Autumn Snow

This weekend marked the end of the recreation season for me. In general I find that the months of September and October are excellent for hiking, camping, and fishing, as most people end their personal outdoor recreation season (Excluding winter sports of course.) with the Labor Day weekend. Where a trail may be crowded with hikers in July and August, often times one will be able to find tranquility and solitude in September and October. Autumn is also one of my favorite seasons to hike in the Cascades as the understory is ablaze in color.

I set out yesterday with my friend Preston for what would most likely be my final camping excursion of the year. We intended to camp up at Olallie Lake, and were expecting snow as Olallie sits on the Cascade Crest at 4800' elevation and an unseasonably cool trough of low pressure had dropped in from the Gulf of Alaska. We stocked up on food and refreshments at Detroit and headed up the Breitenbush River before turning up forest road 4690 to Olallie Lake. A few miles up the road snow began to fall and had accumulated to the depth of about an inch at the side of the road. We were still about a thousand feet in elevation lower than the lake and with much more snow forecasted to fall overnight I felt that it would be a bad idea to proceed further to the lake. Instead we turned around and decided to camp elsewhere.

 

 

 

We then headed down the Clackamas river before turn and heading north past Timothy Lake. A problem we ran into was that all the campgrounds were closed, so we continued north to Trillium Lake near Mt. Hood. I have camped in the over flow area in October before, but the sites did not look conducive to hanging a tarp so we drove down a gravel access road a few miles from the lake and found a nice spot in the woods. We set up camp and enjoyed the cool evening around a fire, telling stories and talking about life as the flames and whiskey warmed us and the snow began to fall. It was a cold night with nearly 3" of snow falling, but well worth it. The beauty of the autumn snowfall combined with the comradorie and overall experience of the weekend made the wet chill feel like a minor inconvienence.

 

 

It was fun watching the Clark's Jays steal my English Setter Annie's dog food right from her bowl as she fruitlessly chased another maurader. It was a quiet night in the forest, a quiet one could not find during the peak months of July and August. Yes, I would not have shivered in my bedroll during the height of summer, but I may not have also been allowed to build a raging campfire during those months because of the high fire danger. Plus how often does one get the privilege of experiencing the raw elements of nature, an early snow, and the brilliant crimson of the vine maple and golden yellow of the larch, and good times with one of their oldest and dearest friends? If this was my final camping trip of 2012 then I have bid this good year a fond farewell. 

Mid-October Weather Update

Thought I would check in tonight with a little mid-October weather update. As we all now the first 11 days of the month were absolutely fantastic. Then the rains set it. Many locations in Western Oregon are already nearing their monthly averages for rainfall and if long range forecast models are to be believe they will likely pass them before the month is out. Here in the Silverton Hills, clear mild days and cool crisp nights dominated the first week and a half of the month followed by an abrupt shift to some very rainy weather. The 12-15th saw three days with over 1" of rainfall and we quickly went from having no rain falling through the first eleven days to a total of 5.06" by the 16th. On average we receive a little over 6" of rain in October so we are well on our way. Looking ahead it appears a cold trough will carve out along the West Coast and we will be in a cool showery pattern for much of the upcoming week. After that it is quite possible the pattern will turn very wet again.

Here are the stats so far for October from 1600' in the Silverton Hills.

Average Daily Maximum: 63.7
Average Daily Minimum: 35.6
Precip: 5.06
Maximum Temperature: 73 (1st)
Minimum Temperature: 29.4 (17th)
Maximum daily rainfall: 2.33" (15th)
Minimums at 32 or below: 7

What a Fall!

It sure has been a beautiful fall thus far! We have already had a few freezes up here in the Silverton Hills, but the afternoons have been sunny and warm! The weekend before last I had the chance to head up to Lost Lake in the Mt. Hood National Forest for an overnight camping trip. We took all three of the dogs so it was quite the adventure, but well worth it.

I had never been to Lost Lake, and since it was not actually my original destination I did a bit of aimless driving around the upper Hood River Valley. The Parkdale area itself is extremely beautiful with a classic view of Mt. Hood as one drives through the pear orchards. If I could afford a second home it would be there! Anyways, the access roads are pretty decent to the lake and there is a large campground, day use area, "store," boat rentals, and cabin rentals at the lake.

The campground was not crowded, but was a little busier than I was expecting. I would imagine that it fills up fairly quickly on summer weekends. There is apparently decent fishing for Rainbow and Brown Trout in the lake as well as Kokanee, but unfortunately I forgot my fishing pole at home so I was unable to sample the fishing for myself. There is a 3 mile trail around the lake, which we walked a portion of, just past the store there is a fantastic viewpoint of Mt. Hood towering to the south of the lake. Sunday morning I made the quiet, but steep hike up Lost Lake Butte and enjoyed the incredible views of Mt. Hood and glimpses of Mt. Adams to the north.

Overall, I would say that Lost Lake is well worth the trip, though visiting during the week during the summer or on an autumn weekend would probably be your best bet. The campsites were fairly spacious and the climate and foliage of the lake were damp enough that despite our summer drought, campfires were still allowed in designated spots.