Assault on Middle Sister
Page 2
Journal entry Monday September 18, 2006. We leave the trail and start a steeper ascent heading north west into scrub pines with big open areas.
After another 1500 feet or so of elevation gain we follow a creek up into an ancient glacial valley. Dave points out this ridge on the right which will make our approach up to Middle Sister. Optimistically we set down camp near the ridge at the end of a shelf in the valley.
The weather is partly cloudy and a wind blows into our faces from the west. But turning around and photographing to the east I can see it's a beautiful nice day in Central Oregon. The white coloration in the middle of the picture is a big stand of burned, bleached trees at the bottom of the valley.
We set down camp in worsening weather. The wind bears down on us mercilessly. We set the tent up behind a retaining wall assembled by previous campers from loose stones. Normally I support leave-no-trace camping in the wilderness but we are pretty tired and not complaining at this point.
The night is windy and even windier.
The temps drop substantially and we wake up to a few inches of snow.
Isn't it lovely? We make the unspoken decision to wait out the nasty weather...in the tent.
