Oregon Hikers

Sort of a tradition to make an afternoon trip to Bennett Pass for a short snowshoe, the weather continued to cooperate yesterday! Here are a few photos:













The sunset last night was stunning (apparently from all over NW Oregon, too), started out pretty...



...then became more vibrant...



...then finished off 2018 with a flourish!



Happy New Year, everybody!

-Tom

another year, another Bennett Pass snowshoe

did you take highway 26 by Government Camp? How was traffic? I've seen horrible reports

retired jerry wrote: ↑

January 1st, 2019, 10:03 am

another year, another Bennett Pass snowshoe

did you take highway 26 by Government Camp? How was traffic? I've seen horrible reports

I managed to convince wife and son to get out for a snowshoe adventure yesterday. We got a late start and by the time we got to ZigZag at around 9:30 AM traffic was completely stopped and both lanes were bumper to bumper headed up Hood as far as the eye could see. We made a u turn and cut over to Estacada via Firwood and settled for a stroll along the Clackamas River. I should have known better, but it's been so long since I went anywhere on other than a weekday that I forgot how bad things can be on weekends and holidays.

I went via Hood River. I avoid the ski resort corridor from the OR35 junction west on weekends and holidays until mid-February or so (when skiers inexplicably lose interest, just as the best snow finally arrives, much to the exasperation of the resort operators!)

Tom

That's what I was wondering. Highway 35 probably better.

I keep seeing pictures of highway 26 totally clogged.

retired jerry wrote: ↑

January 1st, 2019, 3:44 pm

That's what I was wondering. Highway 35 probably better.

I keep seeing pictures of highway 26 totally clogged.

Sunday was a nightmare we left teacup at 1:30pm & rolled into Sandy at 6:30 about 3.5 hours of that was just getting from the 35-26 junction up to the Timberline junction!

Today we played it safe an did a Tom Dick & Harry loop from the new Mirror Lake TH. Left at 2:00 and no problem, but I see on the news it's a parking lot now!

Splintercat wrote: ↑

January 1st, 2019, 2:46 pm

I avoid the ski resort corridor from the OR35 junction west on weekends and holidays until mid-February or so (when skiers inexplicably lose interest, just as the best snow finally arrives, much to the exasperation of the resort operators!)

Some skiers.

My ski partner and I long to start early, but we know that the weeks between Thanksgiving and the first or so week of January are just going to be a pain. People think "It's winter now and I should go skiing." While, of course there's such great ski conditions from February through June, once wildflowers start popping up around town and at Catherine Creek skiing is just not on people's radar.

It's like there are two "seasons:" one season is the actual season in which an activity makes sense (winter-early summer for skiing), and the other season is the time during which much of our culture seems to think the activity should occur (Christmas break=Skiing). Kind of like high mountain hiking ("School just let out in Portland so I need to go hike the Wonderland Trail RIGHT NOW."). Also true of the mountain bike race calendar: lots of stuff early in the summer when weather is still iffy or trails wet, and then less activity later in the summer.

I think the shape of our seasons up in this corner is just different enough from the rest of the US that a lot of us newcomers take a while to get it.

When I was still skiing the resorts I was strictly a midweek, swing shift skier through January (usually at Ski Bowl if they had snow -- love the upper bowl!), then shifted over to Meadows in February (still swing shift), then would venture up on weekends in March until the season was over. Loved spring skiing!

But I'm a snowshoe guy, now.

Tom

Beautiful shots, Tom!

once wildflowers start popping up around town and at Catherine Creek skiing is just not on people's radar.

I'm a snowshoer not a skier, but I definitely lose interest in snowshoeing once March gets here. I'd much rather be hiking amongst the grass widows at that time of year.

Splintercat wrote: ↑

January 1st, 2019, 9:49 am

That's gorgeous. Thank you.