Trapper Creek Campground

Stayed at this campground in late July and couldn’t have asked for better weather. We stayed two different sites- one closer to hwy (can’t recall the site #), then one right on the creek (#3). Both were good size. Creek site was far superior due to the extremely large size site and sound of the babbling brook which drowned out the traffic of the hwy. Easy creek access using a trail from our site, and lake access only a short walk away. This campground has so much potential, but the proximity to the hwy and railroad were a bit of a bummer. Trains kept us up our first two nights, so earplugs are a must. If you can, try to get a site near the creek or lake where it’s a lot quieter at night. Amenities at the campground are what you’d expect: access to potable water, fairly clean pit toilets. Great spot for families, since there are different lakes all the way up and down the hwy in this area. Bend is also fairly close if you’re interested in taking a day trip. The small resort- type campground about a mile away had a general store with ice, wood and some basic food items (hot dogs, etc.). If you’re booking sites in the latter half of summer #1 bring some bug spray (not a huge deal, but will come in handy) and #2 keep an eye on campfire burn bans/ air quality reports before you a arrive, as wildfire season can put a damper on your plans.

Campground review

Trapper creek is located just off hwy 58 on the shores of the fishing lake Odell, but is far enough off the road to quiet the hwy noise. It is a smaller primitive site with around 30 fairly private and good sized sites, that can be reserved ahead of time via recreation.gov. It is nicely wooded with green surrounding, and a little creek flowing behind adds a nice background to the atmosphere.

They offer RV sites as well as tent, with water bibs, dish water troughs, pit toilets and garbage/recycling services. They also have wood sales if you didn't find any along 58 on your way up.

There is a boat landing, but if you head further down the road to Shelter cove resort, they also have boat rentals. Also there, they have a little general store, cafe, and public pay laundry and showers. These aren't technically amenities of Trapper creek, but can be accessed by non guests of Shelter cove. They cater to all as this is a popular stop off for PCT thru-hikers.

Nearby I found many hiking opportunities, with the Diamond peak wilderness trail head just across from the grounds. As well as a PCT section hike just across hwy 58 at Willamette pass ski area. Both have many a connector trails and can be used for backpacking trips. Wilderness pass is required to pack into the Diamond peak wilderness. It just takes a moment to fill out at the trail head and is worth taking the time. Hiking, boating, fishing or just lounging by the lake, there are tons of ways to enjoy this campground and surrounding areas.

Product review

As a Ranger of The Dyrt I have the awesome opportunity to test products from outdoor companies every so often. This is my test review of the compression socks from https://www.lilytrotters.com/

I received these last year for winning the Oregon camping contest. I wasn't sure what to do at first as these socks are mainly made for women. I ordered the largest size in black, but was still unsure if they would work for me. When I received them, I thought "no way", and put them aside until I figured what to do with them.

On a whim I decided to try them on before my trip to Crater Lake and am so glad I did! I am a larger dude with pretty big calves and these surprisingly fit! They are tight, but they are supposed to be. I wore them for the first time when I hiked the Rosary lakes section of the PCT just across hwy 58 from Trapper creek. This was an 11 mi. round trip hike and after just completing another 11 miles the day before, both with a 40 lbs pack. I'm no scientist, but after the first mile or so, my legs were losing the soreness from the day before and warming up nicely. They felt so good that I decided to continue the trail past the lakes and up a black diamond ski run of Willamette pass ski area to find a chair lift, and an incredible view of Diamond peak, Odell lake and Trapper creek campground below.

I love these socks so much, I may have to get another pair or two, and it looks like they now have calf sleeves. If only they did knee sleeves, still might have to try. I highly recommend, even if you just use them as recoup socks for after a hike, they are great!

https://www.lilytrotters.com/collections/lily-trotters-signature-collection/products/totally-solids

Campsite Review: Trapper Creek

Trapper Creek is the campground right down the road from Shelter Cove Resort along Odell Lake. Shelter Cove was a resupply stop for my husband and I on our PCT adventure and our friend met us with our box and we all camped together. We accessed everything via foot but getting there via car is fairly easy. The campground is a standard campground with picnic tables, fire pit, pit toilets (some of the cleanest and best smelling pit toilets I have ever used), garbage facilities, and designated spots for either tents with car parking or campers. But because it is close to the Shelter Cove Resort, you have the ability to use some of their amenities. These include paid (coin operated) showers and laundry, a restaurant, general store, and lake access. The restaurant was good and prices were reasonable. The general store has a variety of stuff for both campers and hikers.

