May 28-29, 2010, - Broken Top

Todd and I headed out from work early on Friday afternoon with the intention of riding the South Sister.  The Cascade Lakes Highway had only been open for a few days, and there was a great snowpack given all the rain we've had here in Oregon lately.  When we arrived at the trailhead at about 4:30, it was snowing hard and there was no place to park.  The snowbanks were really high and the County didn't plow any place out for parking.  The one or two spots available were taken.

So, after heading up to Bachelor and changing clothes, we decided to head in towards Broken Top to spend the night.  We didn't have a map of this area since we were planning on doing the South, but I had been in there a few years earlier and we figured we could pretty much follow our noses.  It continued to snow on our skin in, and the weather outlook was grim for the next day (Saturday) with snow snowers likely.  After about an hour or so on the trail, we set up camp.  Camp consisted of a nice snow pit with a wind shelter.  The snow pack was super deep, much deeper than normal for this time of year.

The next morning we awoke to a thick fog and 27 degrees.  After breakfast, we started wandering in the general direction of N/NW, believing this to be the right way given our memory of the map we didn't have and Todd's gps feature on his phone (yes we did have cell service).  The fog finally lifted to reveal the below photo, and we knew we were on the right track.....



The trouble was, we were quite a ways from the mountain still and it was getting onto later morning.  Next time camp will need to be closer to the hill.  We continued skinning for what seemed like an eternity, and finally reached the bottom of the crater bowl.  Clouds were blowing in and out, and when the sun was out it was humid!  Given that our turn-around time was noon, we headed up the ridge until about 8100 feet, stopping 1000 feet below the top.  Here's a shot of Todd skinning up the ridge and another of the mountain....





I wish we had more time, because the couloirs up higher looked prime!  We're definitely heading back up here again.  Here's a shot of our original destination from our high point.......



The turns down were excellent.  Here's a shot of Todd.......



The skin out back to camp was uneventful and hot.  It was however, quicker than the morning skin in given the slight downhill and the fact that we could see with the sunshine.  Here's a shot of Mt. Bachelor (actually taken in the morning, but it looked the same in the afternoon).  It's still caked with snow......



Once we were back at camp, we packed up quickly and headed out to the truck.  We made it out by 3:15, which wasn't bad all things considering.  There's still a pile of snow in the Three Sisters area for anyone wanting to get out.  The weather's the only factor, with more rain & snow predicted for next week.