SummitPost.org

I plan on climbing South Sister and Middle Sister at the end of the week via their respective easiest routes - south ridge and north ridge via hayden glacier. Can somebody comment on conditions? Will I need crampons and ice ax for either routes?

Also, could somebody advise a good place to camp, preferably near or in Bend, on the Western side for easy access to the trail heads.

Thanks in advance!

ps - I'm going solo, but if anybody is interested in teaming up, PM me.

No need for axe or crampons on South Sister easy route last weekend. Didn't do Middle.
Several small campgrounds near the trailhead and a dinky one right at the parking lot. Tumalo State Park 4 miles north of Bend has a nice big campground but is very popular and full every weekend. You can reserve online for the state parks.

nichmech, thanks for the info!

Anybody know how tough it is to follow the south ridge trail at night? If the routefinding is straightforward, I would like to leave real early so as to catch sunrise on the summit.

The south ridge on South Sister is a well-marked trail and very well trodden, so easy to follow up until it braids out a bit about half-way. Then easy to follow above that. So it might help to know where you are shooting for, and maybe have a map or waypoints. I'll bet you can get enough info by studying the photos attached to the climbing page.
That said, in the dark my brother and dad managed to leave the correct Devil's Lake parking lot on the wrong trail....