Clear Lake, located in the Cascade mountain range off hwy.126 near the hwy. 20 junction, is a year around outdoor adventure .If you have ever been to Clear Lake you know it is in a crater, so you drive down into the resort area. It is beautiful year around and just magical in the winter! The lake is frozen on the edges and all the snow makes it quiet and serene. You know other people are there, but the sounds are so muffled that you almost forget.
Winter Break is a time to be with family and friends. Just after Christmas we loaded up the truck and headed up to the mountains for the magic of snow and the memories that no toy can produce. This time we were with our friends Mike, Carrie, daughter Anna and her best friend Tanna. Our family, Fred, Dakota, Keele and myself, along with Dakota’s best friend Jake. We rented a large cabin that had a beautiful view of the lake from a large wrap around covered porch. You can book your cabin from here.
Mike and Carrie towed up their snowmobiles and we towed a small trailer loaded with food, riding gear, clothes, and anything else we thought we would need for nine people to be up in the mountains for a week. A storm had moved through the week before and there was a lot of snow! The National Weather service predicted more snow over the next week. Little did we know that it would drop over foot of snow the first night we were there! We were not sure we would be able to get out of the resort when we woke up the first morning. My husband got his first lesson in using tire chains on this trip, Mike was a great instructor.
The time we spent up there was filled with fun and laughter. The scenery was well worth the drive and the kids had so much fun playing in the deep fluffy snow. We do not get snow like this in the valley. The memories of this time with our two families will last a lifetime.