Snow Camping in Mt. Hood National Forest, Oregon

I am planning another snow camping trip this weekend. I will be going to the Upper Clackamas, Oregon area off forest service road 58 (cuts north off Timothy Lake road) towards Hideaway Lake. We will be hiking on the road pulling pulk sleds with all our gear. Area map.

Last weekend I did the same thing, but to Twin Lakes (near Frog Lake SE of Government Camp). The problem with Twin Lakes is it is popular and there are an abundance of people.

Do any of you fellow Oregonians know other good snow camping spots around Mt. Hood that afford a degree of solitude? I live in Portland and prefer to keep driving time to a minimum to get as much time as possible outdoors. Due to work, my trips are normally only overnight, so hiking distances cannot be too great.

Loomis:

Got no advice, but I do want to compliment you on that great site of yours, and the trip report to Twin Lakes. I like that sled set-up, and you did a great job with the 'snow cave' -- I think Allen & Mike (of really cool backcountry skiing fame) would be proud.


Looking forward to pix and report of the Upper Clackamas trip.

So I see you have two sleds - the Paris Expedition Sled and the Pelican Snow Trek 60 Sled.

Would you mind providing a comparison of the two? likes/dislikes etc and what kind of conditions you've used them in?

Thanks!

Heather

@ kevonionia - Thanks for the compliments. I am hopeful I can continue to provide useful information and trip reports.

@ hhavel - I will be posting a review of the Pelican Snow Trek 60 Sled shortly. In short, I prefer the Pelican Snow Trek 60 to the Paris Expedition (review) for a couple reasons. First, it's slightly wider size provides more stability. In Oregon, just like Alaska, we have lots of mountains and very little flat terrain. The wider sled is less prone to tipping over on steep slopes. Second, the Pelican sled is thicker plastic with higher sides. This means more durability and easier to load more gear piled higher. Third, the Pelican has pre-molded pole attachment points in the front. This makes it really easy to install removable pulk poles or a snowmobile hitch (although I have not tried with a snowmobile as I do not own one, but it is nice to have the option). The only pitfall is the Pelican sled is 15 pounds versus the Paris at only 5 lbs. This is not a problem if you are in shape and used to pulling lots of gear.

I plan to post more information on my setup in the near future including details on the inexpensive pole setup I am using. I will be sure to provide links and am happy to answer any questions.

The simple pole design I have on my Paris Expedition sled is from http://skipulk.com. Ed has a wealth of information on his site about pulk sleds. I look forward to letting him know about the Pelican Snow Trek 60 to see what he thinks.

I had a rewarding snow camping trip last weekend in the Upper Clackamas area near Shellrock Creek. Check out the pictures here. There were no other hikers in the area and we only saw one group of respectful snowmobiles pass us while hiking. The weather was great with off-and-on snow giving way to scenes of the surrounding mountainsides.

If anyone knows other places in the Mt Hood National Forest that are well suited for snow camping, please share.

So what kind of chainsaw did you carry?
Jim

One of my favorites, a Stihl MS180, that I borrowed. My Stihl MS270 is just too big.