August and September are the months for getting up in the mountains. There is just too much snow at higher elevations to be able to get around half way safely any earlier than that. On August 17, a group of us decided to hike up to a ridge near the top of Broken Top, which is a craggy mountain the the Three Sisters area. A photo of Broken Top is shown below.
There were a number of small meandering streams such as the one in the picture below.
You might be able to see some spring flowers in the photo above, but they are more obvious in the photo below. There were more spring flowers at higher elevations since spring had just come - seems weird, spring in mid-August. I think the red flowers are called Indian Paint Brush, but I have no idea what the blue ones are called.
At maybe 8000 feet there were a number of small patches of snow like the one shown below that we had to cross. The snow provided a kind of surreal feel to the whole experience because it had been 102 degrees in Bend the day before. It actually felt kind of good to be in snow again, at least up in the mountains.
Below the ridge that we were making our way toward and below the summit of Broken Top we came upon a small glacier that had formed between two mounds of glacial till. It ma be a little hard to see in the photo below, but just above the glacier was a rushing stream of of water which ran under the glacier.
The next photo was taken at the area where the stream was running out of a lake. Perhaps a third of the lake was open water while the rest of it was covered by very thick ice. If this is what it looked like on a hot summer day, it made me wonder what it would be like to be there in the middle of winter. Well, I can't imagine trying to be there in winter because one day last winter there were reportedly 100 mph winds up on the mountains.
Continuing onward, we got to the ridge that we wanted to get to. Looking west, the summit of Broken Top is behind me while just to the right of me was a sheer drop off. Spectacularly beautiful!
The next photo was taken looking north. Behind me are the South, Middle, and North Sisters looking left to right. The summit of Broken Top is a little over 9000 feet while each of the Sisters is a little over 10,000 feet.
Everyone we ran into was taken by how incredibly beautiful it is up at higher elevations (not that the mountains aren't beautiful to behold at lower elevations!). I was reminded of something our vet told me when I met him recently. He went to veterinary school in Iowa and announced his intention to move to Oregon. When asked why, he had a one-word answer. "Mountains". It turns out that after a couple years he and his family moved back to the Midwest to be closer their families. They didn't last there too long however - had to get back to the mountains.
Fast forward a couple of weeks to September 7. The South Sister, the one on the left in the photo above, was the next conquest. The week before, which was Labor Day weekend, a father and his two adult sons had gotten caught in a snow storm up on the South Sister. Fortunately they were found that next day and suffered no ill effects.
Here is a shot of the South Sister from down below. The route that we took goes up the reddish ridge just to the left of the snow fields near the top. As an aside, I am always amazed by the lava; It looks like it is recent, but it showed up thousands of years ago.
I had heard and read that the South Sister is a grueling gut buster. While it was
only 6 miles to the summit from the trail head, the gain in elevation is about a mile - somewhere between 5000 and 6000 feet. (Ignore the date on the picture - wrong camera setting). By the way, it IS a gut buster!
The first 1.5 miles is just up up up traversing through a forest. The next mile or so sloped gently upward; it is the grassy looking area in the middle of the photo below. It was really windy and cold and we were all a little concerned that if it was really windy at low elevations it might be a hurricane at higher elevations. Fortunately, the wind died down as we went higher.
A little higher up there was a good view of Mt Bachelor (9000 feet), which is a large ski area.
From a little bit higher up and looking a little bit to the north lies our old friend, Broken Top. It was kind of creepy to see clouds gathered near the top of Broken Top because weather changes very rapidly at high elevations and you just never know if you might get caught in nasty weather.
Here a shot of the red ridge that we had to go up. As you can see, there was plenty of snow and you can also catch a glimpse of one of the small glacial lakes that we encountered along the way.
One of the guys that I was with was Louie (in the hat), who is a neighbor and originally from South Africa. Not too long after the photo was taken he had to stop as his legs were cramping up from the upward grind on the loose red stuff were were climbing on. Another guy in our group also said he wasn't doing too well - he felt kind of dizzy. I had a small bout of that as well and found I was having trouble remembering things like our phone number. I also didn't recognize some people from our small group at church in another climbing party. Altitude does funny things to you!
When we finally got to the top of the ridge, we found that the top of the mountain is a large crater filled with ice, perhaps 1/4 to 1/2 mile in diameter. The topmost point is just to theright of me.
Below is the obligatory photo at the highest point of the mountain. All of us thought that the flag was just a flag planted at the top of a mountain. Wrong. It turns out that a group of Russian speakers from the so-called "valley" in Oregon (mostly students from Oregon State and the University of Oregon) had set out at 4 in the morning and they had placed the Ukranian flag on top of the mountain. It was kind of neat because all 23 of them were singing Russian folk songs. It turns out that there were 24 of them whenthey started up, but one of them developed altitude sickness. We weren't the only ones who were a little gooney due to elevation.
A few of the Russians and Ukranians are in the picture below.
