Climbing the South Sister

Instead of going camping like we had originally planned we decided to climb the South Sister. We loaded up the car and headed to Devils Lake for an early start to beat the heat. From the trail head to the peak of the South Sister is 6 miles with an elevation gain of about 5000 feet to the final elevation of 10,358 feet. Known as “Grace” the South Sister is the youngest and tallest of the three sisters.
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Opal Creek

This weekend we ventured out for a midday hike along the beautiful Opal Creek. Nestled in the foothills of the Cascades the hike follows the old mining road up the creek to the historic mining town of Jawbone Flats (currently managed as an environmental education center). Along the way there were the remains of an era long gone, complete with quite the collection of trucks.
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Smith Rock

Took a long weekend over to Smith Rock and snapped some pictures of the gorgeous landscape. Walking past all the climbers makes me miss rock climbing; I’ll have to get back into it someday. We took the Misery Ridge trail up one side and went down and around the back.
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I Said Yes!!!

This morning we got up early to try to beat a forecasted snow storm, packed the SUV with survival gear and a picnic, and hit the road for a snowy waterfall adventure to Salt Creek Falls. The falls are one of the most spectacular in Oregon hurtling 286 feet into a gaping canyon near the top of Willamette Pass. Little did I know that just before the snow began to fall I was in for an amazing surprise.
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