Odell Butte

March 16, 2002

It was a very wild, winter day with heavy snowfall. Big trucks were spread all over highway 58 and the towing (and tire chain) business was booming. I’ve never seen as many law enforcement vehicles on this road. Fortunately, our two Suburus handled the slippery conditions without any problems. The snow on Odell Butte was somewhat drier than that at Willamette Pass and made for good skiing. The volume of new snow (a foot or more?) did make breaking trail a good workout. All of us got fairly close to the summit — but only those willing to tolerate fierce icy winds braved the final few hundred yards to the top. A couple of the die-hard backcountry skiers (Harold Thompson with his superlative compass skills and Steve Goins with his flawless GPS expertise) came down through the trees and managed to end up precisely at the bottom of the trail to join the rest of us (leader, Bill Montgomery, Beki Ries-Montgomery, Charlie Van Deuser and Janet Reed.) Despite the utter lack of view, it was a surprisingly fun trip. Sometimes it’s better not to let bad weather scare you off.

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