Cabin Fever Chronicles – Getting Outdoors with Rod

A glassy morning lakefront view.

Timothy Lake, about 12 miles south of Mount Hood, within 75 miles of Portland, has been my favorite quick getaway camping spot for years. While it can fill up on weekends, weekdays it is always possible to get a spot without a reservation.

Happy Hour at the Picnic Table

In July 2019 I met up with my friends Laura, Jeff, Jason and Julie.

We stayed at Gone Creek Campground. This campground had just been given some enhancements by owner Portland General Electric. Enhancements included a new dock, more gravel for the roads, and new toilet facilities. Some of the campsites had been “leveled” with heavy machinery, and the results were not always improvements. For example, sometimes there were less tent sites than before!

It was beautiful weather. Just a few clouds and very comfortable. And no bugs to worry about.

Jason and Julie brought a tandem kayak. They also had crayfish traps, and later in the day, they went out and set the traps whilst Laura, Jeff and I started dinner preparations.

They set out a line of traps, with I think some raw chicken for bait. These were soaked maybe an hour or so.

It only took that long for a nice haul of crawdads! Jason and Julie showed up with enough for all of us.

These crayfish were at most 4″ long. Did you know there are crayfish in Tasmania as big as goliath lobsters!? That’s right. A Giant Tasmanian Crayfish can weigh as much as 13 lbs and 31″ long!

Cooking crawdads is a simple affair. Some seasoning like old bay, boiled or steamed. Then you just take the shell apart and eat. We had some hot sauce which went well. It’s work, but super fun!

Each of us had a plate. Lots to go around!

Next time someone offers me a plate of crayfish I’ll accept for sure!