Tag: park creek

Park Meadow to Golden Lake – 09/13/2025

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date September 15, 2025
No Comments on Park Meadow to Golden Lake – 09/13/2025

September is one of the trickier months for picking hikes. The transition to Fall has begun meaning most of the wildflowers are done while the Fall colors are just getting started. Rain begins returning (and sometimes snow at higher elevations), but many of the waterfalls are still running low. Finally, wildfire smoke has often been a problem in recent years.

The hike to Park Meadow and Golden Lake seemed a good option as it isn’t a big wildflower hike and there aren’t a lot of plants known for their Fall colors. We had visited the meadow and Golden Lake during a 2014 backpacking loop around the South Sister (post). That visit was enough for us to count having hiked part of Sullivan’s featured hike in his “100 Hike/Travel Guide Central Oregon Cascades” (post), but it meant we’d skipped the five miles of trail between the Park Meadow Trailhead and Park Meadow.

With a forecast of mostly smoke and cloud free skies we made the two-and-a-half-hour drive to the trailhead.

The trail begins across Forest Road 16 from the trailhead at a signboard and wilderness permit box.

Currently for day hikes the only permit currently required is the free self-issued wilderness permit that we filled out at the signboard. For overnight trips a Central Cascades Wilderness Permit is required.

The Park Meadow Trail spends most of its time in the 2012 Pole Creek Fire scar which burned nearly all the trees leaving views of the Three Sisters and Broken Top through the snags. The trail also loses 350′ of elevation for the first 3.9-miles to Wychus Creek.

Junco

Heather spotted three deer on the rise in the distance.

Lupine

At the 0.25-mile mark the trail arrives at junction with the Metolius-Windigo Trail. We stayed straight following the pointer for “JCT. PARK MEADOW TR.”

The Three Sisters on the horizon.

Sparrow

Fireweed

Northwestern rabbit-tabacco

Broken Hand along Tam McArthur Rim (post) on the left with the tip of Broken Top above the hill on the right.

Pearly everlasting

Just over two miles from the trailhead we arrived at an unnamed stream near the second junction with the Metolius-Windigo Trail.

Reflection in the stream.

We again stayed straight continuing on the Park Meadow Trail which soon came to a crossing of Snow Creek at the border of the Three Sisters Wilderness.

Pearly everlasting along Snow Creek.

Paintbrush

Sweet bee on milk kelloggia

We spotted a pair of ravens in the snag tops ahead.

Raven

Penstemon

Broken Top and South Sister (post).

Broken Top

South Sister

Woodpecker from below.

Near the 4-mile mark we arrived at Wychus Creek. At 6000′ this was the lowest elevation of the hike.

From Wychus Creek it is just over a mile to Park Meadow. Shortly before reaching the meadow the trail leaves the fire scar.

Cinquefoil

Aster

Orange sulphur

Entering unburned forest.

South Sister from a pond at the end of Park Meadow.

Red-tailed hawk

Broken Top from Park Meadow

Park Creek crossing.

Park Meadow junction with the Green Lakes Trail.

On our backpacking loop we used the Green Lakes Trail to reach the meadow from the Camp Lake Trail making this junction the point at which we completed Sullivan’s entire featured hike. I arrived here first because Heather and I had split up back at Wychus Creek. She had decided against pushing on to Golden Lake which was another 1.7-miles and 500′ in elevation gain away.

I hiked through the meadow which was filled with alpine gentians and then began to climb through the forest to the unmarked junction with the use trail to Golden Lake.

Alpine gentians

Golden-mantled ground squirrel

Townsend’s solitaire

Small cairn and bandana marking the use trail. This is approximately 1-mile from the junction in Park Meadow.

I veered left up the use trail which quickly leveled out and brought me to Golden Lake in 0.7-miles.

South Sister from the use trail.

Broken Top from the trail. If you look down the trail on the right between the trees, you can see a deer crossing the trail.

While it isn’t an official trail there is no camping allowed within 250′ of Golden Lake. In addition, throughout the Three Sisters Wilderness building, maintaining, attending, or using a fire, campfire, or stove fire above 5700′ is prohibited. Stoves must be fueled with liquid or compressed gas.

The Moon above south sister.

Golden Lake and Broken Top with some September haze. There is a crossing of the outlet that leads to the eastern shore.

The Three Sisters from Golden Lake.

I wasn’t planning on going beyond Golden Lake, but I had left that option open depending on time and how I was feeling. On our backpacking trip we had continued up to a tarn almost a mile (and another 500′) and set up camp. We wound up not staying there though when we got spooked by the sudden arrival of smoke and a visible smoke column on the far side of South Sister. It was a rookie mistake as the fire wound up being over 40-miles away. Now that I was back 11 years later I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to visit the tarn and our almost campsite again. I followed a path along the eastern shore to the outlet creek then headed uphill.

