Who would have thot we would have such a perfect climbing day this late in Sept.!!! Started from Devils Lake trailhead at 7am and summited about noon. We were in no hurry to get up or down -just wanted to take it all in. Very pleasant weather with just some chilly wind gusts at the summit. Visibility was quite good considering there were forest fires to the south. The views of the surrounding mountains were incredible. Spent about 1-1/2 hours at the summit (with about 12 other climbers) then began the long slog down and got back to the car close to 5pm. We may have encountered 30 people all day. No mosquitoes anywhere and just a few ground bees hanging around when we stopped for a break. We overpacked our packs as we were not sure what to expect - just cautious old timers. However, we met alot of folks who were traveling very light with no provisions for injury or weather change. While it turned out to be perfect weather this day, to us it still makes sense to carry extra water, food, and clothing anytime you are "hitting the hills". It looks like the weather window is closing so we feel fortunate to have hit an excellent day!
rmick25 - Sep 4, 2009 3:25 pm Date Climbed: Aug 9, 2007
Drake Park on the hill
Quite a hike with a 50lbs pack. Ascended the South Side and Descended the North side. Ton-o-people. Thanks to the couple who gave me the batteries!
nickkarl - Aug 17, 2009 7:48 pm Date Climbed: Aug 15, 2009
Clear and Beautiful
Climbed with my Dad and little bro, and about 300 strangers. First clear day in about a week. The view was worth the climb, we could see the outline of Rainier in the distance. This was our 4th volcano this week, a great way to spend our vactaion time. Next year we are on to Shasta!
nartreb - Aug 7, 2009 1:53 pm Date Climbed: Aug 3, 2009
Alpine Start
Heat wave made an early start a wise move, if a painful one for me. I was a bit slower than I expected, just missing sunrise on the summit. This schedule also avoided most of the crowds.
EastKing - Aug 5, 2009 2:18 am Date Climbed: Aug 3, 2009
South Sister Trail
Natreb and I climbed it in 4 1/2 up and 3 1/2 down, not including the 2 1/2 hours we spent taking tons of great pictures and enjoying this very rewarding summit. HIGHLY REWARDING AND RECOMMENDED SUMMIT!!!!!
Camped at Devils Lake Camp Ground Friday evening. Woke up much too early and climbed up to the summit. It took 9 hours to get to the summit and 4 hours to get back down (Yay for sliding on snow!) We got to the summit at 3:05pm and spent an hour having lunch with excellent views. The mosquitos were absolute hell both at camp and for the first hour or so in the wooded area. Got super sun-burnt cause I neglected the sunscreen... I'll never make that mistake again!
Awesome climb. Left at 11:00, but going was slow with some unexperienced members. One rolled ankle before Lewis glacier. Got the sunrise too late at the summit (6:15). Slept, had coffee, and came down.
Checked out the bergschrund on Lewis Glacier. Best glissade (standing) of my life down the snowfields. Also, near green lakes, a large rock had fallen into snow in the winter. It provided shade for the snow underneath it, but the snow around it melted out. What we found was a snow pinnacle with a large flat rock on top. Took pictures.
nicozone - Jul 13, 2009 11:01 am Date Climbed: Jul 11, 2009
Devils Lake TH to South Sister Summit
Drove up to the Devils Lake Campground on Friday evening. Woke up at 5am and left camp at 5:45am. It took 9 hours to get to the summit and 4 hours to get back. We got to the summit at 3:05pm and spent an hour having lunch with excellent views all the way to north toward Mt. Jefferson. It was an amazing trip except for the mosquitoes and sunburn.
bc44caesar - Jun 23, 2009 9:57 pm Date Climbed: Aug 2, 2011
Multiple
23 Jun 2009 - South Ridge
Left Devil's Lake TH at 5:20am, reached the summit at 9:35. Brilliant bluedbird day. The ridge was bare, and the first part of the trail; the rest was snow. Would've been some nice corn turns on skis. Total time was just under 7hrs. A long slog for sure.
2 Aug 2011 - North Ridge
Final peak of a solo Three Sisters Marathon. Left Pole Ck TH at 4:45 am, summitted North Sister around 9:30 am, Middle Sister around 11:20 am, then South Sister at 3:00 pm. Down to car pickup at Devil's Lake at 5:25 pm. North Ridge was mostly scree, but the steep step 2/3 of the way up was most easily bypassed on steep snow (and some ice), although it was pretty sketchy without protection and a rope.
apachedino - Nov 30, 2008 6:33 pm Date Climbed: Oct 26, 2008
1st sister
Beautiful fall day not a cloud in the sky, started at Green Lakes TH and enjoyed the forest and stream before cutting over to Moraine Lake. Stunning views even from the base, very different than where I am from. Surprisingly uncrowded given the great weather.
verdeleone - Nov 6, 2008 2:22 am Date Climbed: Oct 14, 2008
glorious day
but oh the wind.
