Tam McArthur Rim to Broken Hand 23 Aug 2013

This was a solo hike day so I set out pretty early since it was a 3 hour drive.  It was an easy drive and the only bumpy part was 1.7 miles on a washboard gravel road to a campground at Three Creeks Lake out of Sisters.  It was very foggy the entire way - even over the pass.  The only relief came when I was down from the mountain, in Sisters.  Arrived at the TH at 9:10 and was on the trail by 9:20a (potties available).
The trail climbs up the to the rim but it isn't terribly steep.  You get views now and then.  The trail is pretty easy too, soft and not too many obstacles.  at about .7 miles you get some views then head in again and pop out when you get to the "trails end" at 2.5 miles.  The lakes are 1000 feet below and Three Creek lake looks like a heart.  Snapped some photos of cloud covered Sisters, and a foggy valley and kept going on the non-maintained trail.  It was perfectly fine, however, lots of foot-traffic.  It was a great trail, over hill and dale with lots of open views of Bachelor, Broken Top, the Sisters, and potentially Mt Washington and Jefferson if the skies had been clearer.  I arrived at the top of the red ridge covered with Volcanic bombs at about 11:15 and decided to head on up to Broken Hand as I could see the trail very well.  The only little sketchy part was when the trail had to traverse rocks, but you could still see were to aim.  Up at Broken Hand I stopped for photos and a snack, watching the clouds boiling over the mountains and disappearing ask quickly as they had come - enjoying the solitude and the view.  The trail seemed to continue faintly around Broken Hand but it was on a very precarious slope.  I turned around here at noon.  Met one guy on the red ridge on my way down and several other groups after that.  On the way up I had run into three groups, two of them had probably been up there for sunrise.  This would make a perfect Sunrise hike!  Gotta do it!  Arrived down at the car at 2:15p and was home after 5:30p because of traffic on I-5 and a stop for icecream :-)

Tam McArthur Rim and Three Creek Lake

Broken Top

Tumalo and Mt Bachelor

flowers were sparce but pretty

from the top looking towards the cliff and lake

from the top looking towards the mtns

the red ridge is ahead

view of Broken Top, the sisters from the ridge

one of the bombs and the sisters

Broken hand is in the foreground

a selfie with the timer

my lunch view

on the way down the clouds finally came off North Sister

twisty trees

the rim viewpoint coming from Broken Hand

Canyon Creek Meadows 16 Aug 2013

Canyon Creek Meadows lies at the base of the east side of Three Fingered Jack.  We had never done this hike before - but we had heard it was a pretty one and a favorite of many. Jean, Becky, Bethany and I (and Reggie - his first hike) arrived at the TH after a very icky washboard 6 mile dirt road - at 10:15 am.  It was cool, but not cold, partly cloudy and the air was smokey.  We could even smell it a bit.  Guess the wind was not in our favor for blowing it away.  So the air was quite hazy and milky.
This hike is not long and it isn't hard.  The elevation gain is really minimal to the lower meadows and back.  The only real up-hill slog for the second section is in a couple slopes.  The best part of the hike occurs after you pass the "trail not maintained" sign and head up.  You end up hiking in a huge bowl with Three Fingered Jack dead ahead.  The flower bloom increased as we went higher too.  We hiked to the first saddle - to see the little glacial Cirque Lake over the lip.  It was so close I could not get a good photo of any of it.  The mountain was upon us!  We went back down a bit to have lunch and then hiked back via the loop to arrive at the car at 2:15p.  The hike is 7 ish miles with 1000 ft gain.

Jack Lake

hiking through the 2003 burned section

the lower meadows

near a little stream

the upper meadows

heading up to the first saddle

out destination ahead

looking over the edge

ooooo

Cirque Lake

the valley from the top

the trail to the next saddle followed the rim of this depression, very slippery

Cirque Lake

out lunch spot

heading back

canyon creek

huckleberries were everyone on the way back

falls

Ghost trees

from above Jack Lake

Jack Lake

McNeil Point 8 August 2013

Becky and I headed up to McNeil Point on Mt Hood on Thursday.  I had heard that the wildflowers were still blooming and it looked like a hike I would enjoy.  This was an epic hike for Becky as she had not done anything like it before.  The trailhead was pretty easy to find, but the trail itself is well used and there are lots of junctions with other trails and user trails as you near the top.  So, you have to be careful to pay attention.  We started out from home around 7 a and made it there at 9:15a.  There is a potty at the trailhead.  It took us 3.5 hrs to go 4.5-ish miles and 2200ft but mainly because we were stopping all the time to admire the views and take pictures.  It was beautiful!  When we could see where we were headed - Becky had the classic response "WHAT!" but she was a trooper and made it with no problem.
We ate lunch near the McNeil Pt hut, and headed down around 2p.  Back to the car (sad to go) at 4:15 and home by 6:30p  A wonderful day and now my second favorite hike.

Our first view of Mt hood

False Helleobore

Spirea

a waterless tarn

the old McNeil Pt trail

Looking out to Mt St Helens, Mt Rainier, and Mt Adams

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our destination is across the snow field

our lunch spot

when I saw the trail around Bald Mtn, we had to go back that way

beautiful little streams

the view from below Bald Mtn

from the Bald Mtn trail (Timberline Trail)