Looking back along the path along the eastern shore.

Uphill along the inlet.

Pink monkeyflower

I believe the purple is an aster, red a paintbrush, and yellow Buek’s groundsel.

Aster and pink monkeyflower

Tilling’s monkeyflower

The creek emerges from springs at the base of a moraine.

The final push to the tarn is a steep climb up a glacial moraine.

The Three Sisters and the creek from the moraine.

The tarn.

Due to the position of the Sun and the smoke getting a good picture of Broken Top from the tarn was impossible.

South and North Sister from the tarn. Middle Sister is behind the clump of trees which is where we had set up our tent in 2014.

I made my way around the tarn and stopped at the 2014 campsite to take a break.

California tortoiseshell

Another attempt at Broken Top.

Fireweed along the smaller tarn.

Campsite

Middle and North Sister from the campsite.

After a snack and a change of socks I headed back down. It was just before 11am when I made my way back down the moraine and then by Golden Lake again.

South Sister

Middle Sister and Prouty Point

North Sister

Arnica and paintbrush near one of the springs feeding the creek.

Alpine speedwell

Lupine

Mushroom

The inlet creek crossing ahead.

I simply retraced my steps from here back to the trailhead. There were a few more wildlife sightings along the way and a few more trail users. The elevation gains after Wychus Creek were a mean trick given it was now warmer while I was heading uphill but there was an occasional cool breeze and it wasn’t too hot of a day to begin with (low 60’s).

Northern flicker

The trails were all in good shape. This was the “worst” obstacle encountered.

Mushroom

Park Creek

Common wood nymph in pearly everlasting.

One of the numerous small uphill sections on the way back to the trailhead.

A little more haze and a couple more clouds on the way back.

Black Crater (post)

Another uphill and more clouds forming overhead.

The post on the right marks the site of the former trailhead. This is approximately 1.2-miles from the current trailhead.

I arrived back at the trailhead a little after 1:30pm and found Heather waiting in her camp chair.

My hike to the tarn above Golden Lake came in at 15.2-miles with 1800′ of cumulative elevation gain. Heather’s to Park Meadow was a little over 10-miles with 800′ of elevation gain.

This was indeed a good time for this hike. There were no mosquitos or yellow jackets to speak of. The former are a problem in July and early August and the latter can get aggressive later in the Fall. While most of the wildflowers had passed there were still some blooming and it wasn’t too hot. The lack of tree cover combined with the uphill on the way back wouldn’t be a lot of fun on a hot summer day. Happy Trails!

Flicker: Park Meadow to Golden Lake

Tags Broken Top, Golden Lake, Green Lakes Trail, hiking, Oregon, park creek, Park Meadow, Park Meadow Trail, Park Meadow Trailhead, Snow Creek, South Sister, Three Sisters Wilderness, Wychus Creek

Hiking Middle Santiam Old Cascades Oregon Trip report

The Three Pyramids and Parrish, Riggs & Daly Lakes – 07/18/2020

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date July 26, 2020
6 Comments on The Three Pyramids and Parrish, Riggs & Daly Lakes – 07/18/2020

When we scheduled our vacation weeks back, in January, we had no idea the issues that Covid-19 would create. We’ve been doing our best to socially distance and wear masks when that isn’t possible, but was going on a trip different? Fortunately for us we’ve stayed healthy and our plans for this vacation had been a trip to the Lakeview, OR area where the number of Covid-19 cases has been low and the likelihood of encountering many (if any) other hikers was low. Before heading to Lakeview we planned on stopping to visit Heather’s parents in Bend. On our way to Bend we stopped for three short hikes.

Our first stop was at the Pyramids Trailhead to check off one more featured hike from William L. Sullivan’s “100 Hikes/Travel Guide Central Oregon Cascades”.

We had been to this trailhead once before but that was for a backpacking trip to the Middle Santiam Wilderness (post) when we took the South Pyramid Creek Trail. This time after we crossed Park Creek we turned right on the Pyramids Trail.

The trail climbed along Park Creek passing a series of small falls before crossing the creek.

The trail then passed a meadow filled cirque.
20200718_070954

The trail climbed from the cirque via a series of switchbacks to a ridge where the trail turned left heading for the Middle Pyramid. There were several nice wildflower displays along the climb.
20200718_071555 Coneflower

Death camas

Penstemon

20200718_091211 Larkspur and penstemon

The trail followed the ridge to the cliffs of the Middle Pyramid and wrapped around its north side to a junction 2 miles from the trailhead. Several mountains could be seen from this stretch of trail.
Middle Pyramid from the ridge.

