Three Sisters Figure-8 Cross-Country Loop 16/18-Jul-2015

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VanMarmot
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Three Sisters Figure-8 Cross-Country Loop 16/18-Jul-2015

Post by VanMarmot » July 19th, 2015, 10:01 am

The loop hike around the Three Sisters is one of those classic/iconic hikes that's been on my to do list for a long time. Long enough for me to give some thought to doing the loop in a slightly different way. So when Born2BBrad approached me about doing a hike together, I passed my different loop idea past him, he thought it sounded interesting, so we juggled our schedules to meet at the Pole Ck TH early last Thursday, ready for our journey into the wilderness.

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Brad is going to supply all the detailed stats for our hike but here's the different loop in a nutshell: From the Pole Ck TH, past Camp Lake to the PCT via Chambers Lakes. Then S on the PCT and other trails around South Sister, then N on Trail 17 past Green Lakes to 7000'; from there XC to Camp Lake. Then deja vu all over again back to the PCT via Chambers Lakes but now N on the PCT to Minnie Scott Spring and from there E XC to Trail 4070 on the east side, then back to the Pole Ck TH. This looked doable from the contour maps, but we had no idea if the two XC sections wouldn't cliff us out or have other no-go features. The actual trip took us three days: red track is day 1, yellow track in day 2, black track is day 3.

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DAY 1: Pole Ck TH to Mesa Ck (~14 mi, ~2200' EG)
We got an early start and headed up Trail 4072 through the depressing remains of the Pole Ck fire. Brad was packing light (no stove) while I need the reassurance of a hot coffee in the morning (hence a stove).

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We took Trail 4074 toward Camp Lake. Where it crosses the S Fk of Whychus Ck,

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we met a gentleman who made some jokes about our having GPSs while trying to convince Brad that this was really Soap Ck. :?

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We got to Camp Lake where the start of the user trail to the PCT was pretty obvious (arrow), as was South Sister. Actually that whole trail was pretty obvious and easy to follow.

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The immediate climb up from the lake is a bit of a grunt,

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but soon crosses the divide (arrow) and drops past the first lake.

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The Chambers Lakes drainage is a destination in its own right, with lakes formed by moraines, varied volcanic colors, all presided over by South and Middle Sister.

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The user trail (arrow) runs along the S side of the drainage past one lake,

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and then the next,

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before finally cresting with a view of The Husband out to the W,

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and then descending the Separation Ck drainage to an unsigned junction with the PCT.

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Separation Ck was dry at the PCT (wet but silty higher up) and Brad wasn't keen on water quality in Reese Lake, so we went S on the PCT to find a great little camp spot on a small meadow just above Mesa Ck.

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DAY 2: Mesa Ck to Camp Lk (~15 mi, ~2200' EG)
The next morning, we went S on the PCT,

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past the Rock Mesa,

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and contemplated The Wife.

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Then it was Trail 17.1 around South Sister,

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past Moraine Lk (I was surprised to find that it's now in a camping management zone :roll: ),

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across Fall Ck,

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then up Trail 17 past Green Lakes,

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to the 6900' contour (where the trail starts its descent to Park Mdw). This was the first XC piece of our hike and basically we headed directly across the landscape toward a point between the two peaks on the horizon.

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This proved to be pretty easy country to move through. It also had lots of meadows and water sources tucked away in it, including the upper W Fk of Park Ck.

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Soon "Little Pilot Rock" came into view and we aimed just to the right of it (arrow).

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We had to negotiate a minor piece of steepness to reach Little Pilot but the view S toward Broken Top and Mt. Bachelor was unique.

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The only really tricky routefinding involved by-passing a cliff, snowfield, and terminal moraine that didn't look like fun to me at all. But the route we found (arrow) got us around all that,

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to an easy descent to Camp Lake, where we camped,

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and enjoyed the sunset.

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DAY 3: Camp Lk to Pole Ck TH (~24 mi, ~3000' EG)
The day started peacefully, with sunrise over Middle Sister,

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and South Sister.

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We then retraced our steps past the Chambers Lakes,

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to the PCT and then went N,

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past Obsidian Falls,

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up Opie Dilldock Pass,

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for a view of ( R > L) Hood, Jefferson, Three Finger Jack, Washington, and Belknap (note that there's no smoke on Three Finger Jack - this will change),

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to Minnie Scott Spring. At this point we needed to find a XC way through the Ahalapam Cinder Field and over the ridge running N from North Sister. I'd sketched out a route that, from the map, looked like it might go. So we went due E from just N of the spring, past a nice little lake hidden off the PCT,

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up a hot and sweaty (but easy) cinder slope to the top of the ridge where it was immediately obvious that a fire had erupted on the W side of Three Finger in the short time we'd been climbing. :shock: :cry:

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From the N-S ridge, we had to cross an E-W ridge (arrow) to gain access to the cinder fields on the E side of North Sister. We needed to trend SE across these fields to gain our objective - where Trail 4070 crosses Alder Ck.

