Fourth of July Weekend Backpacking

FRIDAY

After 1.5 miles of steady uphill from the trailhead, we got our first view of South Sister.   On the right edge of the trail past Dad, is a junction sign.  We headed right toward Moraine Lake.

Mom hiking toward Moraine Lake with Broken Top on the horizon.

South Sister about 1/2 a mile from Moraine Lake.

Looking back across Moraine Lake.  These are the marshy streams at the outlet of the lake, but Moraine Lake itself is much deeper than just a marsh.

The trail comes up at the low-point to the right of the rounded knob on the horizon.

The sun has set and we are still climbing.  We probably should not have left home at 3pm as that lead to a 6pm start, but it was fun to spend an extra night in the mountains.

We camped on a ridge above Moraine Lake.  We had crossed two or three small snowfields on the way up, but there wasn't much snow to be found this year.

Mom leading the way toward our campsite.

An evening view of Broken Top.  It was much darker out than it appears in the picture.

SATURDAY

South Sister on Saturday morning.

Looking south along the ridge we climbed up yesterday.  The white peak just right of center is Diamond Peak.  From here, we also saw the three main climbs on the Waldo 100K course: Maiden Peak, the Twins, and Mt. Fuji.

Mom and Dad on the horizon just before the descent down to Green Lakes.

Green Lakes with Broken Top in the background.  For the first time ever, there was no snow in the Green Lakes basin.  On the descent down to Green Lakes, we had to spend a lot more time on the rocks than in past years.  Most of the time we can glissade almost the entire descent unless the snow is too hard and we have to be a little careful about going too fast.

A moth on the snow.  I saw three moths this trip.  They are a little over 1 inch long, and we thought that they were hummingbird moths.

A crevasse at the foot of a rock outcropping on the way down to Green Lakes.

Looking across the snowfield toward the lava flow on our way down to Green Lakes.  Typically much more of this area is covered with snow.

Looking back up toward South Sister on the way down to Green Lakes.  The summit of South Sister sits behind the red outcropping to the right of center on the horizon.

South Sister from Green Lakes.  The top of South Sister sits behind the high point red outcropping in the center of the picture.  We descended down to Green Lakes from the left of the snow-covered grey point in the left of the picture.

Paintbrush and heather along Green Lakes.  This year we waded through the outlet of Green Lakes.  We were worried it would be a cold crossing for the morning, but the water temperature was pretty mild.

Paintbrush along Green Lakes.  Looks like I got my camera focused on the stalk of the flower as opposed to the flower itself.  There were quite a few paintbrush out along the lakes and streams we passed.

After making our way to the far side of Green Lakes, we headed up the climbers trail toward the summit of Broken Top.  After climbing through some barren meadows, the trail catches the ridge to the left of the peak and follows it to the top.

Looking out across the Gold Lake basin from the ridge on Broken Top.

North Sister on the horizon.  From here we could see Three Fingered Jack, Mt. Jefferson, Mt. Hood, and Mt. Adams to the north of North Sister.  In the foreground, Gold Lake is at the right edge of the green meadow on the left side of the picture.  There are a few more lakes above Gold Lake hidden in the trees.

Descending down the ridge off Broken Top.  This year, we didn't head up toward the summit since we were a little tired from the late arrival yesterday.  We ended up getting in the tent a little after 10pm.  On the horizon is South, Middle, and North Sister.  The climbers trail meets the ridge we are descending at the low point.  We continued down the ridge and after a little climbing reaching some easy downhill hiking which lead us to the trail between Gold Lake and Green Lakes.

Middle and North Sister, with the cascade volcanoes lined up to the north.  Gold Lake is slightly visible on the right edge of the green meadow below North Sister.

Looking across the lava flows above Green Lakes.  Green Lakes is out of view to the left.  The rounded knob below the horizon about 1/8 of the way across the picture from the left edge, is the same knob that we hiked past on the first day climbing up to Moraine Lake.

Broken Top.  The trail follows this ridge.  It doesn't look too promising from below, but there is a defined trail the entire length of the ridge.  The summit block requires about 10 feet of climbing.  Its not a difficult pitch to climb, but the rocks have some loose scree on them and if you fell, you'd be headed down the mountain.

Mom and Dad making their way back to the top of the ridge.  After the climbers trail takes off from the low point, there is not much of a trail along the ridge.  With a few big rock outcroppings we found it easier to sidehill around them, then climb back up to the ridge.

Dad with South Sister in the background.  All the green plants at Dad's feet had bright purple flowers, but that is not showing up in this picture.

