For our third backpacking trip in as many weekends, we combined a few different trails to make our way around Broken Top. The trail itself was reminiscent of a six-day trip I did in the High Sierras of California a few years back. It was hot, dry, and dusty, with most of the trails having been churned into a chalk-like gray powder by foot traffic and not much rain. There were also lots of low pine trees and wildflowers growing around trickling streams. But unlike the Sierras, there were lots of deep reds in the terrain, and aerated volcanic rocks everywhere. We got about as close to the mountain as one could get without climbing it and then dipped back down to enjoy lots of wildflower meadows. We even made friends with a sparrow which followed us for about two miles and would hop around at our feet every time we would stop, no doubt looking for a handout.
We camped just shy of Green Lakes, which I’d heard would be crowded. Our campsite had a nice view of Mt Bachelor and Sparks Lake, and we could even see the snow-capped peaks of Diamond Peak in the distance. The mosquitoes swarmed us as we pumped water, but weren’t too bad at our campsite. I think we were only a day or two shy of a full moon, which lit up our tent so much that we had to pull the rain fly down to get any sleep.
On the second day, we passed through Green Lakes. With South Sister on one side and Broken top on the other, it was a sight to behold.
The final stretch of the hike was through a burnout. The North and Middle Sisters were visible through the skeletal trees. The branches of the burned trees were curling dramatically and it felt like we were walking through the set of a Tim Burton film. It was very hot and dusty and without much shade, so we hurried back to Three Creek Lake for a cold dip before driving back to Portland.
For this trip, I left the film camera at home (having spent $35 on film, development, and scanning last weekend — I will post when I get the scans back). Instead, I brought along a mirrorless camera instead of my usual DSLR. It was very compact, lightweight, and remarkably responsive, but I like the pictures I get from my DSLR a lot more so I’ll be bringing it back for our next adventure.