119 articles found with the search of "sisters"

Cameron Valdez Has Joined Bend Premier Real Estate

Cameron was raised in Sisters, OR, but has lived all over the USA. After successfully managing a retail flooring store for a few years, he decided to come back home to take a break from the hustle and bustle of city life, and high stress career. He signed on as a raft guide right here in Bend while getting his real estate license. After a successful first year he decided to drop the guiding to sell real estate full time. When he isn't working you can catch him out at Smith Rock, on the chairlift at Mt. Bachelor, hiking around the Three Sisters, or floating down the Deschutes River. When working with clients he always strives for open, honest, and professional communication between all parties, and with a storied bac...

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Green Lakes is One of Central Oregon's Most Beautiful Hiking Destinations

We have hiked to Green Lakes many times over the years, with each visit unique and special.  However, the hike we experienced 10-29-22 has to have been among the very best, something we would call magical. The first snow of the season had fallen earlier in the week, but the day was brilliant with clean, clear air (all summer forest fires finally out due to the snow). The trail was a bit icy, but with microspikes, the packed snow was easy to manage.

The early snow covered a lot of the fall foliage, but Fall Creek with its numerous waterfalls was full and beautiful. And every now and then some lovely fall color could be seen.

When we reached Green Lakes, the handful of people we saw during the hike all traveled to the peninsula on the main, largest lake.  However, we hiked to the first, smaller lake, post-holing through one foot of snow to the far side of the lake which provided us with stunning views of South Sister mirrored in the lake water. We sat on a fallen tree trunk and watched the lake and mountain for 45 minutes, seeing the clouds near South Sister's summit eventually blow away. During this time, we didn't see another person. On our return to the main trail, the views of Broken Top were the best we had ever seen from Green Lakes. It was truly a magical day.

Canyon Meadow Loop and Three Fingered Jack is a Beautiful Summer Hike

Hiking to Three Fingered Jack via Jack Lake and Canyon Meadow Loop is an annual event for us. Located in the Mt. Jefferson Wilderness, access to the trailhead is outside of Camp Sherman off Hwy 20 via several paved and dirt roads. But once hikers arrive at the trailhead, the path is obvious. 

The trail starts next to Jack Lake, which reflects the burned trees of the 2003 B&B Complex Fire, but also the new growth that has come back since. It is evident that the new Wilderness Permits are required to take this hike.

 The trail opens at Canyon Meadow, which survived the 2003 fire unscathed. Canyon Creek runs through the meadow and during the summer, the blooming wildflowers, the sound of the creek and the beauty of towering Three Fingered Jack create an unparalleled Wilderness experience.

 Once hikers reach the base of the mountain, there is a moraine which can be climbed (a scramble up loose rocks) which provides a perspective of the glacial lake and, if you are lucky, a view of the mountain goats which are known to live in the area. 

For hikers who make it up to the saddle above the lake, the views of the Three Sisters and Mount Jefferson are amazing as are the close up views of the jagged rocks of Three Fingered Jack (the eroded core of an extinct 100,000 year old volcano). Hikers should be careful coming down from the saddle as the rock is loose and the grade exceeds 30 degrees in some areas. Overall, the hike gains 1600 feet in a little over 3 miles and the entire loop is under 8 miles.

The hardest tickets to get in Bend are not to the great acts at the Hayden Homes Amphitheater,  but rather the trail pass required to hike the Green Lakes trail. These tickets literally sell out in 60 seconds once posted on the Forest Service website.

The trail largely runs alongside Fall Creek, which you will cross three times.

And there is simply no shortage of beautiful waterfalls, wildlife, wildflowers, and amazing views along the way.

This trail is considered moderate due to it's length of 9.1 miles round trip and 1200 feet elevation gain, but it is pretty gradual almost the entire way and a very enjoyable adventure.  For the adventurous, taking the path past the last lake deeper into the Three Sisters Wilderness will result in views few experience, including the Northeastern flank of South Sister and Northwest sections of Broken Top, and vistas including Mt. Hood, Mt. Jefferson, North and Middle Sister and Black Butte. A look back toward Green Lakes, if you can avoid looking the towering figures of South Sister, Mt. Bachelor and Broken Top, may make you think you are seeing the Great Smoky or Blue Ridge Mountains. If you opt to take this additional path, you will add a minimum of 500 feet of elevation gain plus 4 miles in and back. If you want to go even further in you can reach Golden Lake, which is an experience in itself.

Fabulous Cascade Views Await Those Who Climb the Cones

We climbed Four in One Cone for the first time in the middle of October, 2021. A moderate in and out hike with just over 1400 feet of elevation gain in 9 miles from the Scott Trailhead in the Three Sisters Wilderness, we looked forward to revisiting the area during the summer.  The early spring snow we had in 2022 delayed access to the higher reaches of the Cascades with patches of snow evident above 6200 feet. But the trip up to the cones was fairly straight forward with little snow along the trail. Mosquitos were the worst thing we had to deal with - along with over 30 fallen trees to get around or over. But once we reached the lava flows, the mosquitos mostly disappeared and our hike to the top of the cones was great. The views of North and Middle Sister, along with Mt. Washington, Three Fingered Jack, Mt. Jefferson, Black Crater and Belknap Crater are outstanding from the top of the cones.

Four in One Cone has this name due to the fact there are four distinct cinder cones adjacent to each other which all erupted at different times, but which create the unique geological feature it is.  The path at the top of the first cone traverses all the cones at the ridge line; it is roughly .4 miles to reach the end of the fourth cone and the drop off on each side of the path varies in steepness.  When we first hiked to the top of the cones in October, the wind made us a little uncertain and we did not reach the far cone. This summer hike had much less wind and we made it to the furthest point. 

After enjoying the views, we climbed back down the cones and decided to continue the hike to the junction of the Pacific Crest Trail, which was another mile past the cones. There is a large meadow at this junction and we were hoping to see wildflowers along with the view of North Sister. The wildflowers were sparse, but the view of North Sister was spectacular. 

Our return trip was much easier than the hike up due to the volunteer efforts of six amazing people who were clearing all the fallen trees from the path. These six plus one more hiking party of three, and one person we saw hiking the PCT were the only people we saw during the entire hike. Amazing solitude and a wonderful day.