Hiking around Three Sisters

Part of our trip to Oregon in the summer of 1996

When the demands of work suspended for Vance (in the days between teaching seminars and returning to work at CPI), the family took off with Deborah's hiking book on a route recommended by Norm Johnson over yet another microbrewery sampler tray the evening before. This time we drove up to the town of Sisters on back routes, stopping for short hikes along the way. One took us through the crisp air of lava-laced forests to a pair of impressive waterfalls. Another hike took us to a lake with a wide swath of lava running like a tongue through the forest trying to lap up the water. The lava was piled high and jagged, but a century earlier a pioneer had cut a path through it for his wagons, and we took that way around to a point on the lake where we could swim in privacy. On this walk, the views of the snow-laced 3 Sisters were so beckoning that we (Dad at any rate) decided we'd have to get closer.

Getting ideas from Deborah's book, we drove 15 miles south from Sisters to a trailhead that took us high above a lovely lake to high buttes looking out over mounts Washington, Jefferson, and Hood off in the distance to the north. The weather was perfect for the walk, a little cool, and the air clear for the view. When we reached the buttes, we had the Sisters summits as well to the south and west, and a daunting glimpse over plummeting cliffs at our feet, gusty winds playing hob with balance. On the way down we played in the snow, with Bobbi posing in her bathing suit. Since living in Hawaii, we've always made it a habit wherever we go to be ready for anything: hiking, swimming, and sudden cold and rain.

The walk had been an unplanned detour from our original route, but we had accurately calculated we'd be back down before dark. We'd also calculated that we could still visit a cave on the way back to Eugene, since we'd be doing that in the dark in any event. Despite the fact that it was right near the car park, the entrance to the cave was a little difficult to find in the pitch dark; I'd expected a hole in a mountainside, and it turned out to be a hole in the ground. Inside, it was a lava tube, which I explored for, as long as it held my interest before resuming the drive to Eugene, where we spent a final night recuperating in Deborah's "spare" house.

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Last updated: November 13, 1997

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