedition Sled) unloaded from my truck, we strapped our snowshoes on and headed to the Pacific Crest Trail toward Twin Lakes. Our destination was supposed to be Birds Butte, a little over 2 miles uphill overlooking Twin Lakes. Two hours later we had managed to pull our gear sleds about two miles uphill along the trail.

My buddy John and I ventured to Hideaway Lake in the upper Clackamas River area (outside Estacada, Oregon) on Friday. I was able to get the afternoon off, so we were on the road shortly after 11 AM. We were hoping to hit some snow, but not too much to where travel would be impossible. As luck would have it we got our wish. Area map.

Sturgeon fishing opened back up on the Willamette River, so I headed out on my Klamath boat with my buddy Tyler before sunrise. We put in at Meldrum Bar which was a zoo. It was worth it through. We had lots of action and between two boats and 4 guys we landed three keepers by early afternoon. The bite was hot for awhile on smelt, but then died by about 10 AM. The picture below is the 39" keeper I landed.

This year's annual deer trip was a success! My buddy John bagged a trophy 4x5 mule/black-tail hybrid buck just a short walk from camp. The single shot to the lungs from his .30-06 knocked the buck down where he quickly and humanely died. Tyler and I each missed a long shot at another nice buck, but at least we got to try. It would have been a real pain to drag him out anyway.