THREE SISTERS

Our big trips usually include at least one extended backpacking trip in the wilderness. You can see more by car camping, day hiking, and hitting different areas. However, extended backpacking trips enable me to see better. I’ll gladly concede some nice hikes and tourist attractions if can exchange them for a true wilderness experience. Those extended forays into the wild do more for my mind and soul than any dayhike ever can.

For this year’s trip we planned a 6-day backpacking trip around the Three Sisters. The Three Sisters are snow and glacier-covered volcanoes in central Oregon. They are the third, fourth, and fifth highest peaks in the state. They are completely enclosed inside a federally designated wilderness area, and an extensive trail system creates a number of possible loops around the peaks.

Our plan was to start near McKenzie Pass, on the north side of the wilderness. We’d make a loop using the Pacific Crest Trail, the Green Lakes Trail, and several other connecting trails. We could camp almost anywhere along the way, so we’d have a good bit of flexibility with our route. I also wanted to climb South Sister, the tallest of the sisters, during the hike. That would probably happen on the afternoon of the third day, or the morning of the fourth depending on the weather on how the hike went.

We made one concession to flexibility. We had to start the trip on Thursday July 7^th. I’d obtained a special permit to camp in the Obsidian Limited Entry area on the northwest side of North Sister that first night. I had a specific spot in mind. It would require some off-trail hiking, but there is a dramatic cliff in the area with a great view to the northwest. It looked like an idea spot for sunset, and for viewing alpenglow on North Sister.

We left Crater Lake National Park on Wednesday evening and drove up through Bend, Oregon, and the small town of Sisters, Oregon. We stopped at Lava Camp, which is near the trailhead. There are free campsites there. Amenities are limited to picnic tables, fire pits, and outhouses, but that was all we really needed. Initially we stopped at a campsite near Lava Camp Lake, but the mosquitoes were fierce. After about 30 seconds we relocated to a breezy spot up on the ridge above. The bugs were still pretty bad, but the wind and a smoky fire kept them at bay. There was no water in the campground (except for the lake), which was a bit inconvenient. I was going to filter water from the lake when I met a couple in a nearby campsite. They had plenty of extra water and were happy to share it with us.

OPIE DILDOCK

The next morning we drove over to the Dee Wright Observatory, which is a small stone hut at McKenzie Pass. It was an overcast morning, but there were still great views of North Sister, Middle Sister, Mount Washington, and Mount Jefferson from here. We then drove back to parking area at a spur trail that leads up to the Pacific Crest Trail. Technically we could’ve started our hike on the PCT from McKenzie Pass, but that would’ve added several miles to our hike. We had over 10 miles to go to reach our intended campsite as it was, and I didn’t want to come up short.

There were a few other cars at the trailhead, and we met another couple there. They were doing the same hike, but in the reverse direction. The weather forecast didn’t look promising, and they thought going that way would be better. I wasn’t so sure. It was supposed to overcast on the first day, with rain moving in that night. After that, the next 3 days looked at least somewhat rainy. It didn’t sound like a total washout though, and rescheduling the hike wasn’t an option. When you plan a long backpacking trip, you just have to make the best of the conditions.

A steady climb through buggy forest brought us to the PCT. We followed it for a fairly short distance, before picking up an alternate trail to wooded North Matthieu Lake. The scenery is modest here, but it is a pleasant spot with some nice campsites. From there we climbed up to South Matthieu Lake. This lake is in a subalpine basin beneath several cinder cones. Although it was overcast, the view of North Sister was fantastic from here.

We had lunch there before rejoining the PCT. We followed it up into alpine country, hiking beneath several old craters. One of them, Yapoah Crater, had a beaten path up its steep face. I could resist going up for a better view. Christy was happy to wait at the bottom with our packs. From the top I had even better views of Mount Washington and Mount Jefferson and North Sister.

