We conquered South Sister. We knew it would be a painful day. We hiked 9 miles round trip which is not so bad, but we ended up climbing 4,000 feet to do it. To add insult to injury, the majority of the climbing was at the end. There is a false summit, and it was a little disheartening to see the real summit looming above. The summit push took an hour, and it was straight up a steep ridge that cut across closer to the top. I noticed coming down when I was low that you can see the trail to the top from camp, and I would not have believed you if you told me that is where I would be climbing! The climbing was also tough, because the trail was soft with lava rock. It ended up being forgiving coming down, almost like sliding down sand.
We had perfect weather on the top, warm and calm winds. We were up there for almost 2 hours. You end up on the volcano's rim on the top which is filled with snow. The view was amazing at 10,300 something feet. It took a while to capture the other sisters without clouds covering their tops. It was the best lunch spot ever. It was a long day and totally worth it. We were happy that we camped at the lake and did not have to pack out after the climb.
1 comment:
Frickin awesome - who needs everest!
A
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