PCT from Dee Wright to Opie Dilldock Pass
Posted: July 12th, 2017, 4:02 pm
After a couple days at the Oregon Country Fair, I took off to the Three Sisters Wilderness for some alone time. The Pacific Crest Trail crosses Oregon Highway 242 on McKenzie Pass about 1/2 mile west of the Dee Wright Observatory, a cool stone hut looking out over the Three Sisters to the south and Mt. Washington, Three-Fingered Jack, Mt. Jefferson, Mt. Hood and Mt. Adams to the north.
I took off south through the lava fields. The first exceptional landmark was South Matthieu Lake, a beautiful alpine pool beneath the gaze of North Sister.
The trail climbs along the western face of the sisters, providing a clear view of all the major Oregon Cascade mountains to the north.
After Scott Pass, the trail started to become interspersed with large snowdrifts.
I managed to lose the trail on one of these snow drifts. While descending a hillside of loose pumice and lava rock, I mistakenly stepped on a rock that wasn't planted in the ground. Down the hill I fell, tweaking my right ankle and cutting open a couple fingers and parts of my hand on the jagged rocks.
Eventually, you reach a quaint meadow, also beneath North Sister.
I stopped at Opie Dilldock Pass, with some pretty good views of the North and Middle sisters, before heading back.
All in all, I think I got 15 to 16 miles in before getting back to Dee Wright Observatory in time to catch the sunset over Three Sisters.
I took off south through the lava fields. The first exceptional landmark was South Matthieu Lake, a beautiful alpine pool beneath the gaze of North Sister.
