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Three
Sisters Wilderness Trek
A
month or so ago at a family get-together, son-in-law Mike posed the
question, "Are you going to climb the South Sister (10,363 feet
elevation) again, this year?" to which I replied,
"As a matter of fact, yes, I am." Mike said, "Well
instead of climbing the South Sister again I have a suggestion for you. I've hiked
all around the highlands of the North, the Middle and the South
Sister. The route I
take is roughly at the 5 to 7000 foot level and the change in elevation
of the trails is about 5000 feet. The length of the trek depending
on how many short side trips I make is 53 miles long and takes me four days. From the mountain
trails through this wilderness country the scenery is spectacular.
I'm planning on going again this year in September and if you want
to come along with me I guarantee it will be a hike that you will
remember. I can and will pack all the camping gear, water and food that
will be necessary to sustain us. You can travel light. The first day
of the hike will be 17 miles long and begins at the Pole Creek Trail
Head near McKenzie Pass. From there the trail goes from north to
south on the east side of the mountains and ends at the Devils
Lake Trail Head on Century Drive to the the south of the South
Sister.
The second segment will be 27 miles long which will require that we
overnight camp on the west side of the South Sister. The first
day of this hike will be 17 miles long from the Scott Pass Trail
Head to a lake on the west side of the South Sister. The second day, continuing
on from this lake to the Devils Lake Trail Head, is a distance of about 10
miles. To close the loop of our hike our fourth day hike will be
from the Scott Pass Trail Head and end at the Pole Creek Trail Head,
a distance of about 10 miles." It only took a few minutes for me to say, "Count me
in." I've been asked, "Why would you want to do
that?" All I can say is let these few photos from those
taken of our trek speak for
that." The hike was indeed awesome. I guarantee if you go
you'll never ask that question.
September 2009
Adding a stone to a cairn
The North Sister- the trail beckons
Picture postcard country
It's
a long winding trail up to the top
of the Opie Dilldock Pass. (6880 feet)
A moment of concern set
in as I peeked over the edge behind me and saw
that the trail was rough,
steep, sloping ,narrow, crumbly and zigzagged
all the way for several
hundred feet to the bottom.
It's
a long ways down
Nothing for it but to
carefully put one foot in front of the other.
And so to bed. I hope bears
don't show up.
Wherever possible Mike made
every ounce of carried weight do double duty.
The shelter is two rain
ponchos snapped together and the tent poles are two hiking sticks.
6.30
am. Just as we had packed up and were ready to set back out on
to the
trail,
sounds like an
enormous crashing and rolling of thunder caused us to look up at the
sky
above the
mountain and discover
that a huge chunk of the South Sister had sheared off
and had come
crashing down into
what appears to be a moraine lake.
From the dislocation a great
plume of dust was created.
Hanging moss covered trees
Camp cook Mike.
This
tiny stove that Mike uses to boil water to add to
dry ingredients to
make very good hot meals is a winner.
Covey of blue grouse
The
cliff face on the right is the end of a huge obsidian flow
Pack horse Mike
Traveling
light but some times
the going gets rough
The
east face of the North Sister
On
the home stretch to the Pole Creek Trail Head
Pole
Creek Trail Head where we
began our hike and 53 miles later
where
we
completed the circuit of The Three Sisters.
From the right: The North Sister, The
Middle Sister and the South Sister.
a.k.a.
: Faith, Hope and Charity. All three are above 10,000 feet high.
Our route.
For making the
trek around the three
Sisters the pleasurable experience that it was I'm indebted to
my son-in-law, Mike. Mike was organizer, guide, leader, navigator, companion,
safety watchdog, packhorse, camping equipment and food provider,
photographer, filterer of our supply of spring and lake water, GPS
route tracker and when the cell phone worked, communicator to the
outside world. Both Mike and his wife Heather were providers of transportation
between our homes and the beginning and ending trail heads.
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