I recently completed a 21-day snow camping expedition in Oregon’s Waldo Lake Wilderness. I went with a company called Catherine Freer. My group consisted of 4 guides and 7 kids (including me.) The kid’s ages ranged from 14- to 17-years old. The guide’s ages ranged from 28- to 35-years old. It was fun to have guides that were young enough to remember what it was like to be a kid. During the adventure, we stayed at 8 different campsites, traveled 7 days, and did many day hikes. On one of the day hikes we were able to summit an 8,000-foot peak! The approach to the peak was long and grueling, and then I saw a 100+ foot nearly vertical wall and thought that the guides were crazy for sending us on this brutal hike followed by this climb. I learned a lot of things about snowshoeing, gear maintenance, and the wilderness in general on my trip.
The trip was full of ups and downs, literally and figuratively, but certain points of the trip were especially incredible. There were quite a few of us in my group and we couldn’t fit all of our gear in our packs, therefore we towed sleds behind us. Most people weren’t a very big fan of towing the sleds that were often rather heavy (around 40 pounds.) I, on the other hand, rather enjoyed it…just another new challenge. When towing a sled we would have a “Tender” who would assist us on uphill climbs and around turns. Most of the time, Tenders were very helpful, especially on the days when it had snowed quite a bit the night before, which meant that there was much more friction on the sled. The worst part of the trip was when my sled Tender was not helping me, and then she flatly refused to hike any further. Her refusal to hike any more that day led to a grueling trip the next day. The best part of the trip was reaching the summit of the 8,000-foot peak. When we finally reached the top and the clouds parted, I saw only mountains and lakes for miles- a truly beautiful sight.
A lot of the gear we used on the trip, supplied by the company that I went with, is by brands that we carry here at Wander On Whidbey. We used Osprey Escalante 100+5 backpacks, MSR Whisperlite stoves, and Thermarest Ridgerest sleeping pads. Here at Wander on Whidbey we currently have Osprey backpacks, Thermarest sleeping pads and MSR stoves in stock. The Whisperlite’s that they provided us with consistently worked in the often sub freezing temperatures, worked well for melting snow, and boiled water at a good pace. The Escalante’s we used were comfortable, and stable with heavy loads (up to 60 pounds.) The Ridgerest sleeping pads were provided plenty of insulation from the snow, while maintaining a low weight (under 2 pounds.) Aside from the gear I have already listed, we were issued Oware Pyramid tarps, which are bombproof in the snow, but lack a floor.
I would recommend visiting the Waldo Lakes Wilderness during the summer, because you do not need to carry quite so much gear- resulting in more distance covered. The Waldo Lakes Wilderness was beautiful in the snow, and I can only imagine what it would be like during the summer. There is a main paved road that goes through most of Waldo Lakes, and there are many trail heads that branch off from there. The trees are mostly evergreens, with many trees topping 100 feet. The lakes in the area are pure snowmelt, and are supposed to be some of the purest lakes in the world.
Happy hikin'
Jack
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