Category: snow play
Posted June 20th, 2011 in camping, Family Outing, Hiking, Milagros News, Outside of Portland, snow play | Tags: Mt. Hood |
Red Tricycle recently wrote about visiting Mt. Hood in the summer time. They highlighted the unique opportunities for skiing, snowboarding and snow play on the Mountain even during summer months.
The mountain enjoyed record snow pack this year so barring an unexpected heat wave, there should be more snow play opportunities than ever this summer.
Of course, beyond the snow, there is plenty to see and do in the Mt. Hood area. We love camping at Trillium Lake, hiking the Old Salmon River Trail, and exploring the bounty of the Hood River Valley.
What are your Mt. Hood summer highlights?
Posted February 9th, 2009 in Outside of Portland, snow play |
One of our favorite winter activities is to head up Mt. Hood for some snowplay – this includes sledding, snowshoeing, igloo building, angel making and so on. There are countless areas to go in Hoodland but we tend to head out to the snoparks that serve the Barlow Trail and Trillium Lake basin.
We don’t believe in paying to sled – because we’re old-fashioned and cheap – so we park at the Government Camp Maintenance Station Sno-Park and sled on the hill right at the Hemlock trailhead. After some runs on that hill, we head down the trail to a meadow for snow angel making and then to another hill shortly past the junction of the Barlow Trail and Hemlock trail. This is where our Extreme Ergo Sledding took place.
You can continue down the Barlow Trail to Summit Meadows and onto the Trillium Lake Loop, which is very level and great for family snowshoeing.
BUT if you are interested in something more scenic and remote, head over the river to the Old Man Pass area of the Gifford Pinchot National Forest. They have a series of scenic and level loops that are groomed and perfect for family snow play. They also have a great sledding hill just off the parking lot.
Travel time wise, getting to Old Man Pass is about as long as getting to Government Camp from Portland. But viva las diferencias…you will find way fewer people at Old Man Pass, and easy to access snow play area for sledding that is right off the parking lot of the Old Man Pass Snopark, and a great family-friendly system with tons of groomed trails for cross country skiing or snowshoing as well as plenty of ungroomed options.
You easily create trail loops that range from any length – only 1 mile to more than 10 miles. If you are feeling ambitious, the Hardtime Loop is 12.7 miles and has a defined viewpoint that offers some wonderful views of Mt. St. Helens. A friend and I did the Hardtime Loop a couple of weeks ago on skis, it was quite something.
Travel Tips: If you head up to Old Man Pass, make sure you have all your gas and food needs covered before you leave Stevenson, WA – this is the closest “major” town. Go prepared for changes in weather conditions – bring chains and a shovel just in case you need to dig the car out.
Oregon Sno Park Passes are valid in WA. You can pick up a Sno-Park pass at REI in Portland, or hit Multnomah Falls on the way on the weekend, on weekdays you can get a pass at the Visitor Center in Stevenson on the way. Enjoy!
Posted June 22nd, 2007 in Family Outing, Milagros News, Outside of Portland, snow play |
Jen and Gael were both ill on Father’s Day, so plans for a family camping trip went out the window. Mila and I were healthy and ready for adventure, what type of special trip could be have?
How about a day of playing in the snow? After church, Mila and I loaded up the car with a sled and snowshoes and cold weather gear and headed for Timberline Lodge on Mt. Hood.
When we arrived we found plenty of skiers and snowboarders enjoying the mountain. And there was plenty of snow for playing in as well (look for areas closed off to skiers). We snowshoed, we sledded, we threw snowballs, we built an igloo…it was a wonderful and memorable way to spent a day in June!
Snow in summer, another on the long list of why I love Oregon…
Posted December 3rd, 2006 in Family Outing, Milagros News, Outside of Portland, snow play |
Well, we plan on an official post at some point BUT Gael Cesario Fuentes was born on 11/30/06 at 12:13 pm. He is a healthy and happy 8lb 3 oz boy. Mama and baby are doing well and Papa is now keeping big sister occupied with various outings. We finally did a post on the birth!
Yesterday we ventured to Mt. Hood for some snowplay. There are countless areas to go but an easy access area that is not TOO crowded on any day is sledding and snowshoeing on the Barlow Trail. We park at the Government Camp Maintenance Station Sno-Park. This is located about 1/4 East of Government Camp and is across US 26 from Timberline Road. The trailhead is at the West end of the parking lot.
The trail is groomed and is perfect for snowshoeing. There is a hill right at the trailhead that is fun for small child sledding and if you venture further down the trail there are plenty of other hills to choose from. It is a beautiful setting and we go there a handful of times every winter.
Any other winter play suggestions out there?
*here is a pic of Mila and Jen at Crater Lake a few years back, not the Barlow Trail. I just like this winter shot
Red Tricycle recently wrote about visiting Mt. Hood in the summer time. They highlighted the unique opportunities for skiing, snowboarding and snow play on the Mountain even during summer months.
