For the Love of Snow: Odell Lake

Frequent readers/viewers of this blog have probably noticed several key geographic features visible from the summit of Eagle Peak. One, Odell Lake, is kind of unavoidable. There's not that many lakes that are six miles long and a mile and a half wide in Oregon.

The fog rolls in on Odell Lake, January 31, 2010.

According to the Internet's most reliable of sources, Wikipedia (any students that might stumble upon this blog take note: Wikipedia is not an acceptable source for planning research, or any academic research for that matter. It is acceptable for trivia, however.), it was named for William Holman Odell by B. J. Pengra in July 1865 while they were making a preliminary survey for the Oregon Central Military Road, which would later become Oregon Route 58. The lake fills a basin carved by a glacier, and the resulting terminal moraine confines the water along the lake's southeast shore.

Well, isn't that interesting. Other notable facts... Odell lake is noted for Kokanee fishing and has the state record Mackinaw Trout (Lake Trout). Here's some additional facts, courtesy of the U.S. Geological Survey.Location Klamath County, Oregon

Coordinates 43°34′22N 121°5954 /43.57278°N 121.99833°W / 43.57278; -121.99833
Lake type natural lake without dam
Primary inflows Trapper Creek
Primary outflows Odell Creek
Catchment area 37 sq mi (96 km2)
Basin countries United States
Max. length 6 mi (9.7 km)
Max. width 1.5 mi (2.4 km)
Surface area 3,582 acres (1,450 ha)
Average depth 132 ft (40 m)
Max. depth 282 ft (86 m)
Water volume 473,900 acre•ft (0.5845 km3)
Residence time 8 years
Shore length 13.3 mi (21.4 km)

A couple of years ago we rented a pontoon boat up at Odell Lake Resort in June and tooled around the lake. It was a kick.

In case you didn't know, the resort is easily reached... unless there's four feet of snow (not a problem this winter).

Willamette Pass Ski Area from Odell Lake.

Sometimes you just gotta kick back, fish, and drink beer. This was sometimes. Sometimes is also preferable when the ice has melted, the sun is shining, and the fish are biting. We got 3 out of 4 on this day.