Clear Skies Sept. 29

When we woke up today the sky was perfectly blue, not a cloud in sight. Seeing these conditions I excitedly threw some things in my backpack and started to hike. Feeling great after my rest day yesterday, (during which I read Cheryl Strayed's book Wild) I headed up south sister. Soon the lake we're camped by turned into a far away blue circle and I had incredible views of the landscape below. 

Moraine lake (our campsite)

Perhaps it is so impressive because it was created by a combination of volcanos and glaciers. Standing out from the rest were Mt Bachelor and Broken Top, two beautiful mountains. All the way up it was perfectly clear, and the view just got better and better. Near the top I saw another female hiker making her way down. She told me that she turned back because of the thick clouds up top. I could see some clouds starting to blow over, but decided to continue and see for myself.

Highest alpine lake in Oregon 

 I'm glad I did! By the time I made it up to the summit it was clear again- the clouds had blown through. It was so neat to see the other two sisters and several other huge and snow capped volcanic mountains in the distance. 

The other two sisters!

No one else was around, it was just me and the crazy wind, the snow and the jagged mountains. I let out a joyous woop woop!

The snowfield up top.

On the way down I saw a few others heading up, but the trail was much less crowded than it was for Danny yesterday since today is Monday.

Views on the way down.

 Back by our lake I met Marsha and John, a friendly couple from Bend who were out for a hike with their dog. We chatted for a bit and they offered to have us over at their place! So kind!
The rest of the afternoon I spent painting and reading. Danny came back from a short hike out in the direction of Green Lakes and we shared stories from the day. What a beautiful place we are in.