September 12, 2016                                                  Volcano Running 

Mt. Washington to the north from Belknap Lava Flow (above), and with Mt. Hood (below)

Stopping at Scott Lake I chatted with a backpacker that I would once again pass thirty miles later as I was returning northbound on the PCT. The loop trail diverges to the east of the Sisters at this point while the PCT continues down the west side. Dropping down about 700 feet in less than two miles the Scott Pass Trail switches back and forth through a forest of lodgepole pines, western white pines, and Engleman spruce with a thin understory of manzanita and bitterbrush to reach a level plateau below where I turned south on the Green Lakes Trail, which gently rolls for 14 miles between 5400' and 6500' with no significant climbs.

It wasn't long before the trail passed through a large burn area that left the landscape recently devastated. Much of the topsoil was gone, leaving squishy sand mixed with black ash to plow through for nearly ten miles. Any recovery here is going to take a lot of years. Nonetheless the ghosts of the previous forest left a starkly beautiful landscape, affording great views of the peaks to the east.

I was able to run most of this section without pause, except to take pics, despite loss of traction from the sand, as the terrain was gentle with an occasional stream crossing. By the time I reached Park Meadows the scenery returned to that of a healthy forest with bubbling streams and a gorgeous lake.

The climb out of Park Meadows took me straight up to a sparse plateau overlooking Broken Top (9175') (above), with its distinctive, craggy silhouette just south of South Sister (10,358'). Splitting the two peaks over a pass at 6500' the trail descended into the Green Lakes basin where one large and two small turquoise gems reflect the crater-top southern-most Sister (below).

I followed the stream that drains the lakes down valley for a couple miles before cutting west up a steep climb past the remains of a broken obsidian flow to Moraine Lake, surrounded by a stark landscape of powdered pumice. Winds with gusts of up to 50-60 mph began when I passed by the Green Lakes and only intensified by the time I reached Moraine Lake. A steady 30 mph gale blew the hat off my head and in seconds it had gone 100 yards.

While temperatures at the start of the day were a mere 39 degrees, they never warmed beyond 50; with such strong wind blasts it was bitter cold when crossing so many vast exposed open spaces unprotected by trees. For the entire day I wore gloves and never took my jacket off - only a heartbeat away from winter.

the face of South Sister from the south where the trail reconnects with the PCT

The exposed ciimb out of the Moraine Lake basin brought me to a large open flat area called the Wikiup Plain, a pumice covered expanse where anything beyond grass struggles to grow. Before reconnecting with the Pacific Crest Trail over half way into the loop the trail goes past a massive jumble of imposing lava below South Sister called the Rock Mesa Obsidian Flow.

Once I returned to the PCT it was a straight shot back to the car on the west side, much of it in the trees or open meadows as the trail wound its way north past the Three Sisters I had just seen from the east side. The daylight was waning and it was only a matter of time before I would need a light to continue.

As a half moon was rising over North Sister the winds of the day began to settle and temps began to drop to a more tolerable level in the low forties. I quickened my step to make as much progress across what is known as Obsidian Way over a labyrinth of engineered trails that staggered the imagination as to how they designed them. The flow must have been a mile-and-a-half wide and perhaps four miles long. Whoever built the trail gave new meaning to the concept of zigging and zagging as their design followed the irregular contours of the flow as it had hardened in its tracks from its molten state.

I could see well enough to make it to the other side of the flow before running out of the slightest usable ambient light. With seven miles remaining my LED hand-held lamp brought clear visibility back to the uneven trail. Almost immediately after turning on my light, while crossing an open meadow beyond the lava flow, from behind about one hundred yards I heard sounds from some creature(s) like I'd never heard before, like something out of a science fiction movie, like the way Spielberg's ET sounded with his vocalizations before learning to speak English. I must say it unnerved me a bit. Each time I shone my light in the direction of the sound, it stopped, then started again like chatter when I turned away. Four times this happened; never did I see the faintest glow of eyes. I don't have a clue as to what was lurking on the fringe of the lava flow!

The episode served to sharpen my senses thereafter, as I was in mountain lion country and I had seen quite a few sets of juvenile tracks in the powdery sand on the east side of the Sisters earlier in the day. Any unusual sound had me turning my light around for the next couple of miles.