Oregon Hikers

Often hikes & places to visit can spend years on my "todo" list, other times though serendipity strikes at just the right time. On 08/19 TwoPaw posted this trip report about his visit to the hidden crater lake on Broken Top. Chiyoko & I were headed down to the Bend area the following week for a few days & so this great hike that I had no idea about before Twopaw's post was only on my todo list for 9 days


Opening pic!

As reported in the previous report there is a long version & a short version of this hike depending on if you drive the 5 miles of terrible road from Todd Lake to the old Broken Top TH. As owners of a Kia Spectra our only option was the long version .. It's actually only 4.6 miles longer to the point were the unofficial 2 mile trail to the lake begins.





These first 5 miles are an easy hike gaining about 1000' in elevation though some lovely country.



The 2 mile trail up to the lake climbs a bit more steeply through & then above the tree line.



You get no hint of where the lake is hidden until you are almost there.



The final section of the trail heads up the side of the creek outflow from the lake. This is the only section that some people may be uncomfortable with, the final 20' of trail is about 15' above the creek & only about 6" wide. Some people were taking an alternative route that led them in to the other end of the lake near the ridge top view & so avoiding this part.



Then when you step over the rim this is what you see!



We made our way along the lake shore trail to the other end of the lake.



Then up and onto the ridge for stunning views of the Sisters.







We returned back down to the Lake Level for lunch to get out of the howling wind.


This is a spectacular place!

From Todd lake the GPS said it was (an easy) 14.2 miles with about 2800' of EG.

A few more pics of the day here & a short movie below!

http://youtu.be/aKA2pj_xDUY

Nice report Guy, thanks! In my Bend Overall guidebook I detail how that glacial lake overspilled its outlet creek on Oct 7th 1966, sending a huge debris flow all the way down to Sparks Lake, covering-over the Cascade Lakes Hwy with rocky debris. This over-spill event is what carved the "notch" that you walk into to access the lake the way you did. There's an info-plaque at the Soda Creek campground that explains this history, but most folks who walk this trail wouldn't know about the info-plaque. Here's the GoogEarth GPS for the info plaque (GE wouldn't allow my photo to post): 44° 1'31.39"N 121°43'41.62"W.
Google Soda Creek debris flow if you want to sleuth-out a bit more info.
cheers, scott

Guy wrote:

Very nice, Guy! It's such an interesting cloudy green. Volcanic silt?

glacial silt?

Scott, thanks for all that background info, amazing story I'll do some more digging.

Nat, yeah I don't know what causes the color but all the lakes in that area are so colorful weather they be bright blue, green or brown! Incredible area, I could do a lot more exploring there if I only had the time!

Wow! Great scenery and a neat looking hike. Thanks for sharing.

Ah, I wasn't aware that there was a better way to hike this that doesn't involve the Road From Hell. Good to know!

Nice to hear about the hike up from Todd Lake! I've been wondering what that trail is like. Certainly that distance and EG isn't all that big of a deal, and saves a lot of wear and tear on your vehicle.

You might already know this... but just a bit further up is another lake, easier to get to than the one inside Broken Top Crater - it's called "No Name Lake". You should check that out next time you go up there.

It looks like you had a lot less snow on your trip yesterday than we saw up there last year in mid-September. Interesting!

So, was this hike a scouting trip for you guys to do a loop around the Three Sisters or Broken Top in the future?

You might already know this... but just a bit further up is another lake, easier to get to than the one inside Broken Top Crater - it's called "No Name Lake". You should check that out next time you go up there.

HELL, No I didn't no that - now I have to go back

So, was this hike a scouting trip for you guys to do a loop around the Three Sisters or Broken Top in the future?

Funny you should mention that Crusak! Before I left the answer would have been "no" but now it's "yes"!

Two days earlier we hiked into the Green Lakes area, it was cloudy & raining slightly with a cloud base of about 8000'. When it's cold & wet you don't stop for much so we just kept hiking & thought we would go & check out Park Meadow (9 miles from the Green Lakes TH). About a mile from our goal we noticed an unmarked side trail & I remembered reading in Sullivan's book about an unofficial trail to Golden Lake & 2 tarns about a mile beyond Golden lake at 7000' so we made that our Goal for the day.

This turned the day into a 19 miler but it was a great hike & from the Tarns I could see that it was only a short distance to the ridge above the Crater Lake. I'm now very interested in a "high route" partially off trail loop of Broken Top for next year.

Here's a screenshot I just did of Google Earth, with a track from a short loop day hike we did last year from Ball Butte up to Broken Hand, over to No Name Lake, then back to camp. Note how close the other lake is to Broken Top.
Broken Top is the peak just west of the lake. I added a green arrow pointing to the general spot where Broken Top's peak is located.