Ten days earlier, an alert went off on my google calendar, reminding me that it was time to snag my South Sister permit. With a small amount of planning and a 15-minute block on my calendar in between meetings registering recreation.gov was a sinch.
I got an early start. I wanted to avoid the direct sun above the treeline while covering the steepest part of the trail. It was 39 degrees at 6 am but was going to warm up to the low 60s in the Three Sisters Wilderness. I find that people often underestimate the impact of the sun when it's under 80. I began in pants, a puffy, a beany, a mid-layer, and gloves. The layers slowly came off as I climbed.
Once you get above the treeline, the views are otherworldly the entire way to the summit. Even with the haze of the wildfires. One other observation is that the number of people I saw on the trail seemed to exceed the number of day use permits that are available. I have to imagine a ranger could write quite a few tickets on the weekend if the trail was regularly patrolled.
More photos and details from the trip are here: https://www.trekkinghigher.com/south-sister
