Snowshoe Backpacking at Maxwell Butte

One of the things I enjoy most about living in the Willamette Valley is the ability to be up in the mountains or down by the ocean all within an hour’s drive. It keeps a good balance of snow and sand in one’s life throughout the year. Upon returning from our week long Redwoods road trip to the coast, my partner and I headed out for another adventure with some friends to spend the night in a backcountry snow shelter. I wrote a post recently about our trek to the Mountain View shelter at Maxwell Butte, which really got me intrigued to return for an overnight backpacking trip: Snowshoeing Maxwell Butte. We embarked on a sunny Thursday afternoon across the snowy terrain from a surprisingly empty Sno-park parking lot with snowshoes strapped to our feet and packs strapped to our backs. My young friend Logan even had her trusty stuffed wombat along for the journey.

Being the hardy hikers that we all are, it was a fairly easy climb up to the Mountain View Shelter. We took a few resting breaks for Logan, but still made excellent time all in all. The snow was firmly packed from the warm days of March, so it made the going all the easier.

We arrived at the shelter by early evening, and found again to our surprise that we were only sharing it with one family, even though it was still Oregon’s Spring Break. Folks must have gotten tired of the snow and decided to go play on the beach for their vacations.

This was the first snowshoe backpacking trip for everyone, so it was nice to know that we could do this awesome, adventurous thing with such ease. Since we were all still full of energy, it took almost no time to unpack our sleeping bags and get out to play in the snow.

Upon deciding a snowman was in order, she and Corey set to the task industriously.

It was certainly a peaceful way to spend a Spring evening.

We got the woodstove fired up and set out pots of snow to melt for cooking water. I must say, this was way easier than pumping from a stream with my backpacking filter.

We enjoyed a relaxing evening on the Forest Service bunks by the woodstove, dining on delicious pesto walnut pasta and sipping on cans of Oskar Blues Brewery’s  Tin-Fidy and Old Chubb, which have become my absolute favorite backpacking beers. We were perfectly warm and cozy in the shelter, and slept soundly through the night beside the stove.

We headed out early in the morning after a good breakfast of hot coffee, grits and hardboiled eggs, managing to make it down to the parking lot in less than an hour. It was another sunny morning and the snow was firm, crunchy and just right for snowshoeing. We even made it back into town by lunchtime. It was just that easy. 

Even though I’ve been a backpacker all my life, it was a whole new experience to travel up a mountain with snowshoes and a pack, and one I will be looking forward to next Winter. This will be especially fun with the new pair of snowshoes my partner and I scored at an end-of-the-season sale at our local outdoor gear rental shop. I am pleased to say for certain that Winters will never be dull around here. With a whole network of local backcountry snow shelters to explore, a great adventure partner to explore them with, a new pair of snowshoes and an adventuresome soul, I’ve got everything I need.