MIDWEEK VISITS, DISCOVER THE SECRET.....

WHY IS MIDWEEK A GREAT TIMETO VISIT SUMMIT MEADOW CABINS?

Let me count the ways.....

GREAT RATES...Winter midweek night (Sun -Thurs ) rates are lower than weekend rates.

We have a GREAT winter midweek special ready for you to take advantage of,

pay for 2 midweek winter nights and the 3rd is free

Our midweek special is valid all winter except for the Christmas public school vacation and the Sunday nights of the three day holiday weekends, Martin Luther King and President's Day.


NO CROWDS....Imagine getting a lazy start to your midweek day
at one of our cabins and xc skiing around Trillium Lake seeing
only a handful of folks.
Find solitude at the dam at Trillium Lake.  Better yet head up Shearer Burn Road or out to Mud Creek and find your own trails.





MORE CABIN AVAILABILITY...you can generally get the cabin of your choice as well as make a last minute reservation when the weather and/or  conditions are special.

 MIDWEEK GROOMING.....This is the 30th year have volunteered  to do the xc ski and snowshoe trail grooming. Donations from those using these trails and a grant from Clackamas County Tourism pays for the rental of the grooming equipment and enables us to also groom an average of once/midweek, depending on conditions.

LESS TRAFFIC.....what can I say, rarely is there midweek traffic to Mt Hood (outside of the midweek holiday periods.)

It makes for a much more pleasant experience.

Sunset view from the Meadow Chalet living room

 

DON'T LOSE OUT!

EXPERIENCE A MIDWEEK VISIT TO SUMMIT MEADOW CABINS

www.summitmeadow.com

Kids have FUN at Summit Meadow Cabins

 

Kids of all ages have winter fun
 at

SUMMIT MEADOW CABINS

regardless of the weather!

 

 

 

Sometimes, it's the simplest of pleasures....



                Don't lose out, make your reservations soon!

This Spring is a particularly good time to visit SUMMIT MEADOW CABINS!

LET ME COUNT THE WAYS!

This is the first time since we opened in 1982 that we  have been able to drive into the cabins since February and are able to offer guests a snow free SPRING visit during the months of March, April and May.

We have both midweek and weekend  openings in all of our cabins during April and May.

Guests can enjoy a visit without the typical summer crowds.

Summer hiking trails below about 5,000 feet in elevation are  snow free.

Lakes that typically may not melt out until Late May or June are snow free and ready for summer boating fun.

Kayaking at Timothy Lk

Avalanche Lillies

Trilliums

 Wildflowers are   poking out 1-2 months earlier than you would expect.

Calypso Orchids

What did our winter guests (who typically have not been summer guests) say about their snow free visits?

Thank you so much for everything this weekend. We had fun and went on a few hikes all three days. The cabin was perfect and had everything we needed. I appreciate your hospitality.

Nate. 



Tamanawas Falls

Hey there, Wendy - 

 Just checking in with you to let    you know we're a go for next February in Chimney Rock. Looks like it would be 2/19 - 2/21, correct?



We were very sad without the    snow this year but our trip turned our really (really) fantastic. We hiked Tamanawas Falls. Also multiple trips around Trillium. We hiked over 22 miles on our week-end. It was fun to see what things looked like without snow.  :o)  

 

--Rosi

Hi Wendy,

Our friends had a great time and we did drive up on Saturday for a couple of hours. I can't believe the lack of snow on the mountain....it's not good. Everyone loves this weather but I would prefer snow any day! Yes, please rebook us for next year. We'll be there no matter what the weather! We all love it. 

Cheers, Nicole

Thanks for everything, Wendy! We enjoyed our time greatly and plan to come back next year!

Best,

Keya

 

Thanks so much Wendy - We had a great time! Very different but lots of fun. Fishing and got out on the water in some watercraft. Beautiful views of the mountain

We’d like to come the weekend before if that’s open? (First weekend of spring break) If not open, please do sign us up for the same weekend

Thanks  AL

Trillium Lake Trail w/first spring "flowers" 

What wonderful GUESTS we have!

                                Our guests are the best

The absolute best thing about operating Summit Meadow Cabins is all of the wonderful people we've developed long termed relationships with over the last 30+ years. Many of them have been visiting annually with the same group of folks on the same weekend for 20-30 years.  

In several cases, the second generation now has the reservation and bring their folks.  

At least 3 times a year a close group of creative friends from a coastal community come for a 3-6 day visit. They always leave "love notes" like the one below, kind words and lovely little gifts

When the snow conditions were marginal, our guests didn't complain. Of course, we all want snow, but it's possible to enjoy these unusual, spring like conditions in Feb March that don't usually happen.

Lots of folks are rediscovering solitude at Trillium Lake  by hiking around the lake and utilizing the new section of trail that starts at the east end of the "airstrip." The beaver lodges along the lake are even more apparent these days.

One multifamily group that have been winter guests for over 10 years, not only enjoyed a snowless weekend, but it also rained most of the time.  They all smiled about, "making lemonade out of lemons"  and rebooked the same weekend for next year. 

A young couple, new guests, booked their honeymoon stay at Falls Cr Aframe several months ago. Their initial reaction to the lack of snow was disappointment and then it rained during most of their visit.
  
He texted me just as they left   

Thank you so much for the wonderful relaxing start to our marriage. We absolutely loved it! Have a wonderful day and thanks again.

she left me the following note in the cabin. 

Thank you so much for letting us stay in your cabin. It was such a memorable time and we are so thankful we got to experience the quietness, peace and beauty of this place.  We will definitely be back. Thanks again.

