Day 116, Three Sisters

Part 4, Oregon, Day 116

Three Sisters

Miles: 28.2

Total Miles: 1977.2

Last night sucked. It was really loud at the Elk Lake Resort campground. I think I was surrounded by a camping wedding party. All I wanted was to be camping alone in the woods. My blog was also frozen again by Google, so that caused me some anxiety. 

I woke up at 5am and started to pack up. I walked back to the side trail and returned to the PCT by 7am. I had a long climb before I saw some peaks in the morning mist.

This one is called Broken Top:

I came upon the South Sister, the first of the Three Sisters Volcanoes. 

These mountains would be my companion all day. 

I was slow this morning. I was worried about this blog and I just felt off. I arrived at the beautiful Sisters Mirror Lake.

It really does look like a mirror.

I hiked through some dense forest before emerging at a long meadow.

A southbounder helped me identify the nearby peaks.

I began to see many weekend backpackers, a trend that would continue all day.

I got water from this glacial stream. 

As I turned a corner, I met Bryan, a lawyer from Portland out on a weekend hike.

We started talking about the area. He told me a bit about the area, and we just started hiking together. 

Bryan was my tour guide for the day. Thanks to him, I knew everything I was looking at. I saw the South Sister from a great view. (Above)

Then the Middle Sister:

And then the North Sister. I'd get much better and closer views throughout the day.

Here's more views of the Middle Sister:

There were so many other hikers out. I hadn't seen this many since the Sierra Nevada. Here's the North Sister again.

We entered an area filled with Obsidian. Here's Obsidian Falls:

Bryan knew about this river that was fed from underground springs. Best water ever. 

The water comes out from under the cinder cone.

Obsidian was everywhere.

Here's the Middle and Northern Sister together:

And here's the Northern Sister and Little Brother:

I saw my favorite view all day when I summited a hill. From left to right is Mt. Washington, Three Fingered Jack, and Mt. Jefferson.

I'll be seeing more of these guys tomorrow. 

We passed through a huge lava field.

Here's Bryan in front of a cinder cone.

Bryan camped at a spring while I charged on. It was awesome hiking with him and I learned a ton. 

I'm camped at Mathieu Lake. Rain clouds and wind are moving in, and it's getting cold.