Travis, Brandi, and I went for a hike on Labor day. We have been talking about hiking up the South Sister for a long time now. We started planning the hike early this summer. We found out it is usually a 12 hour hike or so. We arrived at the trailhead at 6am. That is a great feat for a two teenagers!! The hike is roughly 11 miles round trip and gains more than 5,000 feet in elevation. We all hiked through the forest and up onto the plains that you see in the picture. This was a great place to view the mountain and see what we were up against. We kept going and ended up at the base of the mountain to begin our ascent. Travis and Brandi made it about 1/2 way up the mountain and more than 2/3 of the way for the whole hike. Brandi was worn out so they stayed there and rocked out to iPods and CD's while I went on up the mountain. I finally made it to the top with many trials and stops along the way. I had to set goals of getting to this rock or that one and taking a break to keep myself going. There were two things that I was amazed and surprised by. First this was the most dusty hike I have ever been on and I didn't expect that. Second was that there would be so many lakes, snow fields, and glaciers to see. There are more lakes of all sizes and colors from glacial till blue/green to muddy brown than I realized. The first surprise was not so great but the second one was awesome. The hardest part of the hike mentally was motivating ourselves to keep going. The hardest part physically was the hike out. Brandi started having problems with her hips hurting. I started having problems with my KNEES. By the end of the hike my knees were hurting very badly and I was really glad that I had used the trekking poles. It was a great experience for me. Travis and Brandi had a good time and I am very proud of them. They made it a long ways. Maybe we will have to go back some day. Later - BH
Travis, Brandi, and I went for a hike on Labor day. We have been talking about hiking up the South Sister for a long time now. We started planning the hike early this summer. We found out it is usually a 12 hour hike or so. We arrived at the trailhead at 6am. That is a great feat for a two teenagers!! The hike is roughly 11 miles round trip and gains more than 5,000 feet in elevation. We all hiked through the forest and up onto the plains that you see in the picture. This was a great place to view the mountain and see what we were up against. We kept going and ended up at the base of the mountain to begin our ascent. Travis and Brandi made it about 1/2 way up the mountain and more than 2/3 of the way for the whole hike. Brandi was worn out so they stayed there and rocked out to iPods and CD's while I went on up the mountain. I finally made it to the top with many trials and stops along the way. I had to set goals of getting to this rock or that one and taking a break to keep myself going. There were two things that I was amazed and surprised by. First this was the most dusty hike I have ever been on and I didn't expect that. Second was that there would be so many lakes, snow fields, and glaciers to see. There are more lakes of all sizes and colors from glacial till blue/green to muddy brown than I realized. The first surprise was not so great but the second one was awesome. The hardest part of the hike mentally was motivating ourselves to keep going. The hardest part physically was the hike out. Brandi started having problems with her hips hurting. I started having problems with my KNEES. By the end of the hike my knees were hurting very badly and I was really glad that I had used the trekking poles. It was a great experience for me. Travis and Brandi had a good time and I am very proud of them. They made it a long ways. Maybe we will have to go back some day. Later - BH