I don't know what happened to Todd Sampson, but someone left a sign in his honor just below the summit.
The view from the top of the mountain was, well, I have to say it again .... spectacular. The Middle and North Sisters are to the right of me. Mt Jefferson is just discernible in the picture by the top of the North Sister. We could see Mt Hood, 100 miles away, but it didn't show up in the picture because it was somewhat hazy that day.
Here is anothershot of the glacier that lies in the crater at the top of the mountain. We went down onto it and then followed the tracks in the snow to get out of the crater. To give you an idea of size, the small feature at the intersection of snow and rock is a person.
As we headed back down, I felt sorry for the people who were still coming up the red ridge
By thetime we got back to the trail head, we were all hurting. My toes had turned to "hamburger", but it was well worth it. Of course, I may not have said that for a few days afterward.
It's hard to believe that Amy is 12 years old today! She brings JOY to our lives everyday and we are grateful to God for her life. Here are some recent pictures of her. We love you, Amy!
You might be able to see some spring flowers in the photo above, but they are more obvious in the photo below. There were more spring flowers at higher elevations since spring had just come - seems weird, spring in mid-August. I think the red flowers are called Indian Paint Brush, but I have no idea what the blue ones are called.
Below the ridge that we were making our way toward and below the summit of Broken Top we came upon a small glacier that had formed between two mounds of glacial till. It ma be a little hard to see in the photo below, but just above the glacier was a rushing stream of of water which ran under the glacier.
The next photo was taken at the area where the stream was running out of a lake. Perhaps a third of the lake was open water while the rest of it was covered by very thick ice. If this is what it looked like on a hot summer day, it made me wonder what it would be like to be there in the middle of winter. Well, I can't imagine trying to be there in winter because one day last winter there were reportedly 100 mph winds up on the mountains.
Continuing onward, we got to the ridge that we wanted to get to. Looking west, the summit of Broken Top is behind me while just to the right of me was a sheer drop off. Spectacularly beautiful!
Everyone we ran into was taken by how incredibly beautiful it is up at higher elevations (not that the mountains aren't beautiful to behold at lower elevations!). I was reminded of something our vet told me when I met him recently. He went to veterinary school in Iowa and announced his intention to move to Oregon. When asked why, he had a one-word answer. "Mountains". It turns out that after a couple years he and his family moved back to the Midwest to be closer their families. They didn't last there too long however - had to get back to the mountains.
I had heard and read that the South Sister is a grueling gut buster. While it was only 6 miles to the summit from the trail head, the gain in elevation is about a mile - somewhere between 5000 and 6000 feet. (Ignore the date on the picture - wrong camera setting). By the way, it IS a gut buster!
The first 1.5 miles is just up up up traversing through a forest. The next mile or so sloped gently upward; it is the grassy looking area in the middle of the photo below. It was really windy and cold and we were all a little concerned that if it was really windy at low elevations it might be a hurricane at higher elevations. Fortunately, the wind died down as we went higher.
From a little bit higher up and looking a little bit to the north lies our old friend, Broken Top. It was kind of creepy to see clouds gathered near the top of Broken Top because weather changes very rapidly at high elevations and you just never know if you might get caught in nasty weather.
Here a shot of the red ridge that we had to go up. As you can see, there was plenty of snow and you can also catch a glimpse of one of the small glacial lakes that we encountered along the way.
When we finally got to the top of the ridge, we found that the top of the mountain is a large crater filled with ice, perhaps 1/4 to 1/2 mile in diameter. The topmost point is just to theright of me.
Below is the obligatory photo at the highest point of the mountain. All of us thought that the flag was just a flag planted at the top of a mountain. Wrong. It turns out that a group of Russian speakers from the so-called "valley" in Oregon (mostly students from Oregon State and the University of Oregon) had set out at 4 in the morning and they had placed the Ukranian flag on top of the mountain. It was kind of neat because all 23 of them were singing Russian folk songs. It turns out that there were 24 of them whenthey started up, but one of them developed altitude sickness. We weren't the only ones who were a little gooney due to elevation. 
A few of the Russians and Ukranians are in the picture below.
I don't know what happened to Todd Sampson, but someone left a sign in his honor just below the summit.
The view from the top of the mountain was, well, I have to say it again .... spectacular. The Middle and North Sisters are to the right of me. Mt Jefferson is just discernible in the picture by the top of the North Sister. We could see Mt Hood, 100 miles away, but it didn't show up in the picture because it was somewhat hazy that day.
Here is anothershot of the glacier that lies in the crater at the top of the mountain. We went down onto it and then followed the tracks in the snow to get out of the crater. To give you an idea of size, the small feature at the intersection of snow and rock is a person.
As we headed back down, I felt sorry for the people who were still coming up the red ridge
By thetime we got back to the trail head, we were all hurting. My toes had turned to "hamburger", but it was well worth it. Of course, I may not have said that for a few days afterward.