Beautiful fall day until the wind came up in the afternoon. Almost blew us off the mountain a few times. There were some unpleasant patches of ice and hard snow. First time up.
dirth - Oct 26, 2008 3:04 am Date Climbed: Oct 25, 2008
Nice weather for october
Drove up to Bend on short notice because the weather seemed too good to be true for late October. Great hike, no snow to speak of on the trail, perfect temperature, "late summer" conditions. Probably around 50 degrees on the summit at 2pm.
My planning friend, his brother and I decided to do South from a different angle.
We left Bend around 3:00 AM headed towards the Broken Top trailhead. It was a full moon which made the hike in really nice. When the sun rose, it was a perfect day and we were close to the NW ridge of Broken Top. We discussed maybe doing Broken Top instead, but we stuck with South.
After a failed attempt at going over the lava (I don't know what we were thinking) we headed to Green Lakes and followed a waterfall up. We popped over the top of the ridge and hit the South Sister trail.
Summit was beautiful and clear. It was terribly hot, I got quite the sunburn.
BCJ - Sep 15, 2008 11:58 am Date Climbed: Aug 30, 2005
Pesobill - Sep 27, 2009 10:44 pm Date Climbed: Sep 25, 2009
AWESOME DAYWho would have thot we would have such a perfect climbing day this late in Sept.!!! Started from Devils Lake trailhead at 7am and summited about noon. We were in no hurry to get up or down -just wanted to take it all in. Very pleasant weather with just some chilly wind gusts at the summit. Visibility was quite good considering there were forest fires to the south. The views of the surrounding mountains were incredible. Spent about 1-1/2 hours at the summit (with about 12 other climbers) then began the long slog down and got back to the car close to 5pm. We may have encountered 30 people all day. No mosquitoes anywhere and just a few ground bees hanging around when we stopped for a break. We overpacked our packs as we were not sure what to expect - just cautious old timers. However, we met alot of folks who were traveling very light with no provisions for injury or weather change. While it turned out to be perfect weather this day, to us it still makes sense to carry extra water, food, and clothing anytime you are "hitting the hills". It looks like the weather window is closing so we feel fortunate to have hit an excellent day!
rmick25 - Sep 4, 2009 3:25 pm Date Climbed: Aug 9, 2007
Drake Park on the hillQuite a hike with a 50lbs pack. Ascended the South Side and Descended the North side. Ton-o-people. Thanks to the couple who gave me the batteries!
nickkarl - Aug 17, 2009 7:48 pm Date Climbed: Aug 15, 2009
Clear and BeautifulClimbed with my Dad and little bro, and about 300 strangers. First clear day in about a week. The view was worth the climb, we could see the outline of Rainier in the distance. This was our 4th volcano this week, a great way to spend our vactaion time. Next year we are on to Shasta!
nartreb - Aug 7, 2009 1:53 pm Date Climbed: Aug 3, 2009
Alpine StartHeat wave made an early start a wise move, if a painful one for me. I was a bit slower than I expected, just missing sunrise on the summit. This schedule also avoided most of the crowds.
EastKing - Aug 5, 2009 2:18 am Date Climbed: Aug 3, 2009
South Sister TrailNatreb and I climbed it in 4 1/2 up and 3 1/2 down, not including the 2 1/2 hours we spent taking tons of great pictures and enjoying this very rewarding summit. HIGHLY REWARDING AND RECOMMENDED SUMMIT!!!!!
tanzenfrosch - Jul 31, 2009 3:36 pm Date Climbed: Jul 11, 2009
South Sister :)Camped at Devils Lake Camp Ground Friday evening. Woke up much too early and climbed up to the summit. It took 9 hours to get to the summit and 4 hours to get back down (Yay for sliding on snow!) We got to the summit at 3:05pm and spent an hour having lunch with excellent views. The mosquitos were absolute hell both at camp and for the first hour or so in the wooded area. Got super sun-burnt cause I neglected the sunscreen... I'll never make that mistake again!
Pallando - Jul 26, 2009 11:42 pm Date Climbed: Jul 18, 2009
Green Lakes over Lewis GlacierAwesome climb. Left at 11:00, but going was slow with some unexperienced members. One rolled ankle before Lewis glacier. Got the sunrise too late at the summit (6:15). Slept, had coffee, and came down.