Mt. Washington and the Three Sisters

Mt. Jefferson

Valerian and columbine

Mountain bluebells

The junction was with the Old Cascade Crest Trail coming up from the North Pyramid Trailhead three and a half miles away.

We turned left continuing toward the Middle Pyramid climbing to a saddle just below it’s summit which was to the right.

Looking up toward the summit from the saddle.

We clambered up a rocky path to the former lookout site atop the peak where a 360 degree view awaited.
Mt. Washington and the Three Sisters

South Pyramid with snowy Diamond Peak to the left in the distance.

Cone Peak and Iron Mountain (post)

Mt. Hood framed between Coffin Mountain and Bachelor Mountain (post) and Mt. Jefferson.

A faint Mt. Adams to the left of Mt. Hood

Meadow from the summit.

We returned the way we’d come and headed for our second stop of the day which was originally going to be the Riggs Lake Trailhead. We had planned on making three more including Riggs Lake (Parrish and Daly Lakes being the other 2) but FR 2266 had a number trees over it beyond the Parrish Lake Trailhead so we decided to park there and walk the 1.2 miles up FR 2266 to the Riggs Lake Trailhead.

Since we were already at the Parrish Lake Trailhead we started by hiking down the Parrish Lake Trail .6 miles to the lake.

North Pyramid

Rough skinned newts

After visiting Parrish Lake we headed down FR 2266 to the Riggs Lake Trailhead. It wasn’t too bad as far as road walks go. It appeared that someone had attempted to do some road maintenance at some point.

The trailhead was well signed including what appeared to be a fairly new trail sign.

The condition of the trail left much to be desired. It was only a half mile to the lake, and after having walked the 1.2 miles on FR 2266 we weren’t about to let some blowdown stop us (it almost did though).

We managed to make it to Riggs Lake which was actually pretty nice.

Crab spider on prince’s pine

Once upon a time the trail continued uphill to Don Lake but has been abandoned for some time. Given the condition of the trail up to Riggs Lake we had no thoughts of trying to continue on.
The trail used to continue on the other side of the inlet creek.

We picked our way back through the blowdown and along FR 2266 to the Parrish Lake Trailhead then drove to the nearby Daly Lake Trailhead.

We had seen three mountain bikers on the Pyramids Trail and four hikers on the Parrish Lake Trail and no one along the Riggs Lake Trail, but there were plenty of people at Daly Lake. We readied our masks as we set off on the short loop around the lake.

There were a number of tents set up and quite a few people floating on the lake but we didn’t encounter anyone along the loop except for at the end when the trail passed through the campsites.

Washington lilies

The trail was in need of some maintenance but nowhere near as bad as the Riggs Lake Trail had been.

Crossing on the outlet creek.

Marsh at the outlet creek.

Bog orchid

Most of the trail lacked views and with the best being closest to the campsites.

The North Pyramid from Daly Lake

After completing the loop we drove on to Bend and had a nice visit with Heather’s parents before getting up early the next morning to continue our trip. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Three Pyramids and Parrish, Riggs & Daly Lakes

Tags Daly Lake, hiking, Middle Pyramid, Oregon, park creek, Parrish Lake, Pyramids Trail, Riggs Lake, Three Pyramids, wildflowers

High Cascades Hiking Oregon Three Sisters Area Trip report

Chush Falls and Beyond

Our third hike while in Bend took us back to the Three Sisters Wilderness for a mostly off trail waterfall loop that had been reported on by a member of Portland Hikers in November 2013. The plan was to start at the Chush Falls Trailhead and continue past the falls up Wychus Creek passing two more waterfalls then crossing that creek and Park Creek visiting six more waterfalls on three different creeks before recrossing Wychus Creek and returning to the trail.

We were greeted at the trailhead by some chilly air. We could see parts of the tops of the Three Sisters which were mostly engulfed in clouds. What we could see though showed that a little fresh snow had fallen sometime in the previous couple of days.

South Sister

Frosty ground

The beginning of the trail is on an abandoned road which we followed for about a mile and a half before reaching the former trailhead which was now only marked by a homemade sign.

The 2012 Pole Creek Fire burned through the forest here creating interesting color contrasts where water was present.

A mile from the old trailhead we came to a wide flat area with a Trail Ends Here sign. Beyond the sign the top of Chush Falls was visible.

To the right was a clear path down a steep slope to the base of Chush Falls.

After returning to the trail ends here sign we picked up another clear trail continuing up Wychus Creek. The second waterfall was just .3 miles up this use trail.

