[转帖] Snowshoeing around Crater Lake, Oregon April 8-10 2015

WanchaiBoz

Snowshoeing around Carter Lake is on my bucket list but it is a bit of a drive plus weather is always an issue.

BillyGoat from CT has done the trip during this Easter long weekend.

http://forums.clubtread.com/35-o ... il-8-10-2015-a.html


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This trip has been on my mind for several years now. This winter I decided it was time and I even managed to get a couple buddies to join me. Crater Lake, in south-central Oregon is quite a popular summer destination with a nice two-lane road called "Rim Drive" circling the lake and is roughly a 30 mile drive with around 4000 feet of elevation exchange.

In the winter however, while many still drive up to the rim and the Rim Village (open year round in a limited capacity), the Rim Drive road around the lake is closed and not plowed, kind of like how the Mt. Baker Highway is once it passes the Mt. Baker ski area up to Artist Point. According to the Crater Lake website, around 100 people a year snowshoe or ski around the lake in winter. This year, according to the ranger, there have only been a handful, however many a handful is I don't know, but that was the word she used.

There isn't a whole lot of information  about the winter route itself as in trip reports etc. so this is one reason why I'm doing a TR for this trip and also being fairly detailed as I would heartily recommend this trip.

We had planned on doing the route over three nights, but in the end shortened it to two.

Firstly, you need to get a free backcountry permit which can only be had in person at the Crater Lake Headquarters Visitor Center which is located at the south entrance (the only park entrance open in winter) at the Steele Visitor Center, which only opens at 10am. Here you go over your trip plans with a ranger, who then informs you of the winter hazards of backcountry travel around the lake like don't stand near the edge or you may fall 1000 feet from a breaking cornice that you were standing on.

There are also a few avalanche paths and bypass routes should avalanche risk be a danger (it wasn't the case on our trip) that the ranger goes over with you, so all in all it takes close to 30 minutes for the briefing and getting the permit.

The next thing to consider is that park headquarters and the visitor center is at just over 6000 feet, but the Rim village and the actual beginning of Rim Drive is at 7000 feet and three miles of road are in between the two, so if you park up at the rim like most do and start from there, the rim drive spits you out, if you travel the rim clockwise, at park headquarters and the visitor center. This is the 30 mile route. At this point, you'd either have to walk or thumb a ride from park HQ for the 3 miles back up to the rim and to your car, so it's something to consider at the end of your trip.

Now because this winter has been for the most part a no-show, road plowing work had begun a couple weeks earlier and had been plowed for roughly the first 10 miles from Rim village up the west side to Cleetwood Cove, which was the area we were planning on spending the first night. However, a snow storm over the Easter weekend dumped over a foot of snow, so the plowed road had a fair bit of fresh fluffy powder on it.
We arrived to begin the rounder the day the storm had finished and the skies began clearing. Good timing on our part really as many have in the past turned back due to stormy weather.

We had spent the previous night at a cabin (44.00 per night at LaPine State Park just south of Bend and two hours driving from Crater Lake south entrance. Cabins can be reserved online) so we could get a decent sleep and then drive up in the morning to Crater Lake for the park HQ opening at 10am.

It wasn't until around 11:30am when we finally began the Rim Drive. Walking at first; carrying our snowshoes since two day hikers ahead of us were breaking trail and it wasn't all that deep along a mostly windswept road.

Now Crater Lake is one of those places where photos don't really do it justice. You really have to see it for yourself to truly capture and experience the majesty and splendor of this place. It truly is breathtaking and unlike anything else I've ever seen. The fresh blanket of snow of course really added to the beauty and brought out the indigo hues of the waters even more.

Now we were also warned by the ranger that the weather has a way of turning quite quickly from sunny to cloud and blizzard in minutes and she was right, as it happened to us just on the other side of Watchman Peak. We went from warm sunshine to cold windy blowing snow in a very short time. Fortunately it only lasted a few hours and we were out of it and back into sun before reaching camp. Just a reminder though to pack for all types of weather when making this trip.

Eventually we did don snowshoes as the drifted in snow did make for easier travel on snowshoes; especially after our snowshoe laden hikers before us decided to turn around even though we urged them to continue on ahead of us, but to no avail.

As a whole, the road is mercifully a gentle grade and the hill climb and descents not overly long for the most part. That part is good. The real factor is what level of flotation you are achieving in your snowshoeing, because even those gentle uphills can become a slog in deep powder or warm soft midafternoon sunny weather snow. On day two we only averaged around one mile an hour due to sinking a good 8 inches in wet slushy snow and the daytime heat draining our energy.
As far as places to camp go, there are no official designated winter camp spots, so we made use of road pullouts and in the case of the first night, a picnic area just before Cleetwood Cove that had a picnic table and an accessible washroom. Highly recommended place to camp if the snowpack is such that these facilities are useable, which in our case they were.

Most of the lake viewpoints are on the west and the north sides of the lake, with much of the east side spent more looping around steep sections of the rim, however the east side also boasts wonderful views of Mt. Scott as well as more distant mountains like Thielsen and Shasta. Really, the entire loop is very scenic, not only for the lake itself but for all the other surrounding beauty. It certainly is not a boring route by any means.

Oops rambling here, the second night we spent at a viewpoint called Pumice Castle. There is a short span of three viewpoints here. We spent the night at the first, which is the Pumice Castle viewpoint, but the second viewpoint which is only another 200 meters or so along the road would actually have been a better place to camp as the lake views there are more panoramic. There is also a larger flat area to camp, but either work fine. No washroom or picnic table at either unfortunately. It was at Pumice castle lookout where I spent a couple hours in the night getting the night shots that are attached.

On the third day we were originally planning to camp at Sun Notch, only another 7.5 miles and then snowshoe the last 4.5 miles out on Saturday, but the weather was starting to turn on us as we were making our way to Sun Notch and it was only 3:30pm when we arrived there, so we decided to just keep going; eventually thinking what the heck, might as well finish it today, especially since it was looking more and more like it would be snowing that night.

So 12 miles and just under 8 hours we made it to park HQ rather tired from all the snowshoeing we did over the past three days. It was 6pm and not really the time one would find a whole lot of people heading up to the rim, especially since the skies were increasingly threatening. No one was around at HQ anymore as all the facilities had closed to the public by 5. Fortunately some kind souls did eventually pass by and give one of us a ride up, which was greatly appreciated.

Epilogue:

Winter travel around Crater Lake is at the best of times a challenge and at the worst of times, well, downright miserable. Following a road may sound easy, but that road can become quite invisible in many places with no signage to tell you where it is. We found ourselves on a few occasions having to consult a GPS to know where we were in relation to the road, especially along the Mt. Scott/ cloudcap area where the elevation is higher and the snowpack deeper.

PanShiBo

Super cool idea! The weather next few days looking good! 8)