I returned to the trail, and we followed the PCT through a meadow that was a pink carpet of blooming heather. North Sister towered above us as we continued to climb. We eventually topped out at Opie Dildock Pass. Yes, that is the real name. The surrounding alpine country features nearly continuous views. I decided to make the most of the scenery with another side trip. I followed another beaten path before scrambling up a steep, icy hillside to the Collier Glacier Viewpoint. Wow! From that perch, I was looking straight at a river of ice tumbling down the North Face of North Sister. Below, numerous cloudy green and blue pools provided a splash of color to a landscape composed almost entirely of snow and ice and rock. That was a hard place to leave, but it was chilly up there, and Christy was waiting back at the trail.

The trail down from the pass was mostly snow-covered. In fact, we would spend most of the next couple of days hiking in the snow. We finally reached the Obsidian Limited Entry Area late that afternoon. By the time we reached Glacier Creek light rain was falling. The cloud level had dropped, obscuring all of the views. My intended campsite was still a couple of miles away, with about half of that being off-trail. There would be no sunset or alpenglow, and getting there would probably require extensive bushwhacking through the snow. To Christy’s great relief, I suggested an alternative. We left the PCT and followed a spur trail up Glacier Creek. The first couple of spots we passed were closed to camping, but we found a nice spot a bit farther up in a thick stand of evergreens. It was adjacent to the creek and a large open area ironically named Sunshine Meadows. We’ve been to several places with this name over the years, and it has rained every time.

The rain stopped just in time to set up camp. The clouds lifted briefly, just long enough to allow a few more views of North Sister and its glaciers. We managed to cook and eat dinner before the rain came back for good.

BAD FRIDAY

It rained all night, and Friday was nasty. I woke up at 6, probably because we’d gone to bed around sunset. There didn’t seem to be any hope for improvement, so we ate a quick breakfast, packed up, and hit the trail. It was wet, foggy, and cold, but at least the rain was pretty light. Most of the trail was snow-covered, too. At one point Christy got ahead of me, and I completely lost the trail in the snow and fog. I was bushwhacking around, using the GPS app on my phone trying to relocate it, when I twisted my ankle on a loose rock and fell hard. I twisted my opposite knee trying to catch myself and landed badly, banging my knee on a sharp lava rock. The pain was stunning, and I was afraid I’d really damaged something. I eventually got back on my feet and stumbled back onto the trail. After walking a bit my knee seemed ok, but tender. I caught up with Christy at Obsidian Falls, which is a tall, pretty waterfall on a small stream. Christy headed on, while I attempted to get photos despite the rain and lacking a tripod. Afterwards, I put my camera in its case and dropped it back in a plastic bag that I was using to keep my camera case from getting wet. I didn’t realize that the bag had a hole in it, and the camera fell through the bag, hit the ground, and started bouncing down a steep, snow-covered slope towards the creek. I dashed after it but lost my footing on the icy snow. My camera and I both came to rest against a large fallen tree. If it hadn’t been there, we probably would’ve ended up in the icy creek. Luckily the camera was in a padded case and wasn’t damaged. I was wet from sliding down the snowy bank, but largely unscathed.

The rest of the day was a long cold slog through rain, fog, and snow. Still, there were moments of beauty. There was a small pond surrounded by snow, reflecting the evergreens above in its still waters. Most notable were the many small plants with tiny droplets of water in the folds of their leaves. To my eyes, each droplet looked like a diamond.

We saw a few other hikers. There were a few PCT thru hikers, including one group of young women wearing shorts. It was barely above freezing, and those girls made me shiver looking at them. We also passed a German family that was pretty bummed by the weather. They were doing a long section hike on the PCT, but were thinking about bailing out. I told them that Saturday’s forecast looked somewhat better but more rain was expected on Sunday. After that, the forecast looked fantastic. I’m not sure if they were encouraged or discouraged by this news.

We reached Mesa Creek late that afternoon. There was a large meadow surrounding the stream, fringed by forest. My information indicated that it was the last reliable water source for several miles, and there were plenty of nice campsites to choose from. We stopped there and spent some quality time in the tent out of the rain. We attempted to play cards, but ended up napping. That evening the rain eased enough for me to get up and cook dinner. Then we followed up our lengthy afternoon nap with a good night of sleep.

