Middle Sister stands tall at 10,047 feet. I climbed the slightly higher South Sister a few years ago without any problems, so in some ways, I knew what to expect. However, I also knew that Middle Sister is steeper and involves glacier and snow travel. Having attempted Mt. Baker last year, I knew what to expect for traveling in rope teams.
Three of us in our climbing group rode together. We left Portland at 5:45 am and headed to the town of Sisters where we had a hearty breakfast at the Gallery Restaurant. I had a delicious corned beef hash. We then drove to the Pole Creek Trailhead arriving around 9:45am. Other members of our climbing party arrived shortly thereafter. After introductions, divvying up the group gear, and doing our final pack adjustments, we started up the trail a little after 10:30.
The elevation gain to camp was minimal. We started at 5,300 feet and headed up to 6,800 feet. However, the gain was stretched over 6 miles and there was plenty of snow above the 6,000 foot level. The hike to camp was a slog because we were trying to find the correct route over the snow covered trails and the warm weather was draining a lot of energy out of us. But, around 3:30pm, we saw some exposed dirt and rock with a small stream running through that patch that indicated our campsite. We set up our tents with me and my tent mate opting to camp on the snow. Around 5, Bruce called us together to discuss the next day's plans. He also wanted to review rope travel and fixed lines. After some rope practice, we made dinner, filtered water, prepared our packs, and headed for an early bedtime as we had a 2am wake up call for a 3am start.
I tried to go to bed at 8:00pm which is about the time that the sun set over Middle and North Sisters, but it remained light for another hour and a half so I never did fall asleep until closer to 10. I can't say it was the most restful sleep I've ever had either. We rose at 2:00am. Instead of messing with boiling water for breakfast, I had the remaining freeze dried dinner that I did not finish the night before. Though the temperature was above freezing, the snow had stiffened up enough where the call was made to wear crampons. There was a moderate west breeze blowing, but not a cloud in the sky. The group gathered at 3 and we were on the trail at 3:15.
We climbed up to 7,700 feet with no problems at all. At that point, we got into our rope teams. I was the last person of Team 2 (of 3 teams). We ate some food, drank water, and resumed our climb. The next thousand feet up the Hayden Glacier was steeper than our previous 900, but we did not have any issues up to 8,800 feet. The sun rose illuminating Middle Sister that was directly to our southwest. At the 8,800 foot mark, we took another short break and got out of the rope teams. We needed to get to the saddle between North and Middle Sisters. The wind continued to blow briskly, so we kept moving.
We got to the saddle at 9,100 feet. We turned south and saw Middle Sister directly in front of us. We began climbing up the ridge but the north facing side had a fair amount of rime ice. Since we had crampons, we were able to kick our way up to 9,400 feet. Bruce set up two fixed lines at that point as the next section was steep. Our final 400 feet or so was uneventful, though we were starting to get a little tired. Finally, around 9:30am, we summitted. Since I was one of the last ones on the fixed line, I only got to spend about 15 minutes at the summit while the first ones spent about 40 minutes there. There continued to be a brisk west wind, so after taking a few photos and eating some food, we started our descent down the mountain.
We had to downclimb using the fixed line, and the north side of the mountain was still icy, but we got back to the saddle safely. The snow softened up considerably below the saddle all the way to camp, but we still made good time and arrived back at camp around 12:30pm. Bruce gave us an hour and a half to rest, eat, filter water, and pack. We left camp at 2:20pm and arrived back at the trailhead at 5:50pm. We were all exhausted. I literally felt like I was going to fall asleep while hiking, but fortunately I was able to stay awake and we all made it back in one piece. After getting cleaned up, debriefing as a group, and saying our goodbyes, our car left and we arrived back in Portland before 10pm.
I had a great time on this climb. Middle Sister is definitely harder than South Sister partly because of the slog from Pole Creek to camp, partly because of steepness, and partly because of the snow and glacier travel. But, it was a lot of fun and I highly recommend that climbing that mountain.
Middle Sister Photos
Thanks to Bruce, Sue, Francisco, Jered, Anna, Hans, Heath, Roger, Doug, Jen, and Marie for a fun climb.
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