Winter walks

It's not just summer fun. Conservation group Oregon Wild leads snowshoe hikes to the places they work to protect for future generations.

Snowshoers hit the trail on a previous outing to Twin Lakes sponsored by Oregon Wild. / Photo courtesy of Sean Stevens of Oregon Wild

Oregon Wild offers guided snowshoe hikes

Nothing sells a conservation message more than a walk on the wild side. And doing it during the winter adds a whole new dimension to the appreciation.

"If you've never snowshoed and you're an avid hiker, snowshoeing is a way to see the forest and to see Oregon's back country in a completely different way," said Sean Stevens of Oregon Wild. "It's really a unique experience seeing the forest covered in snow. It just really brings a sense of solitude and wonder; it's really different. Everything seems quieter and feels calmer. And a fresh coating of snow can do wonders for the eyes."

That's the goal of the annual January snowshoe hiking series offered by the education and advocacy group, said Stevens, a communications assistant for the Portland-based nonprofit.

"If you've never been snowshoeing, you really do need to experience it," he said. And with Oregon Wild, he said, "there's a little bit of added information on the ecology and ... the history and the importance of the place from a conservation perspective."

The seven guided, interpretive hikes cover topics from tree identification and history to just gaining an appreciation for the natural beauty.

Distances are three to four miles, with no more than 800 feet of elevation gain. Carpools depart Portland at 9 a.m. and return about 5 p.m.

"The rest of the year, we do a little bit more variation of difficulty," Stevens said about the spring and summer Oregon Wild hiking series. "For the snowshoes, we try to keep them pretty much beginner level. The general rule with snowshoeing is if you can hike six miles, you can snowshoe four miles.

Five of the outings — one of which, Twin Lakes, repeats — are on the Mount Hood National Forest with the other two on the Willamette National Forest.

Two hikes will be held on Jan. 28, a moderately strenuous snowshoe to Marilyn Lakes and a novice/intermediate walk to Salmon River Meadows.

All are on Saturdays except the Jan. 19 trek to Mirror Lake.

There is no charge, but participants must have or rent snowshoes and trekking poles, if they want to use them, and Sno-Park permits are required for vehicles at some of the trailheads.

Stevens is the leader for the final trek in the series, a snowshoe to Salmon River Meadows.

"With our entire hikes program year-round, the reason that we started it and grown it over the years is that we really think it's valuable to get people out to these places, to show them why they're special and hope that they get involved to keep them as they are," he said.