 |
| Sunrise on Moraine Lake |
Sunrise on the morning of day 20 (my 9th day southbound) was a beautiful sight. The sun rose perfectly behind a nearby mountain called Broken Top. My three friends had left very early and were likely near the top of the mountain now. It was now time for me to climb the mountain. From the south, it seemed like an easy gently sloped hike to the top... turns out things aren't always as they seem!
 |
| Sun coming into sight |
 |
| South Sister over Moraine Lake |
 |
| South Sister, here I come! |
 |
| View south from the base of the mountain |
Initially, I was sailing up the mountain with my backpack on. The trail was pretty level and I expected a lot of switchbacks to the top. However, trails to the top of mountains are not planned as carefully as the PCT and often just go straight up the mountain. That was the case with South Sister. I was quickly out of breath and my legs were burning from the steep slope and all of the weight I was carrying. I finally decided to jettison my pack. I left it in a prominent spot on the trail assuming that it would be safe from animals there and people who had hiked this far up were not likely to rob me. It worked out well, although I did have a little bit of a scare when it was farther down the mountain than I expected.
 |
| Ugh! Steep! |
 |
| Ditching my backpack |
 |
| View south about 1/3 of the way up the mountain |
 |
| Cool glacial pond |
As I stated earlier, the trail went straight up the mountain climbing at what I think was a 45 degree angle. It did this for about 5 miles. I stopped pretty regularly to get my breath and look around, leading to a lot of pictures from the climb. About half way to the top, there is a ridge that contains a small glacial pond. It was a very pretty blue-green color! After a short snack break, I then climbed the final couple miles of loose red rock to the top of the mountain.
 |
| View south from 1/2 of the way to the top |
 |
| Pretty color! |
 |
| Trail to the top |
 |
| View south from 3/4 of the way to the top |
 |
| Broken Top to the east |
 |
| Tiny people ahead! |
 |
| View from the top! |
When I finally arrived at the top, I was actually surprised. I was used to a slope that continued on seemingly forever with many spots that looked like the top but were not. The view was amazing on that clear day and there was plenty of snow to cool off with at the top. In fact, there is usually a pond at the top of the mountain but it was nearly all covered in snow. I got water from a tiny melted spot on one edge. I also took some pictures, rested, and watched people arrive for a while. That climb really took the wind out of me but I was soon excited to be headed down to Elk Lake, where I would be able to eat food at a restaurant!
 |
| Panorama facing south |
 |
| Panorama looking north across the summit |
 |
| Water hole |
 |
| Heading across snow to the highest point |
 |
| Boom! |
 |
| Looking north past the other two sisters |
 |
| Broken Top to the east |
 |
| Panorama north and west |
 |
| Looking SW toward PCT and Elk Lake |
 |
| Bachelor on the way down |
Heading down, I stepped on a large red rock but it started to roll. Rather than let it hit someone, I let my leg roll in front of it and it gave me a pretty good gash. Rather than suffer down another mile of red rock, I chose to try something else. I got off the trail onto a nearby glacier and slid down most of the way to the pond below.
 |
| Sliding down the glacier |
|
The rest of the hike down from the mountain went without incident. I met a guy from Europe who was a pilot and we had a very interesting talk about the industry over about 4 or 5 miles. Then I hiked west back to the PCT and headed south toward Elk Lake. I spend a lot of time hiking through gigantic glacial fields. At some point, I looked down and noticed a cool thing: there were thousands of little butterflies fluttering about the trail. They were so tiny that I had to stoop to see clearly what they were.
 |
| Tiny butterflies. Compare them with the footprints! |
 |
| Hot dry hiking! |
 |
| These meadows are gigantic! |
 |
| More dusty dry hiking |
In the early afternoon, I started through the woods south of the Sisters. They were a little infested with mosquitoes but I didn't have a lot of trouble because it was the hottest part of the day and bugs don't really like dry heat much, which was ok with me. I saw a few people on my way to Elk Lake and they all warned me of terrible mosquitoes... sooooo, that was something to look forward to...
 |
| Little mosquito pond |
 |
| I just climbed that! |
 |
| Bachelor in the distance |
 |
| Burn before Elk Lake |
In the middle of an old burn, I came upon the trial to Elk Lake and started down it. I soon made my way to the Elk Lake Resort and picked up my last supply box. I also ordered a big dinner and chatted with an interesting hiker from France. He could barely speak English and was having trouble getting a campsite. We ended up sleeping in the same site... I think we may have been squatting actually but I didn't have the heart to tell him. We were gone at first light anyway.
 |
| South Sister and Broken Top in the distance |
 |
| Elk Lake! |
 |
| Resort! |
 |
| Giant Caesar salad... |
 |
| ...and a hamburger! |
I had hiked about 15 miles off-PCT and 12 miles on the PCT for a total of about 27 miles... including reaching the summit of South Sister! I was tired but also ready to push myself even more. The following day would be my last as I hiked more miles than ever before!
 |
| Campsite on the edge of the property |
