Going insane; need hike advice for Crater Lake, 3 Sisters...

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StarryNight
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Going insane; need hike advice for Crater Lake, 3 Sisters...

Post by StarryNight » April 21st, 2017, 5:42 pm

Hello Friends—
Like everyone, I guess, I've been going utterly insane this winter, planning hikes, dreaming about sleeping on mountains, things like that, and the rain/snow keeps falling. I have two questions/ideas to put out there in hopes of getting some feedback:
(1) Crater Lake area. I've never been. A friend and I plan to meet there in late May, and try to do a 2 night / 3 day type thing (could be either a sleep-on-the-trail situation or individual hikes and a campground etc.). We're in reasonable shape (my friend is a long distance runner with seemingly limitless energy, and I've done Middle Sister via the Obsidian trail in one day, S. Sister and Mt St. Helens and things like that without a problem; not the most epic things ever, but I'm relatively hardy).
--> Any ideas for options here? What should we expect for weather at that time of the season? Are trails usually open in late May down there (or can we predict whether they will be this late-May)?
(2) Three Sisters Wilderness: I panicked recently when I read a thread comment to the effect of, "this whole area is going to be shut down because of snow well into July/August" or something like that. I might cry bitter tears if I don't get to go there during maybe my only window this summer to do so, in late June.
--> Does anyone have any special insight re: the snow situation there (I know, for example, that the road to access the Obsidian trailhead will only hope at the earliest by June 19th)? Would the issue be that roads would be closed for the major entry points well into June (surely not??), or that the trails would be snow-shoe terrain instead of normal hiking terrain at much lower elevations in late June?

Many thanks for any comments, advice, or ridicule anyone may have! :)

Aimless
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Re: Going insane; need hike advice for Crater Lake, 3 Sister

Post by Aimless » April 21st, 2017, 7:13 pm

"this whole area is going to be shut down because of snow well into July/August" or something like that.

There are some lower elevation areas in the Three Sisters Wilderness on the west side, with trailheads off of Forest Road 19. The trails should be somewhat accessible before mid-July. Also, the lakes in the south part of the wilderness ought to open earlier than the higher elevations directly on the slopes of the Three Sisters themselves. They're buggy early in the season, but they are within the wilderness area.

wendyr
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Re: Going insane; need hike advice for Crater Lake, 3 Sister

Post by wendyr » April 21st, 2017, 9:00 pm

Crater lake in late May even in a normal snow year will still be quite snowy as the park is at an elevation of around 6000 ft and they get quite a bit of snow every winter. I checked the current snotel a they currently have about 12 feet of snow and it's still snowing this week. The park website states that most trails don't open up until June and that is in a normal snow year. I'm guessing late May you would still be looking at snowshoeing around the Rim or if you wanted to do hiking you would have to go to lower elevations in the area, like maybe the Rogue River.

My husband and I visited Crater lake in late June several years ago and the rim road was still not fully open due to snow, and a lot of park services like the boat to Wizard Island and campgrounds were not open and operational. Crater Lake if you are interested in really getting to experience everything is best in July-September. The Crater National Park Website is really very helpful and has tons of info on current conditions and average weather conditions per month. I would check in there to plan and then again closer to when you are planning on traveling.

justpeachy
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Re: Going insane; need hike advice for Crater Lake, 3 Sister

Post by justpeachy » April 22nd, 2017, 6:09 am

Hate to tell ya, but with a high mountain snowpack and the ongoing wet cold weather, I wouldn't expect to see many high elevation areas (including Crater Lake) snow-free until late July or August. If you have Sullivan's hiking books, he tells you for each hike what the month range is for accessibility. This year I would take the starting month and push it out one month (i.e. if he says it's open in June, this year it will be July).

We had late snowmelt in the PNW in 2010 and 2011 and it really screwed up the hiking season. I expect this year will be the same. This was 4500' feet on July 24, 2010 at Mt. Baker.

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drm
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Re: Going insane; need hike advice for Crater Lake, 3 Sister

Post by drm » April 22nd, 2017, 6:34 am

StarryNight wrote:I might cry bitter tears if I don't get to go there during maybe my only window this summer to do so, in late June.
The alpine areas in general will not be open in late June this year. Monitor conditions, but here are some areas that could have some open hiking trails:

-- Columbia River Gorge
-- Olympic National Park
-- Hells Canyon
-- Rogue River Trail
-- anything along the coast

Alternately consider going farther afield to the Rockies where sunnier spring weather usually melts the snow earlier than here, though I don't know when high areas are expected to open there. But despite relatively high altitude I think Yellowstone has some areas that usually open for backpacking in June. Beware of mosquitoes though as any place that just melted out a few weeks before could have swarms of them.

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StarryNight
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Re: Going insane; need hike advice for Crater Lake, 3 Sister

Post by StarryNight » April 22nd, 2017, 12:51 pm

Thanks for these ideas, everyone! I like the Rogue River option a lot. I do see photos from Crater Lake in the winter, so I guess some people clearly do get up there, right?
Re: the Three Sisters area: I've decided more or less that I'm going there in late June, period, and we're doing to deal with the snow and sleep on the snow as needed! :)

pdxgene
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Re: Going insane; need hike advice for Crater Lake, 3 Sister

Post by pdxgene » April 23rd, 2017, 12:17 pm

Crater Lake conditions live!!
http://www.craterlakelodges.com/webcam/

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adamschneider
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Re: Going insane; need hike advice for Crater Lake, 3 Sister

Post by adamschneider » April 23rd, 2017, 12:24 pm

StarryNight wrote:I do see photos from Crater Lake in the winter, so I guess some people clearly do get up there, right?
They plow the road to the south rim all year, so people can snowshoe or ski from Rim Village in the winter and spring. In early summer (May or June), they open the West Rim Road, but there's still tons of snow. Finally, in July, they open East Rim Drive.

I snowshoed to the top of Garfield Peak last May 17:

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Last edited by adamschneider on April 24th, 2017, 12:16 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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BigBear
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Re: Going insane; need hike advice for Crater Lake, 3 Sister

Post by BigBear » April 24th, 2017, 12:06 pm

Late June will not be good for timberline style hiking this year. On a normal year, it is not very good either, that is, unless you like snow drifts and mosquitoes. The good thing this year is that the mosquitoes won't have as much water to work with that early.

Crater Lake - I'd forget that option completely. In general, August and September are the best hiking months to explore the Rim (Garfield Peak & Mt. Scott). If you're thinking of camping on the trail in any NP, you will need a permit. I'd direct you toward Sky Lake Wilderness for an August-September backpack on a normal year.

Three Sisters - On a similar snow year, we got as far as Park Meadows in our quest for Golden Lake before finding continuous drifts on the incline to the south on the final weekend of July. The mosquitoes persisted throughout the summer and into September that year on Hood, Indian Heaven and W.O Douglas. Bring your bug repellant this year if you're thinking alpine lakes.

I agree with the other commenters. Your best bet to get a backpacking fix is to stay below 3,000 feet. Even a loop around Timothy Lake in June will get you bitten this year, but the dry Rogue River area would be a better option.

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jessbee
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Re: Going insane; need hike advice for Crater Lake, 3 Sister

Post by jessbee » April 25th, 2017, 8:26 am

For road access to Three Sisters area, keep an eye on this page:

https://www.deschutes.org/road/page/new ... d-closures

Looks like they plan to open Cascade Lakes Hwy for Memorial Day weekend but you're going to be on snow anywhere you hike, so plan for that :)
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