Took the route in the Oregon Scrambles book, starting from Obsidian Trail. Awesome viewpoint of North and Middle Sister, Collier Cone and all the nearby volcanoes.
Nick Turtura - Jul 28, 2013 8:20 pm Date Climbed: Jul 26, 2013
Why Not?
This time I took a youth group up the Little Sister and on the way down I just couldn't resist. Such a great detour after the main events. Besides if the kids aren't wiped out after the Sisters this will finish them off. :)
A fun backup scramble after my partner wimped out on the way up Middle Sister. A beautiful day to be out!
Nick Turtura - Aug 12, 2012 2:58 am Date Climbed: Aug 11, 2012
What the heck
From Arrowhead Lake we took of and climbed the North Sister. After summiting, we were exhausted but were headed right by the Little Brother. What the heck right? It was a fun little rock. We approached it from the east and popped right up. It had a great top and some good views. I highly suggest it if you're in the neighborhood.
Route Climbed: North face via Collier Cone south rim Date Climbed: October 4, 2003
Began watching a small puffy cloud near North Sister in an otherwise cloudless sunny sky. I remember seeing that one small cloud and thinking "Damn, were gunna get wet!" Sure enough huge dark thunderheads formed quickly and we got soaked! I knew it would storm, just didn't want to admit it because that would mean the smart thing to do was turn back. Annaleiserabinek says she has a partner with "a wonderful, determined spirit" I think she is getting that confused with a careless stupidity, so I pushed upward over the slick crumbly rock as the rain fell harder. I told myself the first sound of thunder I would head back down....I didn't . The third distant rumble made me turn and take two steps back down, but I turned my head back to the summit to see it only a few hundred feet above and I stopped. I could see the storm was losing energy and moving on, so I decided to wait it out where I was. Sure enough it moved on and the sun came out. I scrambled up the last 300-400 ft through some very loose crumbly rock that reminded me a lot of Broken top, caused a great deal of rock fall in this area above the snowfield/glacier. Reached the false summit and scrambled a short distance to the true summit across some the most solid rock on the mountain. Took a minute to enjoy my accomplishment, and to reflect on how stupid it was to keep on pushing through a thunderstorm, but we all have our moments......right?. Descended a little further to the west on the way down to take advantage of some loose cinder. Fun Little mountain with incredible views, highly recommended. Thanks Annaleiserabinek for another great hike.
Route Climbed: North Face Date Climbed: October 4, 2003
In a battle against two formidable opponents, Father Time and Mother Nature, I did not summit this mountain, but got awfully close (close enough to sign the log). It was a nice hike in about 5 or 6 miles to the Collier Cone rim past the scenic Matthieu Lakes and some of the most beautiful portions of the PCT. From the cone rim you get great views of North and Middle Sister, Collier cone and glacier, and of course, Little Brother. As my partner, Cornvallis, and I took a breather, we noticed a few clouds boiling over Middle Sister, "Eh," we thought, "they won't amount to much so we'll keep climbing." After all, my partner wanted to put this page up. ;-) Boy, were we wrong! We clamored half way up the ridge and it started pouring. We could see the clouds, big and black, over us and to the north. Rain, rain, rain, and then thunder. Big booming thunder. Thunder that bellows, “if you don’t turn around now, you’ll be very sorry, little hikers.” That was enough to make me turn around, but I have a partner with a wonderful, determined spirit who wanted to keep on pushing. We finally got to the point, probably just above 7000', where the weather was so nasty and our daylight running low enough that we thought it better for me to hold up the side of the mountain while he tried for the summit. So, I sat and waited, hoping that Mother Nature wasn’t so pissed off she'd start throwing lightning bolts at us hikers trying to tackle her mountain in the middle of a thunderstorm. She wasn't. He summited. It might be a good idea to wear a helmet on this one. There is plenty of loose rock on top to send down to your very surprised climbing partners below. We hurried back down, had a quick bite to eat at Collier cone, and headed back to the trailhead in twilight, barely making it to the truck before dark.
jessbee - Jul 26, 2016 7:20 pm Date Climbed: Jul 26, 2016
Fun scrambleTook the route in the Oregon Scrambles book, starting from Obsidian Trail. Awesome viewpoint of North and Middle Sister, Collier Cone and all the nearby volcanoes.
