Good morning from Green Lakes. The most beautiful place I've landed in Oregon so far, smack dab in the middle of two glorious peaks: Broken Top and South Sister, and right in sight or North Sister, Middle Sister, and Mt. Bachelor. This place is absolutely insane!
In part one, I blabbed on about how I was raised camping, coming to the conclusion that I am happy to have discovered backpacking on my own, without the forced help of my parents. Now I can share a little bit more on the actual trip itself.
My good friend Kasey, who basically has a miniature REI of backpacking supplies in her home, was generous enough to loan David and I everything we needed for the trip, and also plan the whole thing from every single meal to the entire route of the hike.
We decided on a 5 day trip, driving into Bend the night prior to make the first day more relaxing. After a good night's sleep, we woke up and went out to eat at a local favorite, Mckay's Cottage to do some carbo loading. The food was delicious; I'd recommend it for a hardy last meal before heading the mountain.
We decided to take the longer, yet easier route up to a halfway point the first day. This was a good way to ease me in on my first backpacking trip and a safe decision for my husband's recovering ankles (ask me later about a good water skiiing story). Moraine Lake was a beautiful site to pop a tent for the night and the place to be if you're up for summiting South Sister. Sadly, we did not on this trip, but are determined to head back and make it to the top in the near future (fingers crossed).
The next 3 nights were spent a little higher up in the mountains at Green Lakes – as I mentioned at the top of the post as the most incredible site I've seen since moving states. We've had the privilege of experiencing so much beauty in the short 2 1/2 months we've lived in Oregon, but nothing tops going to sleep and waking up amidst mountain peaks.
The days were spent jumping in as many of the gorgeous aqua lakes as we could, hiking to a rocky waterfall, climbing the hillsides of South Sister, exploring the valley trails, and discovering breathtaking views of the Oregon Cascades. Oh yes, and eating lots of freeze-dried meals and drinking many an instant coffee. It was a joyous, joyous time!
I recommend making the climb.
Happy Backpacking!