A paintbrush in the rocks.  I'm always impressed how plants find a place to grow in any environment.

Some easing hiking at the far end of the ridge.  From here its mostly smooth hiking down to the trail.

Green Lakes.  Behind us is the spring which leads into upper Green Lake.  We stopped here to get water.  I'm always impressed at the volume of water flowing out of the hillside.

Looking across Green Lakes basin.  Broken top is in the left edge of the picture and Mt. Bachelor is right of center.

Springs feeding into Green Lakes from the base of South Sister.  This year, there seemed to be more springs than ever.  Its pretty cool to watch the water bubbling out of the ground.

Mt. Bachelor looking across the pumice planes.  This is the same stretch of ground where I took a picture of Mom and Dad before we headed down toward Green Lakes.

Paintbrush along a small snowmelt creek.

SUNDAY

Our snowmelt creek froze overnight.  Good thing we filled up with water in the Saturday afternoon.

Dad climbing up toward South Sister with Mt. Bachelor over his left shoulder.

South Sister.  The trail follows the ridge to the left of the snowfield.  There was no snow on the ridge between the lake and the summit.  We have always had to cross at least some snow in the past.

The summit of South Sister.  Some years we head straight across the snow on the summit and other years we follow the rim.  With the new lake at the summit, we had no choice but to follow the rim.

We've been climbing South Sister since 2004.  We typically come up in July and September and we have never seen a lake here.  Our theory was that the record setting heat wave caused the snow to melt so fast that the ground could not absorb it forming this lake.  But it could have been the summer-like temperatures starting in April.

Teardrop pool.  Deeper than ever this year, but we've seen this pool a few times before.

Looking down from the summit of South Sister.  Broken top is out of view to the right and North and Middle Sister are out of view to the left.

Dad and Mom with Middle and North Sister in the background.

Me with Middle and North Sister in the background.  Mom took this picture... I'm not that talented.

Looking down on Broken Top.  Maybe my favorite picture from the entire trip.

Middle Sister and North Sister.  In addition to Three Fingered Jack, Mt. Jefferson, Mt. Hood, and Mt. Adams, we could see Mt. St. Helens and Mt. Rainier.

Two pools on top...cool, but a bit frightening.

This year we hiked all the way around the rim on the summit of South Sister.  We took a while on top and scouted out how to head down the backside of South Sister.  We found one route which looked promising, but we decided that the descent was going to take too long.

The rocky point below the horizon is The Husband.

The two pools on the summit of South Sister.

A lot has burned to the west of South Sister.

Teardrop Pool with South Sister summit in the background.

Descending down from South Sister on the main trail.  In the center of the picture is a blue pool at the base of a snowfield.  The pool was so clear that we could see where the edge of the snow stopped below the water.  Unfortunately its a little too small to see it clearly in the picture.

Hiking cross country toward Leconte Crater.  Leconte Crater is just above Mom's head.  Its half tree covered and half open.

South Sister from the plains below.

This tree is partially tipped over, presumably by the wind.  The roots that were pulled above the ground were orange and hairy.  They looked weird.

Climbing up Leconte Crater.

Looking west from about halfway up Leconte Crater.

Dad leading the way up the trail to the top of Leconte trail.  We caught the trail after going cross-country toward the top of the crater.  We followed the trail on the way down, but it petered out before reaching the main trail.

A little pool of water in Leconte Crater.  South Sister is in the background.

Broken Top from the rim of Leconte Crater.

Leconte Crater.  We climbed up the left side.

South Sister.  Directly below the summit is a trail leading into a lava field.  In years past we've skied to the top of the lava field.  There was no skiing this year.

Lichen shining like a beacon in the cones and needles.

Making our way back up to our tent site.  Just to the right of the base of the snowfield is Moraine Lake.

A grey ridge with Mt. Bachelor poking out to the left.

MONDAY

Diamond Peak is in the center of this picture on the horizon.

Looking down on Moraine Lake.  We followed this grey ridge down to Moraine Lake before catching the trail and heading back to the trailhead.

Heading out.  Moraine Lake with South Sister in the background.  In about an hour we will be back at the trailhead.

 

Memorial Day Backpacking

This year we headed to Pole Creek with near-record temperatures forecast for Memorial Day weekend.  With high elevation, snow, and sunny, clear skies, we made sure to lather up with sunscreen before we headed up the Pole Creek trail.

The first few miles were dusty, passing through the burn left by the 2012 Pole Creek Fire.  We followed the trail as long as we could until it became covered with snow.  Then we headed cross country toward North and Middle Sister.

