Summit: 10,047ft
Native land of the: Molalla and Grand Ronde
Hike stats: 16.4m 5,145ft of gain
Middle Sister aka Hope is located in the Three Sisters Wilderness in central Oregon, west of Bend. The western half of the mountain is in the Willamette National Forest and the eastern half in the Deschutes National Forest. It is the middle and shortest of this series of three major Cascade Volcanoes but still the 5th highest peak in Oregon. It also happens to be the middle it terms of difficulty between North (hardest) and South Sister (easiest). If youāre seeking less crowds and a moderate multi day trip this is the perfect spot!
1st Trip: 5/27/2023-5/28/2023
With plans to move back east in a month and while my mother in law was in town, I took the opportunity to first visit my Aunt and Uncle in Cottage Grove, Oregon and then bag one more major Cascade Volcano.
Saturday morning the Shirleyās drove down from Seattle and hopped in my truck for a 3hr drive to the Pole Creek Trailhead in central Oregon. The last 12 miles are on solid gravel roads.
The 1st 3 miles of trail go through an intense burn scar which made for some brutally slow progress climbing over and under blowdowns with big packs. I was distracted by the handful of major Cascade Volcanoes peeking through the trees.
We hit snow around 6,000ft and travel became much more enjoyable as we left the burn for a subalpine forest.
Clouds were on the move all afternoon constantly changing the light and views.
When the clouds lifted we could see the surrounding mountains in great detail!
We found a great spot to camp next to a large boulder with two sides protected from wind.
With 2 burners and stoves melting water for drinking and cooking was a breeze.
Finally Middle Sister appeared!
An hour before sunset the light was especially nice.
Sunset was lovely and soon after we were off to sleep so we could be ready for an early morning summit! We were awake at 4am and moving by 4:30am.
It was a perfectly clear morning with no other souls in sight, just us and the mountain! From camp we headed uphill eventually jumping on the Hayden Glacier which had nice firm snow, and no open crevasses, to the saddle below Prouty Point.
Near the saddle the sun was out in full force.
At the saddle we scoped out our route to the summit while admiring the route towards North Sister.
The last 700ft was a steep and icy crux up a 45 degree slope. We were reliant on our crampons and ice axes to keep us attached to the mountain. It was extremely satisfying to top out with a view of what felt like all of Oregon plus Mount Adams and Mount Saint Helens in Washington!
The north lineup of Cascade peaks and volcanoes in view includes (south to north): Little Brother, Collier Cone, Belknap Crater, Mount Washington, Three Fingered Jack, Mount Jefferson, Olallie Butte, Mount Hood, Mount Adams and Mount Saint Helens!!
The view south includes South Sister, Broken Top, Mount Bachelor, Tumalo Mountain and Paulina Peak! Also epic!
After taking it all in we hugged the ridge line back down to the saddle which turned out to be a much easier route than the deceivingly steep northwest face. Certainly a welcomed surprise!
From the saddle we could plunge step and glissade back down to our camp.
At camp we collected our things and continued the long slog back to the car in the bright sun.
The tree hopping had me questioning a return for North Sister but a clear day in central Oregon is hard to beat and any adventure with the Shirleyās is incredibly fun!!
CAPPY TRAILS 