Trip Report
Camp Smith
Platt Lake, Oregon
August 11–25, 1974
Location:
Platt Lake, Oregon
(WGS84) 43° 59' 35" North, 121° 52' 39" West
UTM Zone 10, 589900 easting, 4871700 northing
Elevation: 5400 ft. (1645 m)
The 47th Annual Summer Outing was held at Platt Lake from August 11 through 25. This was the second of our scheduled outings.
The first was to be a drive-in during July, but because of snow conditions had to be postponed. This second outing was to be held at a lake by Hinton Creek but because of snow the location was changed. Platt Lake is southwest of Horse Lake at an elevation of 5300 ft. It was reached by a hike in from Elk Lake past Horse Lake then along the McBee Trail, a total distance of about five miles from the cars. It was a medium sized lake with a rocky, wooded shoreline and had a rocky point projecting out into the water. The swimmers reported that the temperature of the water was just right for swimming. Just above camp was a rocky bluff which we climbed for a good view of two of the Sisters, Broken Top and the Bachelor and to enjoy the sunsets in the evening.
Attendance in Camp had a tendency to fluctuate due to various reasons. We started out with ten then dropped to six but three more came in. The first part of the second week we lost four but one more came back in. We closed camp with just five people left. Again, to save ourselves some money, we did our own cooking. Everybody helped out. The men made sure we had wood for the stove and then helped turn pancakes for breakfasts. The ladies worked together in preparing our meals which usually consisted of soups, “Top-of-the-stove” casserole dishes, baked dessert or a pudding and hot muffins or cornbread.
The breads and desserts were baked in a reflecting oven. The second week fishing in lakes around the area produced a couple of meals of trout and in addition the packer, Mr. Wetzel, paid us a visit the middle weekend bringing in fresh vegetables from his garden and melons for us which was certainly a welcome change from our diet of dehydrated foods.
Our packers were Chuck Wetzel and Jim Stout from Oakridge. They did an excellent job for us just like they did last year. In fact Chuck W. was so impressed by our camp that the next time we come into this area he wants to spend a week of his vacation in camp with us.
Mosquitos were bad the first week but eased up some the second week. Sunday night of the middle week it rained on us and Monday was a misty, drippy wet day, but Tuesday in cleared up. Many lakes were visited within a radius of about four miles from camp. Horse Mtn. was climbed many times as it was close to our lake. Red Lake, which is north of Horse Lake was was climbed the second week.
Though attendance at camp was small in number, most of the people there had an enjoyable time exploring the area. Those in attendance were: Lorene Bressler, Mary Bridgeman, Donn Chase, Sharon Gilman, Tori Gilman, Chuck Haddad, Allethe, Colin and Stuart Macdonald, Rich Sanders, Helen Smith and Paula Vehrs.