DENIED

The official forecast for Saturday was either partly cloudy, mostly cloudy, or cloudy, depending on your source of information. Reality proved to be more interesting. If you were generous you could say that all of the forecasts were partially correct. When we went to bed Friday evening I was still holding out hope that we could summit South Sister Saturday afternoon. Partly cloudy would be great, and mostly cloudy would probably work, too. Cloudy could even be adequate conditions for a climb, if the clouds were high.

It was overcast with a few sprinkles when we woke. After breakfast we packed up and continued following the PCT south. The clouds persisted, but I still had high hopes that they would break. We left the PCT to hike across the Wickup Plain. This area is all wide-open meadows, and I’m sure it is very scenic in better conditions. The clouds were too low to allow much in the way of views, but at least it wasn’t raining. We circled the south side of South Sister and descended to Moraine Lake. This is where I’d planned to camp if we climbed the mountain that afternoon. Unfortunately, South Sister was still lost in the clouds. I considered doing it anyway, or camping and trying it in the morning. However, Sunday’s forecast was worse. An alternate plan began to form in my mind. We would have several more days in the area after our backpacking trip. What if we finished our backpacking trip early and did South Sister as a dayhike? That would be a longer hike, but it would still be doable in a day.

We continued past Moraine Lake and followed the trail above Goose Creek. Incredibly, sucker holes began to appear. Blue sky! Sunshine! The clouds began to lift, and Mount Bachelor, the next volcano to the south, appeared. Broken Top, another volcano, emerged to the east. We decided that this development was reason to stop for lunch. We plopped down in the sunshine, on an open hillside above a pair of small waterfalls on Goose Creek. In a true act of folly, I pulled out the tent and some of the other wet gear so it could dry in the sun.

Lunch lasted two hours, and we didn’t even have any alcohol. Unfortunately, South Sister never emerged from her cloud. If she had, we still could’ve doubled back to Moraine Lake and made a run at the summit. Instead, we continued down Goose Creek and then picked up the trail upstream along Falls Creek. We followed this beautiful stream through forest and meadow to Green Lakes. This trail was really busy with dayhikers, which was startling after seeing only a few other hikers over the first 2 ½ days. The Green Lakes area is scenic, with more meadows surrounding the alpine lakes below South Sister. There are many campsites here, and a whole maze of trails. We had a hell of a time finding our way through. My information suggested that we could go either way around the main lake. We ended up going down the middle and washed up on a peninsula. Sigh. We backtracked, wandered around a bit, and even bushwhacked a little. Finally, we found our way around the east side of the lake. As we hiked along here, South Sister was threatening to break out of the clouds. At one point we were sure it was going to happen, and then….it didn’t. In fact, it clouded back up and the wind began to howl. Two minutes later it was sleeting.

We climbed from Green Lakes to Green Lakes Pass as the weather continued to deteriorate. Originally I planned to camp at Green Lakes Pass, but that idea was laughable. The wind was howling there, and it was raining, sleeting, and snowing. There was still a lot of snow on the ground, too. We hurried down the far side of the pass, hoping that South Sister’s rain shadow would protect us from the storm.

The problem with that plan is that we had to get into the rain shadow. There was a lot of snow on the north side of the pass, and we had a tough time staying on the trail. Conditions improved gradually as we descended though, and the rain / sleet / snow stopped shortly before we reached Park Meadow. We found a great campsite there, in a small stand of trees completely surrounded by a grassy clearing. Those trees promised additional shelter from the weather, which still looked hostile immediately behind us.

We pitched the tent, and Christy announced that she was going straight to bed. I had different ideas. I did all of the chores – pitched the tent, got water, and hung the food. Then I started looking for firewood. There was a ton of deadfall on the far side of the meadow, and some of it was actually dry. I put a lot of effort into selecting the driest wood. Against all odds, I managed to get a fire going, which ultimately turned into a roaring blaze. Sitting by it in the howling wind and sub-freezing temperature was delightful. I even managed to coax Christy out of the tent to enjoy it with me. We had dinner by the fire, and even managed to dry our socks and boots. It was probably the best campfire I’ve ever made. It didn’t save our lives, but it certainly saved our evening. We stayed up late that night, mostly because it was hard to abandon the fire. Walking a few feet away was a shock to the system. Eventually we doused the fire and ran for the tent.

