which sister?

[thelawgoddess]

which sister is the funnest? (looking for a side daytrip from smith ...) tia!

[Cpt.Caveman]

quote:

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Originally posted by thelawgoddess:

which sister is the funnest? (looking for a side daytrip from smith ...) tia!

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I heard your sister is real fun

[thelawgoddess]

quote:

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Originally posted by Cpt.Caveman:

I heard your sister is real fun [/QB]

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ha, ha; very funny. you keep your hands to yourself, you pig!

[bobinc]

South is probably the most straightforward, but all will require considerable scree misery this time of year.

[Figger_Eight]

quote:

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I heard your sister is real fun

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You were asking for that one Lawgoddess

[iain]

The south sister is a good one-day outing from Devils Lake trailhead. It is basically a steep hike. The middle and the north can be climbed from obsidian trailhead in a day, but this is a haul for a one-day trip. The north sister is considerably more dangerous than the middle or south sister.

[wayne]

By far the North Sis is more "fun" .It is the steepest and only exposed peak of the 3. The Early Morning Couloir is good, but does anyone go directly up the Pinnacle?

[iain]

which pinnacle and which side?

 

n. sister is most "fun" in spring as it is a miserable pile right now.

 

Thayer Headwall is another nice snow route on n. sis.

[Alex]

lawgoddess,

 

do S Sister and Broken, nice outing, nothing but sneakers required.

 

wayne,

 

yes, I have topped out directly above the EMC, in June. Exposed ! I wouldnt want to be on N sister (especially decending) if there wasnt snow on it.

[gapertimmy]

i'd say for something fun interesting, go for washington or three fingered jack. closer to smiffy tuff, and a bit more fun/challenging.

[nolanr]

I second that notion for TFJ, did that last month, good times.

 

You know, while you're around the neighborhood, hiking up inside the remains of the crater of Broken Top should not be missed, that's one of my favorite places I've been.

 

[ 09-24-2002, 07:26 PM: Message edited by: nolanr ]

[CraigA]

Just did Jack and Washington this weekend, great climbs and you could do both in a day, although that might be a little longer day than you had in mind. We did the North Face of the West Ridge on Washington, although there is still some debate on that. We set out to do the West Face but I'm pretty sure we didn't get started in the right place. But what the Hell, it was an AWESOME day and I finally got Washington I'll post my pictures when I get them scanned and see if anyone can recognize which route we really did do. The South Ridge on Jack I thought was a blast; I've heard some pretty shitty things about it but I had a blast. The rock wasn't the best, but I've seen worse and I found the exposure to be fun.

 

Whatever you do, have fun and be safe.

 

Craig

[btowle]

South Sister has one of the best views in Oregon. Impressive line of volcanos running north.

 

Middle Sister from Obsidian trailhead is a good day's hike. Smoot's book says 4-6 hours and we usually climb these at the lower end of the time scale (depending on weather), but we barely got there in 6 hours. We did get off route and ended up at the south edge of N. Sister. Then climbed through some huge rock piles in the saddle for 45 minutes to get back. Should have stayed on snow.

 

The advantage is fewer people on M. Sister. Although maybe not that many people going up either this late.

[iain]

quote:

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Originally posted by CraigA:

We did the North Face of the West Ridge on Washington, although there is still some debate on that. We set out to do the West Face but I'm pretty sure we didn't get started in the right place.

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If you were climbing on the west face, you were probably climbing The West Face.

[thelawgoddess]

just found out we're hauling two dogs, so maybe something not as exposed would be best. can someone supply me some more info on broken top? like ... how long is the hike? where is the trailhead? ??? thanks again!

[Gordonb]

The dogs would have no problem with S Sister, it is a walk up. I don't have any beta on broken top.

[iain]

You can approach the NW ridge of Broken Top from Broken Top TH on forest road 380 past Todd Lake or Green Lakes TH (Fall Creek). Both are accessed by the Cascade Lakes Hwy from Bend a short ways past Mt. Bachelor. Green Lakes TH: 6.6 miles to Green Lakes basin, take a right, head up to base of NW ridge of Broken Top. Heavily-used, but beautiful. Broken Top trail from Todd Lake is about 6 miles.

 

There is a short spot of slightly exposed climbing near the top of Broken Top that would be difficult with dogs. The summit itself is small. Dogs would probably have to stay on the ridge.

 

Green Lakes TH stands a very good chance of being checked for Northwest Forest Passes.

 

[ 09-25-2002, 02:41 PM: Message edited by: iain ]

[CraigA]

iain: Have you climbed the West Ridge as well as the West Face? Like I said, next weekend I'll be scanning my pictures and I'll post them for your perusal.

[Cletus]

Iain, you sure on the mileage there from Green Lakes TH to the lakes? I thought it was less, more like 4.5ish, but seeing as how I'm a newbie in Bendover, and I've only been up there a couple times, I could be wrong.

 

TLG: its a good recommendation though - Green Lakes/Todd Lake up towards BT is prolly one of the nicer "doggable" solid day hikes around here. South Sister is okay, but it's a screefest. Wait till you can climb up it and ski down it. Another hike you might consider is up into the Tarn MacArthur Rim. Nice stuff up there too, although prolly more mileage and definitely less elevation gain.

 

If you get needy for maps and/or more specifics, you can prolly find gapertimmay or myself around here for a quick shove in the right direction. I may be gone for one of the two days this weekend in a futile effort to maintain my year-round skiing, but I'm sure we can help ya out if needed. (Don't you just love the way I volunteer Timmay without his knowledge? Heh)

 

Have fun...

[iain]

quote:

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Originally posted by CraigA:

iain: Have you climbed the West Ridge as well as the West Face? Like I said, next weekend I'll be scanning my pictures and I'll post them for your perusal.

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Yeah, I approached the West Ridge from the north wall though (not Jern's Call, the one to the right) to avoid the dinner plates. The west face is a good distance north of this, facing the PCT. It angles up and left to the white rock up high, right on the corner. Here's some of the west face, if it helps figure things out:

 

Second pitch:

 

Third pitch:

 

Cletus: I may well be off, it's been years since I've been in there to climb NW of BT. You're probably more on the money.

 

[ 09-25-2002, 08:04 PM: Message edited by: iain ]

[wayne]

I forgot how great the West face is ,great pics Iain! The south Face is good too. The East buttress is amazing as well. The rock is sound for Oregon Though the first pitch is hard to protect,its not that hard

[Dru]

"sound for Oregon" oooh thats what they call Damning with Faint Praise right

[iain]

nonsense if you bring a stapler, the rock is quite sound.

[CraigA]

quote:

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Originally posted by iain:

nonsense if you bring a stapler, the rock is quite sound.

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Like I said I'm pretty sure we ended up on the West Ridge but, I really expected worse rock. From what I've read and people I've talked to I expected loose, crumbling, breath-on-it-and-it-falls type rock, but while there was loose stuff I found the climb to be quite solid and fun (as long as you tested each hold before putting body weight on it). I've never been to the North Cascades so I cannot speak of the rock there (I hear it's incredible) but I found Mt Washington to be pretty good...not great...just good! And by that I mean I'd do it again.

 

Craig

[iain]

the north cascades folks have some pretty high standards. I've found the rock on washington fine too. A belay on the west face was a little sketch, but otherwise good rock and great route. Sounds like you avoided the dinnerplate area on the west ridge. The rock flat-out sucks.