This week our troop followed some of the suggestions in a couple of the many camping/hiking reference books we have collected over our time here in the PacNW. Leaving Thursday after work and going on no more information than trusting our whole weekend to an adventure and the knowledge granted to us via a book we bought on a whim, we headed east toward Mt Hood. The national forest here is amazing. Countless streams and hiking trails are enough to keep the outdoorsy kind busy for decades, but there is so much more. Views of a snow-peaked mountain pop out when you least expect it, and depending on the side of the mountain you're on will be an entire different climate zone.
The decision to head out on Thursday was an easy one, besides actually just having Friday off, it was also a holiday weekend, not always the best time to go out but, we were confident we would get a spot so go we did. Thursday we arrived just after 6, a quick ride from downtown for sure. We camped at a dispersed camping area off of "Lolos Pass" (we'll get to more about Lolos Pass later), the area was a dead end dirt road that was fairly passable in all except the lowest of cars with just a small amount of care, but there were plenty of rocks and dips in the road to go slow around and to go corner wise across. The road had about 15 established camping spots with fire rings and trees, nothing more as this is a primitive camping area within the national forest, so don't forget your shovel. There was easy water access at a small sandy "beach" on the Sandy river.
The river here is way to cold and fast for swimming but proved really nice for retrieving water, our fancy pump (Kataden water filtration system) was well loved this weekend, and we were able to freshen up a bit with a few splashes. If I had brought my fishing pole I probably wouldn't have broken it out here.
Our site was great, plenty of space to set up our new tent and to stretch out a little, a couple of camp chairs next to the fire was indeed in order and there was plenty of dry firewood to be collected. Our space was so nice we decided to stay the third night even though we'd only planned for two nights. Thursday night was beautiful and quiet, but Friday morning (being a holiday) brought tons of traffic even though most the spots were full already. Friday we did some strolling around and we found a Faerie circle and some powerful magic old growth woods, and we spent the day in relax mode, chilling by the creek/fire/tent/faerie circle and read books and talked and ate much of the day away. On Saturday we decided to head out for a short easy hike(as we had the baby) and maybe a swim, our outdated camping book, purchased at GW for $1.99 seemed to suggest both were available at "Lost lake".
Lost Lake is a small lake, the hike around it was just over 3 miles and mostly flat. The scenery was beautiful and near pristine in every direction as far as the eye could see. One of the most iconic views of Mt Hood is from here on the bank of the lake. The water was warm enough to swim but not hot and there was good access most of the way around the lake with lots of shallow area for Atreyu to play in the water and to throw rocks, his favorite activity. All these wonderful things about the lake almost evened out the fact that so many people were there they should change the name to Found Lake. If you do go make sure you have pockets as deep as the lake itself, 175 feet in the middle, because it's spendy... $7 to park for the day, the camp-store was at least 50% more expensive than standard retail, $24 minimum to rent a rowboat and starting at $26 a night for a standard tent campsite. the most fun part of the day was getting back and forth from Lost Lake, which required us to drive the length of.... wait for it....you guessed it...... Lolos Pass.
Lolos Pass is a road that travels straight up and into the heart of some of the most mountainous region of The Mt Hood forest accessible by a standard car. The 8 mile stretch of road is windy and wrought with step cliffs and amazing views. there are plenty of places to pull off and take in some of the most beautiful scenery I have ever had the pleasure to witness. this road seems popular with bicyclists and i think it would be hella fun to ride up here and do some bike camping. The drive to lost lake would have been barely an adventure if the trip was all Lolos. Lolos pass dead-ends at the top of one mountain, where you make a right turn onto a single lane dirt road through and over the next mountain. There are camper trailers and pick up tucks and SUVs (probably logging trucks on weekdays as there were some active clear cuts all along here) galore flying up and down this road and there is only but a few pullouts to make sure you both have room to pass. As if single lane with crazy drivers and only a few pull-offs weren't enough, the length of the road has shear cliffs on one side, no guard rail. Fun.
Since we hadn't packed food for 3 nights we ate dinner Saturday night and Sunday morning breakfast at the ZigZag Inn. An affordable, rustic spot with ok food, but we like supporting local and it was right at the end of the road as it rejoins the main thoroughfare.
I had intended to make this post a bit of a review of our new tent but that went to the way side. I'll just say we are really happy with it, the "Drifter 3" by Mountain Hardwear. It is dry and lightweight, the fly is convenient and can be used individually from the tent itself in conjunction with the poles for the beach or ultralight backpacking. It has lots of features and enough pocket space although it is just a smidge small for the three of us and the dog.
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