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| That's Mt Bachelor! :) |
Getting There
The day was supposed to be a road trip day, no hiking. I'd driven down the Cascade Lakes Scenic Byway on my first visit to Bend. I'd hiked to Green Lakes and had time left in the day so I continued south. This time, I drove down to Sunriver and out NF-40 to do a clockwise loop.
While it was a good itinerary on paper, in reality it wasn't that awesome. To be fair, just being able to drive around in the beautiful weather was great. The lakes are nice, great campgrounds but not a lot of dynamic views (unless you got Three Sisters or another mountain the background). I'm not into kayaking and I wasn't camping, so I just poked around the day-use areas.
My first planned stop was Lava Lake but I bypassed it because it was more of a resort than appealed to me. Next was Elk and Hosmer Lakes. I did pull off the road and drive around a bit. There was a family on the shore at Elk Lake so I didn't take many photos. I took the dirt road to Hosmer and drove through the Mallard Marsh Campground. No real interesting views.
Once back on the byway, I stopped at the Six Lakes Trailhead. When I looked at it on the map, I could see a bunch of lakes to the west in the forest: Blow and Doris Lakes. However, this trail just parallel the Scenic Byway.
My last lake stop was Devil's Lake. It was nearly packed with cars. It is the trailhead for the South Sisters Climb. I didn't see anyone in the campground or parking lot. There were a bunch of photo ops here but it was clearly a place there requires zero effort to reach: it's a campground next to the road.
While it was a photogenic location, I was feeling underwhelmed by day and really wanted to climb something! I had already tackled Tumalo Mountain a few years back but I had limited choices besides longer hikes into the backcountry.
I pulled into the parking lot across from Bachelor Mountain and got geared up.
The Hike
I had vague memories of this trail. It was warmer, more busy with hikers last time. This time I passed a few folks on the way down but I seemed to be the only one going up.
It's not a big hike by any stretch: 4-1/2 miles and 1500 ft of EG. I made great progress through the forest. When I got higher up, the trees got more sparse and I could see far to the east and south. I also heard some weird noises a few times. When I stopped, there was nothing but when I moved, I heard it again over the sound of my footsteps and backpack shifting. Animal? Coyote? Bear? Or, human-made, i.e. workers at the Sunrise Lodge or on the east-facing slopes or chairlifts? IDK.
The noise faded from my mind and I resumed being 99% focused on my ascent. The trail is well-designed with few steep sections and lots of quality tread work and structures like water bars, check steps, and drains.
The trail was dry but the dirt was dark (wet) when I stabbed the ground with my hiking pole. I noticed the same thing at Tam McArthur Rim.
I pulled out my photo and checked AllTrails a couple of times but I could also sense I was getting close to the top, there was blue sky through the trees.
Indeed when I reached the top, I was alone. I did a clockwise loop around the summit and even descended a little on the north side to get better photos of Three Sisters and Broken Top.
At one point, a big cloud moved in front of the sun and it got a bit chilly. I thought a storm might form. I didn't want to be the highest object on the summit. I decided to start heading down, not hurriedly but it was time.
I found my way back to the main trail after passing by the footings for an old fire lookout.
The trip down was great. I was happy to have made it to the top with not too much effort. I was still preserving my legs for a "big" hike.
I passed a few folks on the way down. A couple where the young woman was rearing to go while her partner sat resting. No judgement but seemed like they had a long way to go to be this tired. I passed another couple that didn't look super prepared: no packs, street shoes, jacket? water? It was late in the afternoon and they had 45min-1 hr to reach the summit. I thought about the chance of worsening weather and being a lightning rod.
When I see folks that don't seem prepared, do I say so directly? Indirectly is best, if at all. Or, being honest with direct questions, otherwise not really my problem.. I don't want to make any assumptions.
I was happy to have done even a short hike. A sense of accomplishment. Though, not sure why I can't just enjoy a leisurely, slow day. I guess it's knowing my time in the area is limited and not wanting to wait any. time. (The Tumalo Falls hike last year was a compromise.)