This year we were able to hike on bare ground longer than ever before which lead to a short climb through the snow to reach a good spot to camp.  Although Saturday was supposed to be the coolest day, the afternoon was hot and when the sun passed behind a ridge of North Sister, the instant drop in temperature was appreciated.

South Sister

Sunday morning we put on our skis and made our way to the basin below Middle Sister.  The morning snow was pretty firm despite the temperature not dropping too much over night.

At the bottom of the snowfield we ran into some sun-cups which we hadn't had to deal with before.  The skiing was a bit slow on the rough terrain but we continued on with hopes of finding smoother snow above.

As we climbed up toward the Middle Sister saddle, we could see a few groups climbing up ahead of us.  The skiing was slow as the snow was firm and slick, so we ended up taking to the bare ridge and carried our skis for a while.  I was a little worried that it might not be worth skiing this high as all the snow below us would be pretty hard to ski through on the way down.

After leaving the ridge was started skiing again and the snow was a little better.  However, just a little higher up the slopes were all smooth and the snow was not nearly as heavy as in years past which led to some of the best skiing conditions we've had over Memorial Day weekend.

Looking east toward Broken Top and South Sister, we could see lots of bare ridges, exposed by the snow having already melted out.  One meadow that we've skied across in years past was now bare ground.

As we climbed toward the saddle, the cool breeze blowing across the snow felt good as the day was beginning to heat up.  After some more climbing we reached the saddle and stopped to have a snack and get something to drink.

Broken Top

Mom and Dad with North Sister in the background

North Sister

Mom and Dad with North Sister in the background

Looking northeast toward Bend

Middle Sister

Broken Top, Mt. Bachelor, and South Sister

Sitting at the saddle, we watched one group descend from the top of Middle Sister.  There is one steep pitch that can be tricky to negotiate and if often where we turn around if the conditions aren't good.  As the  first, large group descended a second group had climbed up to the steep pitch.

Instead of waiting, the first group was pretty slow, the second group decided to traverse across the bottom of the pitch.  We could only follow their progress for a few minutes before they rounded a corner and were out of sight.

After we finished our snack we climbed up the ridge toward Middle Sister until we were at the bottom of the pitch.  We've been turned around at this point a few times, so we decided to try the traverse and to see if that would be easier.

The first hundred yards of the traverse were on a fairly steep side slope and the steps were not great.  We pushed on as we at least wanted to see what was around the corner.  When we rounded the corner, the slope lessened and soon we were able to start switchbacking uphill toward the summit.  This was definitely the way to go.

After a few more minutes of climbing we were on top.  From the summit of Middle Sister, Mt. Adams and Mt. St. Helens, both in Washington, are visible.  To the south, Mt. Thielsen in southern Oregon, and to the west, Mary's Peak, a little west of Corvallis.  It is truly amazing to be able to a hundred miles in every direction.

We were lucky to have a still day as we were able to hang out on the summit for a few minutes and take in the view.  Heading down was pretty quick although we had to take our time along the traverse across the base of the steep section.  Soon we were back at the saddle where we put on our skis and headed down.

The upper descent from the Middle Sister saddle was great skiing so we got to make some nice turns on the way down.  Unfortunately the fun had to come to an end and soon we were in the sun-cupped snow at the base of the slope.  After a slipping and sliding through the sun-cups we made our way back to the tent.

Looking north along the Cascade volcanoes

Broken Top, Mt. Bachelor, and South Sister from the top of Middle Sister

South Sister

North Sister

No sunburn this year!

Hot, sunny weather, high elevation, and snow...a great combination for a wicked sunburn

Mom and Dad on top

Descending from Middle Sister

North Sister

North Sister

Lots of exposed rocks this year

Sun-cupped snow at the base of the snow slopes leading down from Middle Sister

Monday we skied toward North Sister before heading home.  The snowfield leading up to North Sister was much more melted out than in years past.  After skiing to the top of the snow field, we left the skis and climbed up the ridge a little further to get a few last views before heading home.

The descent down the snowfield was a little sun-cupped so the skiing was a little rough.  However, it didn't take long to back down to the tent.  This year we decided to put the skis on the packs from the get go.  Some years we try to ski a little ways down through the trees with our packs on, but with the lack of snow, we decided we were best off walking.

That was a good call as it only took about half an hour to reach bare ground and the trail.  The hike back to the car was dusty and warm as there was no shade in the burn.  But it didn't take as long as last year as all the down trees that had fallen across the trail last year were now cut out.

North Sister

Had to carry the skis here....never had to worry about that before

Looking east from the base of North Sister

Mom with North Sister in the background

North Sister