Sunriver Part Two: Three Creeks Sno Park Backcountry Tour to Jefferson Shelter

 We woke up to 6F and unplowed roads and a plan to go to the Hoodoo Ski Area to either do some nordic or downhill skiing. Hoodoo is northwest of Bachelor / Bend and the drive takes you through Heidi’s favorite little town, Sisters. When we stopped for gas there, we learned Hoodoo decided to remain closed due to 3” of ice all over the chairs, lifts, etc. and the road was closed. So …. we regrouped at the delightful Three Sisters Coffee Company and came up with a new plan while noshing on marionberry scones in front of a huge, wood fire. New plan: drive 11 miles to the Three Creeks Sno Park and do some backcountry touring on a trail to the Jefferson View Shelter. We felt really great about this plan and a few miles on the road we busted through the cloud layer and into sunshine. About six miles in the plow turned around and it was questionable driving - but hey, my car is amazing and we decided to go for it and charge up the last five miles in a track someone had made ahead of us. We made it!!!! That was a rough drive. We got to the sno park and it was a mess. But we dug ourselves a little parking spot and got our gear set up. Meanwhile we kept seeing truck after truck after truck get stuck. Boys. I’ll leave it at that.

We put our skins on backcountry skis and Heidi broke trail on the 2.5 miles to the shelter - so nice to have All Trails going and the map with us and plenty of blazes and markers to follow. As we crested onto the plateau the views of The Sisters and Mt. Jefferson were stunning to see the bright white shining against a deep blue sky and bright green ponderosas who’d shed their snow loads in the crazy windstorms already. The day was magic. It was 34 degrees on our hike and 6F in the valley - so it was a very extreme inversion. We were hiking in our long johns and enjoyed the sun immensely. The shelter had a bunch of blown snow inside, sadly, so even though it had a fire going, it wasn’t really inviting to sit in. We moved some stumps into the sun and had a wonderful lunch overlooking the Sisters. Our trek back was much faster and we took our skins off when we got enough pitch at the end and cruised right back to the car. We found a hot mess of many cars and trucks stuck, some even with tow ropes strapped around trees trying to get out. We packed up our gear and backed right out, no problem. Only to find we had to wait in a line of about 10 cars while a truck and trailer combo undid its jackknife situation. We were relieved when everybody began to move again, albeit slowly, and we made it back to town. We were able to visit Heidi’s college friend Amber and her family in Sisters in her super cozy ranch home before heading back to Sunriver. The last big emergency of the day was digging through a 3’ berm to get to the driveway. Ugh. But we made it. My car snow shovel gets an A+ today. What a stellar day!!!