Checked out the bergschrund on Lewis Glacier. Best glissade (standing) of my life down the snowfields. Also, near green lakes, a large rock had fallen into snow in the winter. It provided shade for the snow underneath it, but the snow around it melted out. What we found was a snow pinnacle with a large flat rock on top. Took pictures.
nicozone - Jul 13, 2009 11:01 am Date Climbed: Jul 11, 2009
Devils Lake TH to South Sister SummitDrove up to the Devils Lake Campground on Friday evening. Woke up at 5am and left camp at 5:45am. It took 9 hours to get to the summit and 4 hours to get back. We got to the summit at 3:05pm and spent an hour having lunch with excellent views all the way to north toward Mt. Jefferson. It was an amazing trip except for the mosquitoes and sunburn.
bc44caesar - Jun 23, 2009 9:57 pm Date Climbed: Aug 2, 2011
Multiple23 Jun 2009 - South Ridge
Left Devil's Lake TH at 5:20am, reached the summit at 9:35. Brilliant bluedbird day. The ridge was bare, and the first part of the trail; the rest was snow. Would've been some nice corn turns on skis. Total time was just under 7hrs. A long slog for sure.
2 Aug 2011 - North Ridge
Final peak of a solo Three Sisters Marathon. Left Pole Ck TH at 4:45 am, summitted North Sister around 9:30 am, Middle Sister around 11:20 am, then South Sister at 3:00 pm. Down to car pickup at Devil's Lake at 5:25 pm. North Ridge was mostly scree, but the steep step 2/3 of the way up was most easily bypassed on steep snow (and some ice), although it was pretty sketchy without protection and a rope.
danielrfay - Jul 9, 2009 7:41 pm
Re: South RidgeDid you need any gear for the climb? I'm hoping to get up the South Sister in about a week. Thanks for any info!
Trevin Ziegler - May 29, 2009 8:14 pm Date Climbed: Jul 28, 2006
Route Climbed: Green Lakes variation via Todd Lake THDid this with SouthRaker. Fun, great, long hike. One of my first alpine experiences. Did BrokenTop the night before. Amazing, can't wait to go back!
basagix - May 13, 2009 3:01 pm Date Climbed: Jun 25, 2006
sosisterSkinned/hiked south route. Skied good corn up high, deep wet turns lower down.
bfrench - Apr 28, 2009 12:26 am
South SisterSkied a few times.
NCclimber - Mar 15, 2009 8:18 pm Date Climbed: Jul 11, 2002
Beautiful dayGreat weather, mosquitos knew it too until above the tree line. Had a Black Butte Porter at the summit with my cousins. Great climb.
ikedog50 - Mar 5, 2009 12:13 pm
did ityay
apachedino - Nov 30, 2008 6:33 pm Date Climbed: Oct 26, 2008
1st sisterBeautiful fall day not a cloud in the sky, started at Green Lakes TH and enjoyed the forest and stream before cutting over to Moraine Lake. Stunning views even from the base, very different than where I am from. Surprisingly uncrowded given the great weather.
verdeleone - Nov 6, 2008 2:22 am Date Climbed: Oct 14, 2008
glorious daybut oh the wind.
Beautiful fall day until the wind came up in the afternoon. Almost blew us off the mountain a few times. There were some unpleasant patches of ice and hard snow. First time up.
dirth - Oct 26, 2008 3:04 am Date Climbed: Oct 25, 2008
Nice weather for octoberDrove up to Bend on short notice because the weather seemed too good to be true for late October. Great hike, no snow to speak of on the trail, perfect temperature, "late summer" conditions. Probably around 50 degrees on the summit at 2pm.
Pallando - Sep 18, 2008 1:38 am
A Long Way UpMy planning friend, his brother and I decided to do South from a different angle.
We left Bend around 3:00 AM headed towards the Broken Top trailhead. It was a full moon which made the hike in really nice. When the sun rose, it was a perfect day and we were close to the NW ridge of Broken Top. We discussed maybe doing Broken Top instead, but we stuck with South.
After a failed attempt at going over the lava (I don't know what we were thinking) we headed to Green Lakes and followed a waterfall up. We popped over the top of the ridge and hit the South Sister trail.
Summit was beautiful and clear. It was terribly hot, I got quite the sunburn.
BCJ - Sep 15, 2008 11:58 am Date Climbed: Aug 30, 2005
Great viewThis is one of my favorite views in the state.