Trillium Lake and Timberline Lodge

Today my family and I drove to Timberline Lodge from Portland and had an afternoon lunch there and then drove down to Trillium Lake and were pleased to find it frozen. Even at Timberline Lodge which is about at tree line with skiers and snowboarders busy there on the ski lifts year around it was only about 38 degrees Fahrenheit and the wind chill factor made me feel almost like I was going to go into Hypothermia just trying to walk up from where my car was parked and into the Hotel and Restaurants there. So, I sort of wished I had brought a wool hat from the car. As I walked into the hotel I noticed I was the only person around without a hat on to keep their heat from going out fast in the wind.

Then at Trillium Lake seeing the lake frozen was pretty magic. The ice was about an inch or more thick most places but we could break pieces off it and throw it across the ice and it sort of sounded like bells and interesting sounds with ice at this thickness. For example, I'm used to ice about 2 to 3 feet thick in January and February in the Mt. Shasta Area at Castle lake in California which is at about 6000 feet. And at this thickness I often cross country ski across the frozen lake at this thickness because it is safe. Also, fishermen also dig holes in the ice to fish for Rainbow trout because the lake is stocked. However, Trillium Lake is likely at about 3 to 4000 feet but much further north at the top of Oregon next to Mt. Hood and near the state of Washington. So, the fact that it was frozen even an inch thick made us happy to see along with the amazing lenticular clouds coming off of Mt. Hood. It made it a very magical day for all of us in the pristine Alpine Wilderness there. And because it was so cold there were very few people there which made it even nicer to be in the wilderness.