Posted by Josh Couts on March 15, 2006 at 12:06 PM
Hello all,
Plan to visit PNW from CO on a spur of the moment trip this upcoming weekend. Plan to snowshoe near Crater Lake Rim, and visit the coast near Coos Bay.
Any forewarnings on doing so from local experts? Our planned route would be from Boise across US 20 over to Bend, 97 south from Bend to Chiloquin, then up to the park via highway 62. I expect a fair amount of snowpack on the roads pretty much anywhere after Bend. Should I expect much across the high desert before that? We have 4WD with snow tires, and reside in Colorado, so I'm no stranger to winter mountain driving; but, I can't say I'm into driving through 8 inches of unplowed snow on a 10% grade for 200 miles either.
Any word of warning on this adventure? As of right now, it says that highway 62 is open as is the road leading up to park headquarters at Crater Lake. I've been to Crater Lake in October and also prior to Rim Drive opening in the late spring (it was late May), but never in March. So, any word of warning or advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
I can't tell you what to expect from Boise to Bend. I don't know if you've been out this way before---what is euphemistically called snow here in western Oregon is not what you refer to by that word in Colorado. Expect dense, damp stuff at exactly 32 degrees, thick and heavy and prone to forming a lubricating layer of water on top when you most need traction. Plus they use these nasty tire chains that polish and glaze the surface instantly, so this will be far different from the dry crunchy snow you may be used to. & BTW I'm not sure I could drive across eastern Oregon without photo-stopping a lot. Even where the topography isn't too dramatic, it can still be quite atmospheric out there. I'll return and refer you to a posting or two at this site, with some images worth looking at from the high desert.
Thanks Eric. Sounds very similar to the snow I grew up with in Indiana...
We should have time for several brief stops in Eastern Oregon prior to our arrival, so I welcome the links. I'm very curious to see what the high desert looks like in Oregon firsthand, compared to that of Colorado and Utah.
Josh,
You might want to stop by the Painted Hills. It will be a couple hours RT from Bend depending on the road conditions. Friday is supposed be cold with the snowlevel around 1000 feet on the west side of the cascades.
We probably won't be arriving in Oregon until Saturday morning. We plan to leave Boulder on Friday after work and drive through the night as we normally do whenever we take one of these spontaneous trips.
So, that should put us around the Oregon state line around 5 or 6 AM on Saturday morning, depending on how the interstates are through Wyoming and Idaho. Are there any particular stretches of highway along US 20 from Ontario to Bend that tend to be hazardous? From what I gather, the high points along this stretch of highway are more "gaps" than "passes", correct? I ask mainly because occasionally in Colorado, long stretches of highway will be clear and dry, then you'll suddenly come around a corner where the sunlight from the south is blocked by a cliff or rock wall, and wham, there's packed snow and ice and you're slamming on the brakes...it mainly only happens on unmaintained roads like Cottonwood Pass, or through tight canyons that are common in the high deserts around here. If anyone knows of any particular sections of this highway that tend to get like that, please let me know. It's one thing to be driving defensively in snowpack that you know is there, but another thing to be going 50 or 60 and suddenly see it 10 feet in front of you.
I don't recollect any such dramatic transitions between Burns and Bend; no personal experience east of there. You're right, no dramatic topography on the road, but once again beware of all the slippery combinations of water, oil, ice, and snow at 32 degrees.
I found one of the previous posts to cite you to, I'll look again and get back to you. There were two that I particularly remember.
Finally getting back to you about lovely images of the Oregon high desert. Instead of trying to figure out how to forward these to you, I'll just refer you to them. At the bottom of the page before this, you know, the one with the postings listed, you'll find a page. Go to the one 6 (!) pages before this one. Then, find a posting from Marc Adamus titled Desert Evening. Lovely images and good conversation.
Discussion
6 repliesPlan to visit PNW from CO on a spur of the moment trip this upcoming weekend. Plan to snowshoe near Crater Lake Rim, and visit the coast near Coos Bay.
Any forewarnings on doing so from local experts? Our planned route would be from Boise across US 20 over to Bend, 97 south from Bend to Chiloquin, then up to the park via highway 62. I expect a fair amount of snowpack on the roads pretty much anywhere after Bend. Should I expect much across the high desert before that? We have 4WD with snow tires, and reside in Colorado, so I'm no stranger to winter mountain driving; but, I can't say I'm into driving through 8 inches of unplowed snow on a 10% grade for 200 miles either.
Any word of warning on this adventure? As of right now, it says that highway 62 is open as is the road leading up to park headquarters at Crater Lake. I've been to Crater Lake in October and also prior to Rim Drive opening in the late spring (it was late May), but never in March. So, any word of warning or advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
We should have time for several brief stops in Eastern Oregon prior to our arrival, so I welcome the links. I'm very curious to see what the high desert looks like in Oregon firsthand, compared to that of Colorado and Utah.
You might want to stop by the Painted Hills. It will be a couple hours RT from Bend depending on the road conditions. Friday is supposed be cold with the snowlevel around 1000 feet on the west side of the cascades.
So, that should put us around the Oregon state line around 5 or 6 AM on Saturday morning, depending on how the interstates are through Wyoming and Idaho. Are there any particular stretches of highway along US 20 from Ontario to Bend that tend to be hazardous? From what I gather, the high points along this stretch of highway are more "gaps" than "passes", correct? I ask mainly because occasionally in Colorado, long stretches of highway will be clear and dry, then you'll suddenly come around a corner where the sunlight from the south is blocked by a cliff or rock wall, and wham, there's packed snow and ice and you're slamming on the brakes...it mainly only happens on unmaintained roads like Cottonwood Pass, or through tight canyons that are common in the high deserts around here. If anyone knows of any particular sections of this highway that tend to get like that, please let me know. It's one thing to be driving defensively in snowpack that you know is there, but another thing to be going 50 or 60 and suddenly see it 10 feet in front of you.
Thanks again for the information.
I found one of the previous posts to cite you to, I'll look again and get back to you. There were two that I particularly remember.