Broken Top - September 1st, 2014

[obera]

Mars and I decided to check out Broken Top on Labor Day. We slept in a bit and hit the TH at 8am Monday morning. We started at Todd Lake and took our time throughout the 15 mile hike.

First we went over to No Name Lake - gorgeous. On our way, we crossed many creeks and streams - some dry and some gently bubbling along. Nothing tricky to cross at all. Once at the lake, we debated whether or not to go to the rim, and thank goodness we did. The view of the Three Sisters was amazing. Definitely worth getting there earlier rather than later for some solitude.

By the time we were descending from lake, the crowds were heading in. Families. Dogs. Kids. There were SO MANY PEOPLE. I finally asked somebody where they were coming from - the Broken Top TH, of course. An easy 2 mile hike in if you can make it up the bumpy road. Good to know if ever a visitor wanted an easy hike with a big ta-da view at the end.

On our way down from No Name we decided to cut across and climb up into the crater to see what there was to see. There was a clear path up alongside the stream heading up to the crater. We followed it and made our way up to the snow field. We had it to ourselves, and enjoyed the quiet and the views.

After that we made our way down and headed back to Todd Lake, following the stream until we hit the trail.

We definitely took our time and didn't set any speed records. 15 miles in 10 hours. More than 500 pictures. Mostly solitude, except as we were descending out of the lake area. Lots of off leash dogs, some well behaved but some not. I always worry for the ones that don't behave well. There were 'lost dog' signs at the TH from two different people.

Some pictures:

[obera]

Quick note: I thought I uploaded the pictures in the order that I wanted them to be viewed - instead you're viewing the hike in reverse. Oops! First-time trip report mistake!

[Crusak]

Excellent! I'm really glad you guys made it up there. It's one of those 'most see' locations in the Three Sisters Wilderness.

[kepPNW]

Looks like a most wonderful day!

[hiker4fun]

Yet another inspiration to go there. Thanks for sharing.

[mcds]

Wow, the eastside tarn (formed by Crook Glacier; Crater Glacier is in the crater and Bend Glacier melts northward) has not melted very much since since we were there, which was the day 370/380 were opened for the season, which was about 6 weeks ago iirc.

[MarsIsCobra]

nice pics, nice TR

[Underwater Arsonist]

Nice report, it helped inspire me to get up there Wednesday afternoon while vacationing out there. I can attest first hand to how horrible the drive to the Broken Top TH was, I got a late start so it was imperative I started there, and even if I wanted to start at Todd Lake, chances are parking would've been a squeeze, it was packed! I timed myself on the way down and it took 25 minutes to drive those horribly rutted 5 miles of road. Still, I was quite surprised to see so many people coming down the narrow road as I was headed up. Next time I'm thinking it'd be better to get an earlier start and just start from Todd Lake instead.

[Jim57]

Great Pics! Thanks for the inspiration! This hiking stuff is fun! fun! fun! The more hikes I do the longer the list of hikes to do gets. Yippee!