Broken Top Mountain Hike by Moonlight
Over Labor Day weekend I headed with my son down to Central OR. I figured this would be my best shot at decent conditions with the rainy outlook at home. We arrived at the trailhead in cold almost winter like conditions. 20 minutes before we got there I was shooting in t-shirt, Teva's and shorts thinking it was not that cold (see tree image below). I guess it was colder than I thought as the wind started whipping up, the dense fog rolled and the wet snow and sleet starting flying. We were not prepared for overnight camping in this weather (my son does not yet want to camp in the snow). Regardless I wanted to stick out the storm at the trailhead and hope it would break before morning. About this time Marc Adamus pulls up next to me in the parking lot, as everyone is making a mass exodus from this stormy weather. This normally very busy trailhead was dead on this day when the weather got bad. I should know by now Marc will go running for for this weather. Anyway, we were going to join him up high but could not due to the lack of winter clothing for my son. After a couple miles in the stormy weather we said have fun to Marc and slowly made our way back to camp, the car. In the last couple years I have ran into Marc traveling for shooting and hiking more than anyone else I know.
The next morning I woke up at 4:50 and it was beyond beautiful. The clouds had mostly cleared and it was a full moon. I could see Broken Top from outside the car in the bright dancing light of the moon, sifting through the fast moving clouds. Of course this was after opening the almost frozen car door. My son stayed back to sleep, I would not try to coax him anymore and let it be. It took me almost no time to hit the snow line walking up with the moon setting to the West of me and the sun starting to rise from the East. Not even 12 hours prior you could not see more than 50 yards, now the sky was clear, the wind calm and the snow fresh, what a change. This is one of those mornings I could care less what I got photo wise. I enjoyed being up there and soaking up the sunrise with a fresh dusting of snow. While enjoying this sunrise I found this thirsty turtle drinking from the stream. Ok, not exactly. I give the credit to others for the photo title. I then hiked up to top near the summit of Broken Hand to soak up all three sisters coated in a fresh dousing of powdered sugar. A fantastic late summer morning in the mountains was had. A fiery sunrise would have been nice but hey I will take what I can get!
Setting up the "Thirsty Turtle" shot required that I get my boots in the water somewhat. I wish I would have brought a towel and I would have removed my hiking boots and went into the ice water barefoot to get this exactly how I wanted it. I don’t like being in water when the temps are freezing but the conditions were right this day I would have been willing to do it. Instead I stretched my legs wide with the stream passing between them to try and get down and take this image of the glacial lake on the backside of Broken Top in the Three Sisters Wilderness. Oh and here is your tip for the day, always remember to leave the tripod open to dry before closing it up when it’s 30 degrees out! I know better yet I had a senior moment and it did not take long for one of the legs to freeze up and not want to come back out. Thanks for stopping by.
The next morning I woke up at 4:50 and it was beyond beautiful. The clouds had mostly cleared and it was a full moon. I could see Broken Top from outside the car in the bright dancing light of the moon, sifting through the fast moving clouds. Of course this was after opening the almost frozen car door. My son stayed back to sleep, I would not try to coax him anymore and let it be. It took me almost no time to hit the snow line walking up with the moon setting to the West of me and the sun starting to rise from the East. Not even 12 hours prior you could not see more than 50 yards, now the sky was clear, the wind calm and the snow fresh, what a change. This is one of those mornings I could care less what I got photo wise. I enjoyed being up there and soaking up the sunrise with a fresh dusting of snow. While enjoying this sunrise I found this thirsty turtle drinking from the stream. Ok, not exactly. I give the credit to others for the photo title. I then hiked up to top near the summit of Broken Hand to soak up all three sisters coated in a fresh dousing of powdered sugar. A fantastic late summer morning in the mountains was had. A fiery sunrise would have been nice but hey I will take what I can get!
Setting up the "Thirsty Turtle" shot required that I get my boots in the water somewhat. I wish I would have brought a towel and I would have removed my hiking boots and went into the ice water barefoot to get this exactly how I wanted it. I don’t like being in water when the temps are freezing but the conditions were right this day I would have been willing to do it. Instead I stretched my legs wide with the stream passing between them to try and get down and take this image of the glacial lake on the backside of Broken Top in the Three Sisters Wilderness. Oh and here is your tip for the day, always remember to leave the tripod open to dry before closing it up when it’s 30 degrees out! I know better yet I had a senior moment and it did not take long for one of the legs to freeze up and not want to come back out. Thanks for stopping by.
posted by Adrian Klein at 6:34 AM
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