The climb started normally. Saturday morning 4:00 a.m. departing in the dark for the mountains. Two and a half hours of anticipation got us to the Devils Lake parking area and we were soon on the trail. In a way, the climbing allows you to settle down and start utilizing your pent up energy. The first 1000 feet of elevation gain passes through deep green pine forests as you ascend "the draw". This narrow drainage eventually places you at the top of a rolling plateau where for the first time you witness the massive southern face of South Sister towering another 4000 feet above you!

Crossing another mile and a half of this undulating plain, you begin the push up the steeper slopes that lead to a point from which you can make the final attempt at the summit. The volcanic skree soil begins to change from slate grey to cinder red the higher you climb, and at about the 8,800 foot level, you arrive at the terminus moraine lacerated off the mountain by the Lewis glacier. From there you can see the 1500 foot south ridge that leads to the top of Oregon's third highest volcanic peak.

The south ridge climb goes slowly, as you sometimes pass other climbers resting along the way, sometimes are passed, or meet those descending with supreme satisfaction on their faces. My climbing style sets a slow pace that I can maintain for long pitches on an ascent, and slow this one was. But as just over an hour of steady climbing came to an end, I arrived at the summit with my partner. Exaltation again flooded my heart when I attained my climbing goal, but this joy was short lived.

As we crested the edge of the summit rim onto South Sister's broad caldera crater which towers above 10,000 feet, a boiling cloud of dark smoke came into sight beyond the north side of the crater wall. "Forest fire," was all I could say. Crossing the crater's snow packed surface we looked down upon a scene of hell fire in the Three Sisters wilderness four thousand feet below. Helicopters buzzed like tiny insects above the thrashing red tongues of flame that leaped hundreds of feet above the forest.

For some time we sat with other climbers on that north rim looking down at the sublime beauty of the Chambers Lakes, threatened now by destruction. Its hard to view this as nature's way of renewing the nutrients in the forest when all you can see is a blackened grave yard of charred trees in the wake of the flames. However, at last we had to depart the summit as the early afternoon wore on. We were still six miles and almost 5,000 feet above the parking area, and the afternoon thermals rising above the central Oregon desert promised more thunder storms and lightening over the Cascades.

The slippery, sliding descent down thousands of feet of skree slopes keeps you constantly on your guard to avoid falls. With already fatigued legs this can be quite an accomplishment. We moved slowly but deliberately along the south ridge. Then the swirling winds above the mountain changed and the towering smoke clouds from what now appeared to be three dispersed conflagrations in the Sisters and neighboring wilderness areas spread a dark smear across the sky. The bright sun quickly faded to yellow and then ruddy red as the smoke cloud grew thicker. The fires were blanketing thousands of square miles with their smokey shadow.

We made the long trek out of the wilderness with mechanical movements. After a dozen hours our muscles and minds were exhausted, our hearts torn by satisfaction and sadness, our souls infused with the wonder of our physical world. I can't wait until my next journey into these Cascade mountains...

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