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It was easy traveling across a wide open landscape of colorful cinders,

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where life persists.

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The map showed one band of steep cliffs along our path toward Alder Ck and we couldn't be sure we'd find a way through those. But close observation of deer tracks pointed us to a break in the cliff (black arrow) and then an easy, cindery descent (yellow arrow) to the plain below.

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From there, it was across more cinder fields then through living and burned forest to Alder Ck.

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The worst part of our whole trip was Trail 4070 back to the TH - hot and dusty through burned forest and climbing for half the way. And it didn't help that we'd already put in a ~17 mi day. But we just settled our suffering into a "just keep moving" zone and, after a zombie-like 6 mi or so, were back at the cars by late afternoon. This last day was a bit on the looney side mainly because we had no on-the-ground knowledge of the XC section - so once we were into it and it was a go, we just had to keep moving. With what we know now, this adventure could be apportioned into a real nice 4-day backpack. Overall, a demanding, adventurous but really, really fun backpack through some areas of the Three Sisters Wilderness that few, if any people, have ever seen. :D :D :D
Last edited by VanMarmot on December 2nd, 2017, 4:24 pm, edited 8 times in total.

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retired jerry
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Re: A Three Sisters Figure-8 Loop 16/18-Jul-2015

Post by retired jerry » July 19th, 2015, 10:28 am

Nice territory between Minnie Scott and Alder Creek. So many possibilities around there. Now I'll have to go back again :)

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Chase
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Re: A Three Sisters Figure-8 Loop 16/18-Jul-2015

Post by Chase » July 19th, 2015, 10:49 am

Clear documentation of your route and pretty pictures. Classic Brad hat still rockin on his head! I love it!

Run into any rangers?

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VanMarmot
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Re: A Three Sisters Figure-8 Loop 16/18-Jul-2015

Post by VanMarmot » July 19th, 2015, 12:55 pm

Chase wrote:Clear documentation of your route and pretty pictures. Classic Brad hat still rockin on his head! I love it!

Run into any rangers?
No rangers that we could see - not even during our short transit of the Obsidian LEA.

greenjello85
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Re: Three Sisters Figure-8 Cross-Country Loop 16/18-Jul-2015

Post by greenjello85 » July 19th, 2015, 3:38 pm

Wow great trip! The area around some of those lakes looks really interesting. I like the color transitions of the terrain. I'm hoping to get out there a little later this summer. Thanks for sharing.
~Dan

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Born2BBrad
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Re: Three Sisters Figure-8 Cross-Country Loop 16/18-Jul-2015

Post by Born2BBrad » July 19th, 2015, 4:03 pm

Great TR VM, as per usual. Thanks for letting me tag along on what might be my trip of the year. I was totally impressed with your navigation skills and never felt worried about getting lost.

Just a few pictures to tack onto VM’s TR.

Stats:
• Mileage GPS Fly: 53.56 miles
• Elevation Gain: 10,062’

Top map with tracks. Red is the route we took. Blue are the sections bypassed by going off-trail.
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Elevation profile:
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Google Earth overview:
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TFF picture at the start of the hike:
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Stitch pic of Camp Lake:
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Van Marmot descending down to one of the Chamber Lakes:
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Walking by the edge of the snow field at the edge of Camp Lake:
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Stitch pic looking back down Opie Dildock Pass:
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As always, a link to all of my GPS tracks, including this trip, is in my signature line below. However, only experienced hikers should try the off-trail sections.

And, BTW Chase, my hat has a name. I call it Flappy :D :lol: It saves my ears and neck from sunburn.

Hike away!!

Brad
Make now always the most precious time. Now will never come again.
- Jean Luc Picard

Link to GPX tracks
Link to Trip Reports

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sprengers4jc
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Re: Three Sisters Figure-8 Cross-Country Loop 16/18-Jul-2015

Post by sprengers4jc » July 19th, 2015, 4:13 pm

You guys really knocked it out of the park. Awesome, awesome report/places/pics/etc.
'We travel not to escape life but for life to not escape us.'
-Unknown

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Arturo
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Re: Three Sisters Figure-8 Cross-Country Loop 16/18-Jul-2015

Post by Arturo » July 19th, 2015, 4:48 pm

Opie Dildock looks so cool. And the trip looks amazing. This is real hiking.

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mjuliana
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Re: Three Sisters Figure-8 Cross-Country Loop 16/18-Jul-2015

Post by mjuliana » July 19th, 2015, 5:09 pm

Great variation on the standard loop. Thanks for sharing your pics of a fantastic area...
Thanks,
Mike J

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VanMarmot
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Re: Three Sisters Figure-8 Cross-Country Loop 16/18-Jul-2015

Post by VanMarmot » July 20th, 2015, 9:51 am

Thanks Brad - it was an honor and pleasure hiking with you and Flappy! :D
And you're much more versed in GPS software than I am - thanks for doing the stats and the GPSFly!

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