My Dad happened to be out in Oregon for work this week and he invited me to come out and spend the weekend hanging out.

The plan: fly to Portland Thursday night. Ski at Mt. Hood Meadows Saturday and Sunday. Friday? Climb Mt. Hood, of course.

A perfect plan.

Except for the weather. The foe of many a would-be-climber. A few days before the trip everything looked fantastic. 15-20 mph winds, 34 degrees, sunny. What more can you ask for above 12,000 feet? Yet, as the trip got closer, the weather forecast turned. Darn those weather channel employees! Soon the forecast called for 60-80mph winds and anywhere from 10-24 inches of snow. Each day.

That’s at the summit. The lower parts of the mountain decided that rain was a better idea for them. So much for Mt. Hood. So much for skiing Mt. Hood Meadows.

A new plan emerged. First, we stopped in Eugene to check out the University of Oregon football stadium. Then on to our next stop…

Yes! Crater Lake. As I may have mentioned, I have a secondary ambition which is to visit all of the US National Parks. Check another off the list.

Crater Lake is beautiful in the winter. They get nearly 44 FEET of snow a year. There are many places where the snow pack was higher than the top of our SUV on both sides of the road.

 

People tell me the lake is amazing on a sunny day because its one of the clearest lakes in the world. I can’t vouch for that but I suspect my friends aren’t liars, so its probably true. It was a really cool place to visit either way. I hope to get back to do some hiking in the future.

On the way out ran across a rainbow. Its the first time I’ve seen one where it goes ground to ground on both sides (and is visible). Here it is.

Ski conditions looked decent for Saturday, so we decided that we would drive to Bend, OR and then ski Mt. Bachelor. And so we did. First, a few words on Bend.

I love Bend.

Okay, a few more. To keep it short, it has a great craft beer scene (10 Barrel, Deschuets, Boneyard, and many others), proximity to Mt. Bachelor (15 minutes) and many other outdoor gems for good times outside all year around. That’s about all I need.

10 Barrel is busy with a bustling, energetic environment. It was a little cold to sit at the bar (part of which was outside) so we just ordered a drink and sat by the fire. Then we headed to Bend Burger for dinner.

That’s it for Thursday and Friday. I’ll post again about the rest of the trip as soon as I can. Cheers!