OMHT Lake Project: Trillium Lake
In November 2015 I worked with Oregon's Mount Hood Territory (OMHT) to explore seven (and a half) lakes south of Mount Hood in 48 hours. This post is on Trillium Lake, a large lake a little southeast of Government Camp and Mount Hood.
See all my posts from the lake project.
Most of the year you can take the forest service road off Highway 26 and go right to the water's edge, but in wintertime the road is closed and you walk about a mile and a half from a lot along the highway. It's an easy trek though and gorgeous, snow-covered Douglas firs and Ponderosa pines line the way. Along with Mirror Lake, Trillium is probably the most popular lake in the area. It certainly was on my visit.
Arriving at the lake, I found it about 80% frozen over; only the western edge was open. The lake ice had amazing symmetrical cracks back and forth across the opaque reflection of Mt. Hood. (Why is the lake so popular? It's that view of the mountain mostly. Breathtaking, no matter how many times I visit.) I was surprised to see numerous people walking and skating on the ice; they were having fun, but twice the whole sheet shook and made an alien popping sound, not unlike a tight rope snapping. It gave me the chills, but the frolicking continued unabated. As we left, I saw a few snowshoers on the road. I will have to return with snowshoes!
I shot with an iPhone 6 Plus and a Canon 6D with an 85 1.2 and a 75-300mm 4-5.6 lenses. None of the images is edited, save for the two penultimate pics, which had slight tweaks to their sharpness and contrast.
Nice person in Portland, Oregon, and beyond.