Besides for the super cleanliness and cinnamon smell of the pit toilets, there is nothing extraordinary about the campground. It is a standard national forest campground with a one-way road to access the various spots. The spaces are pretty large—we easily fit two 3-person tents in one space and probably could have fit another. The only thing that I didn’t really like is my tent location was right next to our neighbor. There was a large fallen tree log separating but we could easily see into each other’s sites. Our friend set her tent up on the other side of the spot and was surrounded by trees. The other bummer part was not the camp site but rather the timing. Being there is July meant lots of mosquitoes. We were able to make a smoke fire to help but the smoke went right to our neighbors which I am not sure they appreciated or not.

Quick summary: Trapper Creek is a great option if you don’t want to pay the higher price of the camping at Shelter Cove but still have the benefits of a lake side resort. The sites are pretty standard for national forest campgrounds and the pit toilets are super clean. If you want to stay near Odell Lake this is a great option.

Gear Review: Ledlenser MH6 Headlamp

As a Ranger of The Dyrt, I am given the opportunity to try out gear. And for my month long trip along the Oregon section of the PCT, I was given the privilege of testing out the Ledlenser MH6 Headlamp. While this gear review is attached to a campsite I stayed at a little over halfway through my trip, this gear review is for my month long experience with the product (so some of the pictures may be before or after my stay at Trapper Creek).

The MH6 headlamp is a rechargeable LED headlamp. It has three settings—high, low, and pulsating and comes with its own recharging cord. I really wanted to use this headlamp so much more than I did. But because we were hiking all month, 15-20+ miles per day in July, we were usually in bed (and hopefully asleep) before the sun went down and awake when the sun came up. That being said, when we did use the headlamp it was primarily when we were reading or journaling in the tent or when we were hanging around campgrounds on our rest days.

First observations: This headlamp is bright! The high setting is awesome for walking along trails or getting back to your campsite. And the low setting is perfect for inside a small space (like your tent) without blinding your tent mate. It also has a couple of adjustment options. You can adjust the zoom of the beam to be focused or wide you can also adjust the direction of the beam up and down. Therefore, when you are lying in bed, you can find your comfortable position then adjust your light angle as needed. When you are walking you can also walk with your head up while having the beam point more down to the ground and not blind on-coming people. The light is not tiny but it isn’t huge either. Same goes for weight. It is not and ultralight lamp (it is just under a half pound) but it is not super heavy that you won’t want to bring it backpacking. Plus it is rechargeable so you don’t have to worry about bringing extra batteries just for the lamp, you can use your external battery pack to recharge as needed. It works well for the luxury lightweight backpacker. One final note about the recharging: it comes with its own cord (micro HDMI to USB) so you need to be sure to bring something that can source the charge. This can be an external battery pack (almost a necessity for backpackers these days) or a USB adapter for your car. We only had to recharge our lamp once the whole month and I didn’t leave with it fully charged so it has a decent battery life if it is not used all the time.

The strap is a single, around the head (as opposed to having an additional strap that goes front to back) that is easily adjustable. The strap is quite comfortable. The only things that I wasn’t a huge fan of were that the light itself was a little big for my forehead. It fit my husband quite well, though. Also I would have liked a small carry case or stuff stack that I could keep the cord and lamp together and offer it a little protection while it is being stuffed in and out of my pack. I ended up using a small sack I already had but if the company provided one that would be cooler plus it would have the company name/logo present somewhere else. The last thing is that the recharge plug is directly into the battery. So, you need to open the back case to charge it. I didn't find it good or bad, it was just something different.

Overall, I thought this was a great headlamp that will work for all our camping and backpacking needs for years to come.