Sign in with Facebook"CLIMBING THE SOUTH SISTER - VIRTUALLY;-\" Top 5 Page for this destination Bend Travelogue by mtncorg
Bend Travel Guide: 95 reviews and 152 photos
South Sister - Oregon's third highest peak at 10358 feet - is but a serious walk up in the late summer. The way starts out as a grinder - the first mile and a half you sweat your way up a forested gulley. Use mind games to play for time and take your attention off the strain in the lower right calf.
Just as boredom threatens to take hold, you emerge onto a vast sandy plateau. To your right, you can see the blue waters of Moraine Lake, quite in contrast to the forest and sands. Straight ahead, looms South Sister. You have some climbing to do!
Crossing the plateau you don't gain a lot of elevation. You quickly make up for that. The trail goes only up now.
But as you gain elevation, you gain views to the south and west. A living map is unveiled. You sweat, to be sure, but now your sweat has immediate rewards.
At 8850 feet, you reach a saddle. To your left, the small Clark Glacier lies below you. To your right, the Lewis Glacier overlooks a small terminal cirque lake.
You resume your climb. More dusty sand - one foot up and a half back. Finally you reach the crater's south rim. The vast caldera atop is laid out in front of you.
For the short late summer season, the turquoise waters of Teardrop Pool shimmer. Don't bring your fishing poles, though. You won't really need them.
Around the east rim, you find the technical high point of Oregon's third highest peak. To the northern rim you go for views expanding far to the distance. Volcanic peaks line the horizon like gigantic 18th Century men-of-war on the seas. Lake glisten far below.
For the northern view see the title picture.
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Comments (12)
Heading to this area for an adrenaline fix and LOVED the vivid virtual climb up South Sister! I just posted on the forum but your page answered a lot of my questions. Thanks for the tips Mark! (and that mountain corgi is definitely REGAL!)
Just dropping by for a tasty brew, Mark. Lots of great scenery on the Colombia trip and one pretty decent beer but in general, it was the land of the cheap and bland. Moving to Munich in three weeks. Should fare better there!
This great page brings back so many memories of our trip through Oregon.
This was my favorite city when traveling through Oregon. I did get to travel the Cascade Highwy but only had time to stop at some of the ski areas and lakes. This is a possible stop for us traveling in a springtime with the 5th wheel.
Nope, I would first demand to see you jump, then if you survive, I'd buy you a drink and a bunch of flowers to bloom by your hospital bed. I might even bring you some Bajadera chocolates!
Remember reading in a US Ski mag some years back how Bend was 1 of the top5 most liveable towns so now wonder it's now getting a bit large. Gr8 tips & superb photos Mark. That teadrop lake 1is special.
My husband always talks about Dechuttes Black butte Porter with love and nostalgia... now I know where it comes from!!
We plan a day and night in Bend next week on our long anticipated but much too short trip to Oregon. Thanks for the helpful tips.
Wow, thanks for sharing the photos of the hikes/climbs near Bend. I think the tear drop lake is a beauty. Passed thru Bend, never imagined anything as good, so close.
Wow, great tips on Bend. I remember a lot of those places...thanks for taking me back.
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