PCT Section 4: Shelter Cove to Santiam Pass
After leaving Shelter Cove, the PCT started passing water sources much more frequently than I had encountered in Southern Oregon. While this was great for my back because I didn’t need to carry as much water, it was also problematic because of the mosquitoes. My first night on this stretch, at Bobby Lake, wasn’t too bad, but mosquitoes would shape the next week of hiking for me.
On the second day of hiking I continued my approach towards the Three Sisters. While hiking through the burn area pictured below, I was able to see south and middle sister.
Storm Lake was beautiful, but I could only stand to be here for two minutes to take a quick picture before I needed to start hiking again to avoid the mosquitoes. This was one of the first times on trail that I had to wear my mosquito headnet while I was hiking.
On the fourth day of this section, I was able to capture this cool reflection of a tree in the lake. As you’re probably noticing, I just didn’t take many images over this particular 50 mile stretch of trail. While it was nice to have more frequent water access, the scenery wasn’t very impressive and the mosquitoes kept me from wanting to stop and take many images.
On that fourth day, I made it Elk Lake Resort. I stopped in to pick up my resupply box that I had mailed to this spot before I got on trail. And finally, this resort had a restaurant that was open! I took full advantage of the fresh food, and swam in Elk Lake with some friends in the afternoon. The following day, I hiked out into Three Sisters Wilderness, what ended up being the highlight of Oregon for me! This image was taken in the afternoon of a beautiful meadow with wildflowers fully in bloom.
South Sister was an incredible mountain that dominated over the landscape. All day I was staring up at this volcanic peak in awe. The image below was taken late in the day as I got close to where I would camp for the night.
After arriving in camp and getting my tent set up, I started to survey the surrounding area for good photo opportunities. The first shot that I love is an abstract image of mossy tree branches being backlit by the setting sun. I also took a cool photo of Middle Sister just as the sun was setting!
The next morning I decided to wake up early and hike with the rising sun. This led to some great photographic opportunities for me, plus a chance to enjoy the peacefulness of an early morning in the wilderness. The picture below is of South Sister, taken in an alpine meadow with tiny yellow flowers popping up.
The next shot was taken looking south towards Diamond Peak, a mountain that I had hiked around a week before! The large mountains in Oregon were a constant reminder of what was up ahead as well as how far you had come.
As I continued climbing, I found myself taking more and more pictures of South Sister. This shot makes the mountain look like an imposing alien spaceship to me, like something you would see in a Marvel movie.
As I continued on that morning, I entered the Obsidian Limited Entry Area deep in the heart of Three Sisters Wilderness. The gem of this area is Obsidian Falls, a powerful waterfall named because of the huge chunks of obsidian rock in the area. I spent fifteen minutes or so in this spot, alone, taking in this scene. To take the image below I had to walk out onto snow bridge over the creek! I tested each step carefully to make sure I wouldn’t break through. The final result was well worth the risk to me.
After leaving Obsidian Falls, the next scene that left me breathless was the massive lava fields around North Sister. It was incredible how much volcanic rock was in this area. It led to wide open views of the surrounding landscape as well! The image below shows the chain of Cascade Volcanoes looking north. From left to right you can see Mount Washington, Three-Fingered Jack, Mount Jefferson, and Mount Hood.
As I said, these lava fields were massive. There was stark black rock everywhere around me.
This view was at the top of a hard climb in the lava fields. I love the way the PCT leads off towards the volcanoes in the distance here! To top it off, a family hiked through and I was able to capture a brother and sister hiking down this switchback.
This image of North Sister is one of my favorites from the day. What drew me to this scene was the tiny green plants growing out of the dark volcanic rock on this hillside. It was crazy to me that these plants were able to grow in what was such an inhospitable environment.
In the afternoon of this day, I arrived at McKenzie Pass and decided to make camp at a developed campground where PCT hikers can walk in. Here I had one of my few bad experiences on the PCT. I was bit on my hand by a dog at this campground… Thankfully the bite wasn’t too bad, but I still wanted to get the bite checked out. Unfortunately I had more hiking to do the next day. I woke up early in the morning to knock out some tough miles through an exposed lava field. This image is of a random hiker who happened to pass through at the exact right moment. The mountains in the background are North Sister (left) and Middle Sister (right).
Looking back at the Sisters, it was still crazy to me how stark and barren this landscape was. These massive lava fields were incredible to see in person, and I really enjoyed being able to walk through them.
On this day, what would be my last in this section, I ended up pushing 19 miles to get to Santiam Pass by evening. There I got a ride from a trail angel into Bend, Oregon, where I was able to go to an urgent care and get the dog bite treated properly. After my urgent care visit, I got another ride back to Sisters, Oregon to stay with some friends in a hotel room there. Six of us crammed into a single hotel room, and I slept on the floor on my sleeping pad. The following day we got a ride to Timberline Lodge, about 80 miles north of where we left the trail. We made this decision because there was a