Thoughts on Eastern/Green Lakes South Sister approach?
Posted: July 19th, 2019, 9:46 am
Hey guys, building off my previous post, I'm curious what you guys think of the Eastern/Green Lakes approach of climbing South Sister (seen here: https://caltopo.com/map.html#ll=44.0857 ... z=15&b=mbt). I know the trail won't be as visible/clear as the main route and will take a little more navigating, but I have topos, .gpx tracks (http://karl-helser.com/south-sister-hik ... h-10-4-15/), and experience off trail. I've done similar (I think) steep climbs such as Mt. St. Helens and Mt. Langley in the Sierras (14er) that were no problem.
As for the Eastern/Green Lakes route, the elevation gain doesn't look much different than the approach from Moraine Lake (about 1500 feet/mile). My concern is that I haven't climbed South Sister before and will be going with a couple semi-novice hikers from sea level (I'm in Reno and do a lot of Sierra hiking so I'm somewhat acclimated), although they are in good physical shape (they're bikers). We will be acclimating for 1-2 nights before the climb, however. Anyway, since I haven't climbed South Sister before, I don't even know what the main route is like. How does this Eastern route compare with the main route? Would you recommend it? Would snow be an issue on this route in mid-August? Can you avoid hiking on the glacier/snow or should we bring crampons? Is the route dangerous in any way? The appeal of base camping 2 nights at Green Lakes on weekdays is hard to pass up and backtracking to the main South Sister route from Green Lakes would be tough as you lose elevation and gain mileage. Any thoughts on the Eastern approach would be greatly appreciated. I'm having a tough time finding much about it on here in my limited search. I just don't want to put others in a potentially dangerous situation if this route has some iffy spots or something. I know I can do this Eastern route, but it's bringing others to a place I don't know that concerns me. I hope you guys say it's totally fine!
Thanks!
As for the Eastern/Green Lakes route, the elevation gain doesn't look much different than the approach from Moraine Lake (about 1500 feet/mile). My concern is that I haven't climbed South Sister before and will be going with a couple semi-novice hikers from sea level (I'm in Reno and do a lot of Sierra hiking so I'm somewhat acclimated), although they are in good physical shape (they're bikers). We will be acclimating for 1-2 nights before the climb, however. Anyway, since I haven't climbed South Sister before, I don't even know what the main route is like. How does this Eastern route compare with the main route? Would you recommend it? Would snow be an issue on this route in mid-August? Can you avoid hiking on the glacier/snow or should we bring crampons? Is the route dangerous in any way? The appeal of base camping 2 nights at Green Lakes on weekdays is hard to pass up and backtracking to the main South Sister route from Green Lakes would be tough as you lose elevation and gain mileage. Any thoughts on the Eastern approach would be greatly appreciated. I'm having a tough time finding much about it on here in my limited search. I just don't want to put others in a potentially dangerous situation if this route has some iffy spots or something. I know I can do this Eastern route, but it's bringing others to a place I don't know that concerns me. I hope you guys say it's totally fine!
Thanks!