Early climb on South Sister

  broken top

The grueling 2:30am wake up was well-worth the serene night hike up to South Sister's summit. With clear skies, most of the hike was done by moon and starlight--a head lamp was only needed for the rockier areas or to find the trail at times. Makes me wonder why I don't do early morning hikes more often...

 trail to the lake with s. sister in background

 hobo dinner

broken top prior to sunrise

broken top and mt bachelor

mt bachelor

the view below

broken top and snow field

mt bachelor ready for his closeup

the view for the last stretch

looking up to the summit

so sister casting her shadow

view from the summit looking north

life!

feeling strong at the summit

south sister and moraine lake

stealth mode at cascade head

 morning on the salmon river spit

Because we arrived at night, I have any photos of the kayaking trip to the sand spit. Take my word for it--it was awesome boating over at the tail end of sunset and beaching on the spit by moonlight. The next morning was filled with exploring the extent of the spit and then heading upstream to the salmon river estuary.

cascade head

rocks at the south end of the spit

 greg at the south end of the spit...wonder what's through the tunnel?

...oh just more amazing scenery and rocks to climb on!

 

kayaking the salmon river

jefferson park

Crossing snow bridges, loss of the trail and camping on islands of dry land. Snow came late to the Cascades.

P.S. Sorry for all the repeated shots of Mt. Jefferson...he kind of steals the show up there. 

 mt jefferson

 closer look at the peak

 jefferson and the tents

mt jefferson and a lake

the rock was irresistible 

not too bad of a view

sunset

view behind the tent

circles

view of the tents from the morning scramble

boca cave!

 must be some kind of daisy, but i'm having trouble identifying it...

 harsh paintbrush (Castilleja hispida)