Page 68 - Southern Oregon Magazine Fall 2018

the good life | the great outdoors

Having grown up in the Midwest, one thing in particular took me a
while to adjust to—the seasons aren’t when my Midwest calendar and
I expect them to be.

Summer isn’t really in full swing here until July and lasts until
September—I expected May through August. Fall is awesome and lasts
until November—I expected September through October.

I grew up with only one winter and one spring. But here we have two
of each. “First winter” takes place from Thanksgiving through mid-
January, then it’s spring until March. “Second winter” happens from
March until the end of April, then “second spring” takes over and runs
through early June.

Basically, the weather is all over the place and doesn’t fit into what many
of us traditionally think of as the four seasons (with or without Frankie
Valli). That’s a good thing though! You learn to adapt, and there’s no
better place to adapt than in the outdoors of Southern Oregon.

I would love to be skiing in January and February, but when it’s 65
degrees and sunny, the skiing isn’t all that great unless we had a ton of
snow in “first winter.” The climbing, biking, hiking, and trail running
are awesome though.

Last winter the snow lasted only about a month. There wasn’t much
skiing available, but the backpacking was great. Trails were in great
shape. You didn’t have to camp in the snow, although snow camping is
fun. Not many people will be out there, because folks will be trying
to find snow for skiing. There’s water everywhere, so no worries about
finding a water source for drinking and cooking water. The cooler tem-
peratures make hiking more enjoyable than in the sweltering heat of
summer, and there’s no smoke. If you’re the type of hiker who can’t

66 www.southernoregonmagazine.com | fall 2018