Nick Turtura - Jul 28, 2013 8:20 pm Date Climbed: Jul 26, 2013
Why Not?This time I took a youth group up the Little Sister and on the way down I just couldn't resist. Such a great detour after the main events. Besides if the kids aren't wiped out after the Sisters this will finish them off. :)
bellinghamclimber - Jun 24, 2013 7:07 pm Date Climbed: Jun 22, 2013
good backup to Middle SisterA fun backup scramble after my partner wimped out on the way up Middle Sister. A beautiful day to be out!
Nick Turtura - Aug 12, 2012 2:58 am Date Climbed: Aug 11, 2012
What the heckFrom Arrowhead Lake we took of and climbed the North Sister. After summiting, we were exhausted but were headed right by the Little Brother. What the heck right? It was a fun little rock. We approached it from the east and popped right up. It had a great top and some good views. I highly suggest it if you're in the neighborhood.
Cornvallis - Oct 7, 2003 12:36 am
Route Climbed: North face via Collier Cone south rim Date Climbed: October 4, 2003Began watching a small puffy cloud near North Sister in an otherwise cloudless sunny sky. I remember seeing that one small cloud and thinking "Damn, were gunna get wet!" Sure enough huge dark thunderheads formed quickly and we got soaked! I knew it would storm, just didn't want to admit it because that would mean the smart thing to do was turn back. Annaleiserabinek says she has a partner with "a wonderful, determined spirit" I think she is getting that confused with a careless stupidity, so I pushed upward over the slick crumbly rock as the rain fell harder. I told myself the first sound of thunder I would head back down....I didn't . The third distant rumble made me turn and take two steps back down, but I turned my head back to the summit to see it only a few hundred feet above and I stopped. I could see the storm was losing energy and moving on, so I decided to wait it out where I was. Sure enough it moved on and the sun came out. I scrambled up the last 300-400 ft through some very loose crumbly rock that reminded me a lot of Broken top, caused a great deal of rock fall in this area above the snowfield/glacier. Reached the false summit and scrambled a short distance to the true summit across some the most solid rock on the mountain. Took a minute to enjoy my accomplishment, and to reflect on how stupid it was to keep on pushing through a thunderstorm, but we all have our moments......right?. Descended a little further to the west on the way down to take advantage of some loose cinder. Fun Little mountain with incredible views, highly recommended. Thanks Annaleiserabinek for another great hike.
annaleiserabinek - Oct 6, 2003 7:59 pm
Route Climbed: North Face Date Climbed: October 4, 2003In a battle against two formidable opponents, Father Time and Mother Nature, I did not summit this mountain, but got awfully close (close enough to sign the log). It was a nice hike in about 5 or 6 miles to the Collier Cone rim past the scenic Matthieu Lakes and some of the most beautiful portions of the PCT. From the cone rim you get great views of North and Middle Sister, Collier cone and glacier, and of course, Little Brother. As my partner, Cornvallis, and I took a breather, we noticed a few clouds boiling over Middle Sister, "Eh," we thought, "they won't amount to much so we'll keep climbing." After all, my partner wanted to put this page up. ;-) Boy, were we wrong! We clamored half way up the ridge and it started pouring. We could see the clouds, big and black, over us and to the north. Rain, rain, rain, and then thunder. Big booming thunder. Thunder that bellows, “if you don’t turn around now, you’ll be very sorry, little hikers.” That was enough to make me turn around, but I have a partner with a wonderful, determined spirit who wanted to keep on pushing. We finally got to the point, probably just above 7000', where the weather was so nasty and our daylight running low enough that we thought it better for me to hold up the side of the mountain while he tried for the summit. So, I sat and waited, hoping that Mother Nature wasn’t so pissed off she'd start throwing lightning bolts at us hikers trying to tackle her mountain in the middle of a thunderstorm. She wasn't. He summited. It might be a good idea to wear a helmet on this one. There is plenty of loose rock on top to send down to your very surprised climbing partners below. We hurried back down, had a quick bite to eat at Collier cone, and headed back to the trailhead in twilight, barely making it to the truck before dark.