The Wild Rose: South Sister

Date hiked: 8/4/19

The main event of my trip last weekend was Sunday's hike to South Sister. The Three Sisters formed within the past 100,000 years as part of the High Cascades, a string of volcanoes that extends from California to British Columbia. North Sister, the oldest "sister," has been eroded to a summit plug of dangerous crags. South Sister, the youngest, still retains its conical shape. It is a non-technical but very demanding, 12.5-mile (4,900' gain) climb to the state's third-tallest peak.

Devil's Lake Trailhead is located 28.5 miles west of Bend on the Cascade Lakes Highway--just beyond the Mt. Bachelor Ski Area. The lot was busy at 7am, yet not at full capacity. The South Sister Trail navigates across Tyee Creek before crossing the highway. From there, it's a prompt uphill launch through a dense hemlock forest.

After 1.5 miles, the path emerges from the forest at the edge of a vast, sandy plateau. South Sister and Broken Top loom ahead.

This relatively easy stroll through open tableland offers views of a dozen mountains and lakes.

A trail junction presents the opportunity to travel to Moraine Lake, an easier yet equally picturesque trek. Staying straight, however, the next 1.2 miles steepen drastically to a false summit.

Around 9,000′ a saddle overlooks a green pool below the Lewis Glacier.

A climbers' trail from Green Lakes joins here on the right, while the route to the summit heads up the ridge to the left.

The final push to the crater rim is a 0.7-mile grind over loose scree. Overall, the trail was more crowded than that of Mt. St. Helens, but I was still surprised to not have had more company on a weekend.

A broad snowy crater at the top contains the state's highest lake, Teardrop Pool.

Following the rim in either direction (to the right was safer in my opinion) leads to the true summit at 10,358'. From the rocky crest, views extend across half the state. Southern vistas include Broken Top and Mt. Bachelor.

Northern peaks showcase Middle and North Sister, Three Fingered Jack and Mt. Jefferson. A clear day reaches as far as Mt. Hood and Mt. Adams.

I reached the summit after 3.25 hours of hiking, and stayed for an entire hour because the weather was just right. Apparently, the summit often generates its own cloud of challenging and unpredictable conditions.