 

The most amazing thing happened over the crazily busy Christmas-New Years vacation.

One of our guests who passed us on the trail just before dark, overheard that a family of four, new to the Summit Meadows experience, were at the cabins but all the cabins were booked with others (yes, its along story). Bottom line, as we're struggling to find alternative lodging during the busiest time of the year, she offers to share her Chalet with the family. While these folks were strangers at the at moment, they  certainly weren't after sharing their hospitality. 

That's what I mean, we just have great guests!

What will this winter be like?

After last winter with frigid temperatures early on and then 6 weeks of little to no snow on the ground in December and January, seems like the question on most folks mind is

"What will this winter be like?"

 

Snowless, Frozen Trillium Lake, Thanksgiving 2013

Sometimes it'd be nice to have a crystal ball. Then it'd be easy to reply with confidence.

The winters have changed since I first moved to Government Camp in the early 1970s.
Having 8-13 feet of snow on the ground at the 4,000 foot level was more usual than not.  Except, of course, for the drought years like 1976-77 when snow didn't come until January and then there wasn't all that much of it. That was
a great winter for ice skating on Trillium Lake!


In 1984 we had several feet on the ground as early as October 20 (the earliest date we've ever been snowed in at Summit Meadow). This made for an interesting trip to the birthing room at the local hospital from our home at Summit Meadow when our son was born on Nov 8.  There was lots of snow that winter and it kept coming throughout April.

We started volunteering to groom the xc ski trails with a small snocat and a couple of feet was enough to start grooming and building a base. It's hard to believe we've been doing that for almost 30 years.

In the late 1980s and the 1990s, winter still lasted from Nov-April, but snow depth was more like 4-6 feet on the ground at any one time.

Now we have better grooming equipment, try to work with the powers to be to keep the road surface and drainage on the Trillium Lake Loop in good condition and with some luck have been able to groom the main trails with less than a foot of snow.  We've been able to groom the Trillium trails  and provide good conditions for xc skiers and snowshoers when other trails in the area are unskiable.
 
So, what does this all mean?
 

Even if we don't have a rip roaring snowfall, some of the best xc ski and snowshoe conditions will be in the Trillium Lake Basin. 
 

Living at Summit Meadow for the past 35 years, I've learned two things: 

There will be weather

and

we don't get  the same conditions two years in a row!

SUMMER IS ON IT'S WAY.......enjoy the transition time



Sometimes it seems to me that we spend more time waiting for summer than we actually spend enjoying those months with the great weather, wildflowers, and incredible hikes and bike ride.
I started paying attention to the transition time, discovering a lot of beauty that I never made time to see before......whether it is the return of the varied 

a hungry junco returns

thrush with its incredible flute like call, the juncos that I didn't really miss until they came back, or the red wing black birds that  crowd to my feeder, especially when they get surprised by a inches of new snow on the meadow that was starting to green out. 

As the meadow melts out, there's lots of water which the mallards enjoy until it starts to dry out. On a few occasions, we've even seen a pair of sandhill cranes feeding in the wetness. Blooming skunk cabbage are the first wildflowers to show their color around Summit Meadow each spring.

Skunk cabbage starting to bloom

one of the 1st trilliums



They are followed by the trilliums poking their heads up frequently while patches of snow still litter the ground. As the snow melts and before the roads are clear enough for passenger vehicles, it's not unusual to see deer or elk grazing in the meadow.



Summit Meadow dotted w/ lupine

This year, since our accumulation at 4,000 feet was less than usual, it looks like we'll have an early summer and may be driving in any time from now..

Trillium Lk

Before you know it, here's what Trillium Lake and Summit Meadow will look like. 

WEIRD, WILD WINTER WEATHER WONDERLAND

When was the last time you remember seeing Trillium Lake frozen over with clear ice.
My recollection was the late 1970s when we all went to Goodwill and bought the closest sized ice skates we could find and had a blast!

Here's what it looked like on Thanksgiving eve this year.

December days have been something to remember.

Starting with 30 hours of many, many inches of intense rain then turning to cold, dry snow, long enough for our 5-7 inch of base to become established. Who would have expected frigid, close to zero degree weather for a week after that?
The good news is that the cold temperatures left us with a week of dry, powder snow skiing for our season's first grooming of the Trillium Lake Loop.

Those frigid temperatures also contributed to amazing, delicate  snow, ice and hoar frost creations in some of our creeks.

 

Many of our seeps and waterfalls have dramatically changed with icy features.

Take a look at Tamanawas Falls.

 

 

We haven't even seen the first day of winter yet. Wonder what will come next? 

 

 

We had a GREAT summer, but when will it snow?

Summit Meadow transitioning into fall

Except for the dreary (remember wet and cold) September, we can't complain about our summer and October fall.

Here are some of my favorite memories 



MT Hood Lilies were prolific 

Split Rock near Paradise Park



Mop Tops (Western Pasque Flowers) at Mc Neil Point






 
  

Tom Dick Ridge huckleberryless in Sept



huckleberries,
but not where you'd expect them





Now the real question is when will we be snowed in????

I wish I knew, but the reality of the matter is we'll know after it happens. Our first real "dump" was Nov  5 and here's what it looked like.

After that melted and we had the usual rain, clear, rain, mode, we got another blast of snow this weekend which left several inches of new.

Weather for the next week looks more like rain than anything else so our new snow may melt again (or not!).

Bottomline, we'll know when we get snowed in after it happens.

 

In any case, it's not too early to plan a winter getaway at Summit Meadow Cabins. 

Check us out at www.summitmeadow.com

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