As soon as I pulled into the parking lot at Anthony Lakes Ski Resort, I knew it was going to be a life-changing day on the mountain.

Despite skiing and snowboarding for over 20 years, I had never experienced a backcountry trip, riding untouched powder in wild terrain. I'll admit, I was a bit nervous strapping on an avalanche beacon for the first time knowing that there's a chance you could be forced to rely on it if you get lost, fall into a tree well or are trapped in a slide. But knowing we had an experienced guide, the excitement that comes with riding some of the best snow the state of Oregon has to offer greatly outweighed those concerns.

Anthony Lakes is a small and relatively unknown resort located roughly 300 miles east of Portland and is renowned among those who had been lucky enough to ride there for short lift lines and consistently fantastic snow quality due to it being the highest ski area base elevation in Oregon at 7,100 feet. But arguably the best feature Anthony Lakes has to offer are their snow cat trips.

After a five-hour drive the day before, I arrived at the lodge where you sign a waiver, meet your guide and fellow riders and get instructions about how your avalanche beacon works, what to do if you get lost and receive a brief rundown of the rules of the mountain. Once you board the snow cat, your guide gives you a layout of the mountain and details about the areas you will be riding for the day. Most of the terrain accessed by the snow cat lies adjacent to the resort, and the drop off point sits higher up that the unload point highest chairlift at Anthony Lakes, nearly 9,000 feet elevation.

Each snow cat trip lasts from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and provides skiers and snowboarders around 8-10 trips up the mountain on a given day. The cat holds 12 riders plus your guide and a ski patrol representative in case first aid is needed during the excursion.

Instead of trying to explain the sensation of carving turns into some of the finest champagne powder Eastern Oregon has to offer, I strapped a camera to my helmet and let the images speak for themselves. In the video above, take a look at my day of backcountry skiing at Anthony Lakes. If that kind of experience looks like something you want to try, make sure you peruse the details below for information about how to get there, the cost and what you need to know before you hit the road.

Getting there: The Address is 47500 Anthony Lakes Hwy, North Powder, OR 97867. Anthony Lakes Ski Resort is 19 miles west of the North Powder Exit 285 off Interstate 84 on a well maintained all-weather road.

Where to stay: If you want an luxury overnight experience, I highly recommend staying at the Geiser Grand Hotel in downtown Baker City. The hotel is steeped in history and is beautifully crafted. The rooms are large and exceptionally designed while the hotel is within walking distance of the best local restaurants and watering holes Baker City has to offer.

Cost: Roughly $200 per night

Address: 1996 Main St, Baker City, OR 97814

Phone: (541) 523-1889

If you want to do things on the cheap, there is just one hotel in the town of North Powder - The North Powder Motel - which is a bit closer to Anthony Lakes than Baker City. Rooms are cheap and clean and they do sometimes have special "ski and stay" offers that get you discounted lift tickets for Anthony Lakes Ski Resort. They do not have a website and you can;t make reservations through a third party site like Expedia, so you'll need to call the hotel for availability and pricing details.

Cost: Roughly $50 per night

Address: 850 2nd St, North Powder, OR 97867

Phone: (541) 898-2829

If you have a larger group and want to stay even closer to the slopes, Anthony Lakes has just recently started offering yurts at the mountain. This is a great option if you don't want to wake up early and make the one-hour drive to the mountain in the morning.

Cost: $200 per night, $250 on holiday weekends

Address: 47500 Anthony Lakes Hwy, North Powder, OR 97867

Phone: (541) 856-3277

Snow cat pricing: These trips run Friday, Saturday and Sunday during the winter. A seat on the snow cat for the day costs $200 per person and usually it must be fully booked to make a reservation ($1,600), so you'll want to get a crew of at least 8 friends together and reserve the entire cat if you can. Once bookings are filled, Anthony Lakes does at times offer single seats on cat trips, but those can be hard to come by. Visit the Anthony Lakes Snow Cat FAQ page for more information, or contact Chelsea Judy via email or by phone for inquiries: (541) 856-3277, extension 12

If you're feeling lucky, local outdoor store Next Adventure - who bill themselves as Portland's Powder Connection - book several cat trips to Anthony Lakes throughout the year for customers and clients that they raffle off, award to contest winners or offer special trips at a really nice discount. For example, Next Adventure's Girl Pow program offer a few all-women trips to Anthony Lakes that includes lodging for a night at the historic Geiser Grand Hotel and a spot on the snow cat the next day for $350 per person. That's a steal.

What you need to know about the snow cat: Make sure to bring a backpack on your trip. There is no going back to the lodge or parking lot during the day, so make sure you have a tool to adjust your ski/snowboard equipment, extra camera batteries in there as well as spare gloves or a place for extra layers. Don't worry about bringing food. Lunch and snacks are provided throughout the day as well as hot chocolate and water.

Did I miss anything you wanted to know? If you have questions about my Anthony Lakes snow cat experience or wanted to add anything I may have left out, please sign in and feel free to post questions or recommendations in the comments section of this story.

-- Tim Brown, The Oregonian/OregonLive

Twitter: @timfsbrown