Trip Report: South Sister

Last Spring was a rough time for me. I had a pinched nerve that basically stopped most of my mountaineering goals as my left side was not functioning and my arm, hand, shoulder, and neck were all in pain. It was miserable to sit around doing stretching routines, and wait until my body got back in line (with help from a chiropractor and PT). If ever there was a season to miss, it was last season though, as the snowfall was abysmal. I did get a month of relief in May during which time I got to climb the left couloir of Round Top (located in Carson Pass, just South of Lake Tahoe).

This year, having recovered and strengthened my neck, back, and shoulders, I was ready to tackle some big goals. During the Winter, it seemed like this year was going to be a bust too, but a few late storms rolled in and redeemed the mountaineering season. In February, I linked up my buddy Matt and a friend of his to climb the Half Moon Couloir on Round Top. I think we’ll make this an annual thing, as it’s a perfect day trip from Reno, and a good gauge of fitness without a huge commitment. It was fun, but I wanted to tick off some bigger endeavors.

In April, I found out about the Bend Brewfest happening in May. I was already going to be in Oregon that weekend and my favorite beer is made in Bend, so I figured I’d talk a friend from the area into hanging out with me at the brewfest. While planning this trip, the idea to climb South Sister (which is right outside Bend) came up. South Sister is Oregon’s third highest peak (10,358’), is glaciated, and is just a fun peak to climb. The problem with South Sister is that the road is closed six miles before the trailhead, adding an extra 12 miles round trip to the attempt. The hike itself is 12 miles, so in attempting to climb South Sister in May, I was committing to a goal of 24 miles and around 7,000 feet total elevation gain, the day before the brewfest.

I arrived in Bend and grabbed food at Crux Fermentation Project which has a view of the mountain and really solid beer. I then drove to the sno-park where the road ends, found a good spot, and got settled in for the night. I’ve never truly camped in my car (I have slept in the passenger seat a few times), but it worked out pretty well. This trip was also a good practice for an attempt on Mt Shasta that I was going to make a few weeks later.

I woke up at 2:30am for an alpine start and was all geared up and on the road by 3:00. The forecast said it was 12 degrees, but my new R2 fleece from Patagonia and my new belay puff kept me plenty warm. I marched the 6 miles to the trailhead on a road that was completely plowed and wished I could have just driven it.

The sun had come up by the time I reached the trailhead. I donned my snowshoes and began breaking trail through six feet of snow toward the summit. I found some older cross-country ski trails to follow, but I had to kick steps the majority of the time. The trail on my GPS took me through a mile-long draw and up the far side of it, which got steep. The snow around the draw was powder and I could see a few signs of snow slides (avalanches) where the trees were scarce. I stuck to the heavily wooded areas.

Above this draw is what’s called the Golf Course due to its rolling hills and little clumps of trees. The name makes a ton of sense when you are standing at one end of it. I stopped and ate breakfast before crossing the Golf Course. On the far end it began getting harder and harder to see distances. The forecast said a storm was coming that evening but it seemed to hit the mountain around 8:00am. As I was coming up the shoulder of the mountain, it got to where I couldn’t see more than about 20 or so feet. I decided then to turn around. I was not going to summit that day.

It snowed the entire way back to the car. I had to constantly brush snow off my hat, shoulders, and arms. The road, which had been nice and dry earlier, now had six inches of snow by the time I made it to the car. I had walked over 39,000 steps and around 18 miles. I was exhausted but happy that I had made the effort. If I had kept going up, I would have put myself in potentially more danger. It is hard to pay attention to signs of a potential avalanche when you can’t see very far ahead of you. It was totally the right call.

It was a non-summit day, but not a failure by any means. I had a few problems I had to sort out, I planned a good trip and executed it well. I had very few things I would change, and nothing major. I’m glad I made the attempt, as I won’t be able to get up there this June now that the road is open.

Enjoy the photos and check out my trip report for Mt Shasta!