Justin and I just got back from our fifth trip to Oregon. Most people wondered why on earth we would want to go to Portland in January. It’s not necessarily what you think of as a prime winter vacation spot. It is pretty wet and drizzly (which we expected and were cool with), but if you drive about an hour out of town, you can reach a winter wonderland! And we had big plans of snowshoeing to Trillium Lake!
So today I’m sharing all the ins and outs of snowshoeing to Trillium Lake. And if you’re not into the whole outdoor winter activities, then just stick around for the pretty photos.
Our Previous Attempt at a Winter Hike
Last winter we had tried to hike with crampons to a snowy/icey waterfall outside of Seattle, but it didn’t work out because we didn’t have the appropriate car and we only had one snow chain instead of two.
We did end up finding a snowy area to “hike” at, but it was really casual and the snow wasn’t very deep. It was more like a walk in the snow, than an actual hike (you can read more about our Seattle trip here).
I was happy with it, but I didn’t get my “I want to hike through the SNOW” fix I was looking for. Fast forward to this trip.
I finally got my fix.
Location
I still can’t get over the fact that this was so close to Portland. It only took us an hour and 15 minutes to get there. It’s in the Mt. Hood National Forest near Mt. Hood, South East of Portland.
Trillium Lake is on the South side of Mt. Hood and was super easy to get to. We took Highway 26 a majority of the way there. Snow chains or snow tires were required, we had snow tires. For most of the drive we were surrounded by big tall pine trees and moss, but the closer we got to Mt. Hood, the more snow we started to see.
I just kept playing Jon Snow’s voice excitedly in my head…”Winter is coming” with every couple minutes we would drive as everything became increasingly more white.
First it was just in the ditches on the ground, then slowly the trees were dusted, then a thick coating of powder on the trees and then finally the roads went from black to white.
Snowshoes and Attire
Renting from REI
Since we live in Texas and won’t be snowshoeing all that often we opted to rent our snowshoes. We rented ours along with poles from REI. I also became a member, which I highly recommend because it only costs $20 (for life!), and it saves you money on rentals and earns you money you can spend at REI. My membership paid for itself by bringing down my rental fees. All of the REIs have different rental fees, but ours were $20/day for the snowshoes and $5/day for the poles with our membership.
I also loved renting from REI because a one day rental is really a three day rental. They don’t count the day you pick them up and they give you an extra day to return them. So, we rented them on Tuesday, snowshoed on Wednesday and dropped them back off on Thursday and only paid for a “one day” rental.
It was really nice not to have to worry about rushing back to town to return rentals on time (because lets be honest the only thing I was rushing back for was thai food because I was starving after our hike haha). Also, this could be so useful if your planning on getting out early in the morning before REI is open, you can already have your gear from the day before.
Oh and you will need a Sno Pass for your car. It’s a little pass you stick to your window for snowy places during the winter months. It’s $4 for a day pass (they have longer options too) and you can pick one up at REI. You just pencil it in for the day you are using it.
What We Wore
We both wore similar things that we would wear skiing, except for I didn’t wear ski pants, because I didn’t have any and didn’t feel like tracking any down before the trip. I wore my lulus and did just fine in those, except for when I fell in the snow trying to take a boomerang haha.
I think the most important thing is foot wear. That definitely needs to be waterproof! I wore some Sorel snow boots and Justin rented some snow boots from a rental store near the mountain. I also wore a scarf, mittens and earmuffs, all things I could take off easily when I got hot from snowshoeing.
What I liked about Snowshoeing
The trail was magical! There was so much snow and giant trees on each side of the trail. It was like we had stepped into Narnia. We saw several people and pups at the beginning, but no one on the last half of the trail until we got to the lake.
This may have been my first time snowshoeing, but I decided I definitely prefer snowshoeing over skiing. This might also be due to the fact that every time I ski I feel like I’m going to die, because I can’t seem to “pizza” effectively and I go flying down the mountain, but I really like the slower pace of snowshoeing.
Snowshoeing feels intimate and secluded. I love being tucked away on the trail and being able to get closer with nature at my own pace.
It’s also easier to have conversations with people. Justin and I chitchatted most of the way (through some heavy breathing at times) and had some really sweet conversations. There’s just something about getting outside with no distractions, no texts, no instagram, no to-dos and just taking in the beauty of nature together… it leads to the best conversations.
The Trail to Trillium Lake
This trail is technically a two mile loop around the lake, but in the winter they shut down that road to the trailhead and so most of this hike is spent getting to that trailhead. So we treated it as an out and back and hiked from the parking lot to the furthest edge of the lake that looks out towards Mt. Hood and then went back the way we came. It ended up being about 5-6 miles per AllTrails.
We picked Trillium Lake for a couple of reasons. First, I read it was a good snowshoe hike for beginners (aka pretty flat), but still had some length to it. Second, if you’re lucky you can get a beautiful view of Mt. Hood from across the lake.
Well, we were lucky-ish. We didn’t quite leave early enough and so it was pretty cloudy for over half of our hike. We were only able to see the peak and part of the base from across Trillium Lake.
It was still really beautiful, just not quite that epic shot I was hoping for. The trail made up for it though. It was just so beautiful plus there were cute snowy cabins! How adorable. Can’t you just imagine drinking spiced wine in there??
By the time we finished our hike, we could finally see all of Mt. Hood! Isn’t she pretty?
Final Thoughts on Snowshoeing
I really really loved snowshoeing and I can’t wait to do it again. I enjoyed being able to get outside in the winter and loved just how starkly different it was from a summertime hike.
If I ever live somewhere snowy, I would for sure buy my own snowshoes. I could definitely see how some people may prefer skiing or snowboarding, but if you’ve never tried snowshoeing, I really do recommend it. You definitely won’t get quite the adrenaline rush, but there’s something so magical about being tucked away in a snowy forest.
Cheers,
Sorel Snow Boots | Burton Snow Jacket (similar) | Ugg Ear Muffs
Dakine Jade Mittens | REI Snowshoe Rentals
