This print titled "Broken Top and Moraine Lake", available for purchase in my Landscape Print Collection, came about through a very sorry attempt to climb my very first mountain. Let me begin by stating that I am an avid outdoorsman. I have hiked and camped in a lot of different environments and have a healthy respect for the benefits and dangers that await in the great outdoors. I can orienteer, read a map, and I am fairly adept in the art of being comfortable with being uncomfortable.
I had recently moved to Bend, Oregon and was learning about the earthly delights that seem to abound in this magical place. Bend is located directly east of the Cascade Range, in the high desert of Central Oregon, just about smack in the middle of the state. To the west, beautiful mountains, to the east, miles of desert, sage brush, and juniper trees. Within 30 minutes of town there is an unending supply of trails to explore. A virtual heaven for an outdoorsman. As my head spun trying to decide what my first big adventure would be, I found South Sister. South Sister is one of the 3 Sisters mountains, located in the 3 Sisters Wilderness, that are just outside of Bend. North, Middle, and South, all very close together and always looming over you to the west of town. Through research I found that South Sister can be climbed without any special climbing skills or equipment. Just determination and some preparation, and just like that I found the adventure I was looking for!
My planning began. It is a roughly 12 mile out and back, with nearly 5,000 feet of elevation gain. Being that I was from Florida, by way of western New York, that did not mean as much to me as it should have. I was in great shape, had done a bunch of hiking, and thought I was ready for this challenge. I had the gear, the know how, been going to the gym, and I planned on taking it slow so I could really take in the views. It was July 2017. Then the whole state caught on fire. As did California. Fires broke out everywhere. It was raining ash in Bend. The air was thick, everything smelled like a campfire. The Columbia Gorge was gutted. So.....climbing that much elevation, the top being 10,363 ft, simply wasn't an option. I wouldn't be able to breathe, and I certainly didn't want to be caught in a forest fire. My girlfriend, being a born and raised Bendite, would also never let me live it down if I made a dumb decision like that and had to be found by search and rescue. Dream dashed, I settled into breathing smoke and imagining what the mountains looked like because the smoke was so thick you couldn't see a quarter mile. No hiking, no outside, no nothing.
So I pouted...for months...September rolls around and I am getting antsy. Still a little smokey. When winter comes, the road to the trailhead I want to use will be closed due to the enormous amount of snow that falls at that elevation. Once it closes, I won't be able to get back up there possibly until May. October hits, and snow starts falling in the mountains. The longer I wait, the worse of an idea this becomes. But being the stubborn monkey that I am, I will not let go of this idea. Then the smoke clears. Mid October. Some snow, nothing I can't handle, temps are still warm at the base, so much to my girlfriend's trepidation, I am going to go for it! I print out some topo maps, grab my compass, load my pack, and make a plan for my impromtu attempt to climb South Sister!
Beautiful clear day. I start up the trail. The landscape is unspeakably beautiful. Nearly empty trail on top of it! I start my slow ascent, trying to take in every single view. The trail is steep, but keeping a medium pace, I get through the first mile without much suffering. the trails are well marked, I don't come across much snow at first. I am off-put by just how much beauty I see in every single direction. I get a little lost after 2 miles as I came across some snow covering the trail. I finally get to Moraine Lake. I am already pretty tired, the trail was pretty steep, steeper than I expected. I take a moment and eat, looking at the lake, and decide I will hike the trail around it and see what there is to see before moving on up the mountain. I explored the designated campsites, planning my next trip up here to camp, which did not happen for 3 years after. That's when I took this picture. The view was of Broken Top, another mountain in the Cascade Range. I know what you're thinking.....what the hell, you were there for South Sister! You are correct, but the clouds coming off of Broken Top made it look like an active volcano, which all of these mountains were or currently are. The clouds should also have been a warning of things to come. I decided to continue, thinking I made good time, this is not so hard that I can't finish. I went higher through a nice flat section, losing the trail here and there due to snow. As I climbed higher the trail became less obvious and it was significantly colder. I will stop here for a moment. I was not wearing light gear. I had a heavy coat, a flannel on and a base layer. At this point I had been sweating hard and that is a huge mistake. I also didn't match and probably looked like a mountain hobo. Anyhoo....slapped on my coat and went for it. What I began to learn is, I cannot breathe well past about 8500 ft. By well I mean at all. It was rough going and it hadn't occurred to me how much that was going to affect me as I am not accustomed to those elevations. I get up to a place where I thought, I am very close to the top. I am struggling in the snow a bit. There is a snow storm above me that made me pause. I thought....I will give that a few minutes, catch my breath, if it clears I will go for it. It wasn't until 3 years later that I found out hilariously that it was actually a false summit and I had miles to go. So I sat there heaving for breath. In a moment of reflection I decided to look back down the trail from whence I came to glory in my progress. To my horror, I was so focused on the "summit" that I hadn't noticed the snowstorm blowing in below me. I was in the clear spot between two storms. The decision was easy from there, get the hell out of there before I lose the trail to the snow. All I kept thinking was how my girlfriend kept asking if I was SURE I wanted to do this now. Double time it down to avoid an I told you so! The trail was filling in but I could still make it out. I was feeling a little anxiety about the long walk out, the snow was so heavy that you couldn't see very well and fear was creeping in. I arrived near the lake to find I decended from the clouds and into very warm temps. It was amazing. I went back and forth into and out of the cloud marvelling in the huge difference in the temps and weather. Not to mention how excited I was that I wouldn't be force marching through miles of blowing snow. The walk back out was pretty uneventful thank goodness, the prospect of getting trapped up there was very real, the fear was very real, and it reminded me of a quote from the movie Jeremiah Johnson....The mountain's gots it's own ways....No matter how good you think you are, the mountain will humble you. Even the one's that are "easy" to climb.
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