THROUGH THE BURN

It was a little windy the next morning. There was a family camped on the far side of the meadow, and they provided our entertainment for the morning when a gust of wind snagged their tent. It was all kinds of amusing watching them chase after it as it bounced through the grass.

Sunday’s hike would take us along the east side of the Three Sisters. This area was burned extensively during a large wildfire a few years earlier. Most of this stretch is currently closed to camping due to the danger of falling trees. We were seriously contemplating hiking all the way out. We could shorten the trip from 6 days all the way down to 4 with a 16-mile day. But is that what we wanted to do? At last check, the weather was supposed to turn around on Monday.

We had a little bit of everything on Sunday. There were occasional showers and bursts of rain, sleet, and snow. Mostly though it was just cloudy and windy. The rain shadow was working its magic. I’m sure it was really foul on the west side of the mountains. I thought about the couple we met at the beginning of the trip. They’d gone around the other way, thinking that the weather would be work out better going that direction. They must’ve caught the full brunt of the storm Saturday evening and Sunday.

Our biggest challenge was the trail itself. There were a lot of fallen trees across the path, which slowed us down and made the hiking much more difficult. There were also a couple of tricky stream crossings, and I dunked a boot in one of them.

The weather deteriorated again as we approached Scott Pass. We were leaving the shelter of the rain shadow, and the storm was still raging. We endured icy, horizontal rain as we passed South Mathieu Lake. At this point we were 3 miles from the car, but it was late and we were ready to stop. South Mathieu Lake has some nice campsites, so we stopped at one of them. By camping there we would be able to hike out early on Monday. If the weather broke, we might actually get to enjoy some of the scenery, too.

We lounged in the tent until there was a lull in the storm. That gave us enough time to cook and eat dinner. Later that night I got up to relieve myself and was delighted to see a sky full of stars overhead! I set my alarm for first light in hopes of nice weather on the final day of our backpacking trip.

WADING IN THE VELVET SEA

It was surprisingly bright in the tent when I woke on Monday morning. I peeked out of the tent and saw blue sky! I was too late for sunrise, but I decided to take a quick hike up to the rim of a nearby crater anyway. Along the way I was treated to fantastic views of North Sister towering above South Mathieu Lake. I scrambled up the lava rocks to the rim of the crater above the lake. The view was stunning. From the rim I gazed out at Mount Washington, Three Fingered Jack, and Mount Jefferson poking up out of a sea of fog. It was breathtaking. It didn’t last long though. First, the sea of fog rose up and swallowed those mighty peaks. Then it washed over me.

I hiked back to camp, made coffee and oatmeal, and woke Christy. I tried to explain how awesome my morning was, but she was skeptical. After all, we were surrounded by fog. Again. It looked the same as the fog that had surrounded us for most of the last 4+ days. This is the hazard of sleeping an extra 30 minutes. I saw something magical. Christy saw fog.

Luckily it didn’t last long. The fog cleared almost as fast as it rolled in. By the time we finished breakfast we had a fantastic view of North Sister and South Mathieu Lake under a sparkling blue sky. We were giddy. We took photos. We enjoyed the view. We took more photos and enjoyed the view. It was hard to leave, but that wasn’t a priority anyway. We had less than 3 miles to go. And to think – we might’ve hiked out the previous afternoon and missed all of this.

We eventually hiked out, mostly because we knew that 90 minutes of hiking and 30 minutes of driving would give us much more appealing lunch options than the crap that was still in the food bag. A quick hike down the PCT brought us back to the car by mid-morning. Because we came out a day early, we really had nowhere to go. We drove back over to Lava Camp Campground and picked a site that was close to the one we had previously. We decided to stay there again because it was pleasant, quiet, and free. It was also conveniently located near lots of appealing hiking options.

Continue reading about our trip as we visit waterfalls, hot springs, and caves in the McKenzie River valley and the Deschutes National Forest.

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