Middle Chush Falls

We found Upper Chush Falls another .3 miles from the middle falls. This was by far the most interesting of the falls on Wychus Creek. It was also the most difficult to get a good view of because of its location in a rocky bowl and 230′ height.

My parents, who had started the hike at the same time we had, caught up with us here. They had not spotted the trail down to the base of Chush Falls so we were able to give them that information before we set off cross-country in search of the next fall – Phoenix Falls.

In order to reach Phoenix Falls we needed to be up above Upper Chush Falls and over to the next creek which was East Fork Park Creek. We had unfortunately neglected to bring the maps we had planned on having with us, but we still had our Garmin (and tons of batteries). I had also spent a lot of time pouring over the maps and Google imagery of the area and making notes so we felt fairly confident in the resources we did have. We crossed Wychus Creek below the upper falls and began to skirt around a ridge end in search of a draw that I hopped would be the easiest way up to the plateau above the ridge. We picked our way around the ridge following game trails as best we could until we could see the draw below in between two ridge ends. The draw did indeed look like it would have been a good option but we had crossed the creek and headed around the ridge way above the draw so continued up and around the ridge finally reaching the draw near the edge of the plateau. Travel became much easier once we emerged from the draw. We continued SW toward the location on the creek where we expected to find Phoenix Falls. The South Sister loomed ahead on our right as we went.

We reached the edge of the canyon in which the East Fork Park Creek was flowing and began following it up toward the sound of a waterfall. Soon we could see the falls we were in search of with the added bonus of Broken Top rising over the shoulder of Phoenix Falls.

To the right of Phoenix Falls were the Three Sisters. The 110′ falls roared down into the canyon creating a good amount of wind up on the rim.

From Phoenix Falls we headed back downstream below the confluence of the East & West Forks of Park Creek and crossed what had become Park Creek. We then made our way along the West side of Park Creek to Middle Park Creek Falls. This was the most difficult to get a clear view of due to the angles of the canyon and a couple of downed trees laying between the canyon walls.

Just down the creek was the next fall – Howlaak Falls.

We left Park Creek at Howlaak Falls and headed cross-country again toward yet another creek – South Fork Wychus Creek. The final three falls we hopped to visit were on this creek. We had to traverse along another ridge end to find the creek and this time Heather took the lead picking up a good game trail which wound up leading us almost directly to Columnar Canyon Falls, the first of the three falls we were looking for. A short steep trail led down to a rocky overhang which allowed for a good view of the falls. Not a spot I’d recommend for anyone nervous around heights.

We then began following the creek down a ridge listening for the next fall. We heard Mosaic Falls before we spotted it. In fact getting a decent view of this fall proved to be as frustrating as I had read it was in the earlier trip report. It wasn’t too difficult getting down to the creek below the falls but there was no view of the falls from where you were able to get to the creek.

In order to see the falls I made my way along the edge of the creek shown above. It was slick and full of thorny gooseberry bushes and complicated by a large boulder that was in the way once the falls came into view.

I managed to get around the boulder just enough to get a fairly clear view of the falls but even then the spray from the falls made getting a picture difficult.

I rejoined Heather who had smartly stayed behind and then we headed for our final fall – Shelter Falls. We had to hop back over the ridge away from the creek in order to continue downhill. The ridge at this point was quite narrow though so we were never far from the creek. When we could we angled back toward the creek and were able to find the site of an old shelter.

Just a little further on we found Shelter Falls.

Having successfully found all the falls we were looking for (there are others out there) it was time to make our way back to the trail. This proved to be the most difficult part of the hike in terms of route finding. Wychus Creek was close by and the confluence with the South Fork was nearby. We crossed over to Wychus Creek to look for a decent crossing but the opposite side looked too steep to climb. Not wanting to hike back up the creek we headed down stream. Near the South Fork the ground on the opposite side of Wychus Creek leveled out giving us our best option for reaching the trail on the other side. We had managed to stay dry up to this point but now there was no getting around the need to wade across the creek. We found a good crossing where the water was only mid-calf deep and crossed the creek. From there it was a short climb up out of the canyon. We re-found the trail about 10′ from where we popped up over the hillside. It had been a successful hike despite the forgotten maps. We relied on the GPS, my notes, and the research done beforehand which was a good reminder to always be prepared. Happy Trails!

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Tags Broken Top, Chush Falls, Columnar Canyon Falls, East Fork park Creek, Howlaak Falls, Middle Chush Falls, Middle Park Creek Falls, Mosaic falls, park creek, Phoenix Falls, Shelter Falls, South Fork Wychus Creek, South Sister, Three Sisters Wilderness, Upper Chush Falls, Wychus Creek

High Cascades Hiking Oregon Three Sisters Area Trip report

South Sister Loop – Day 3

After not being able to fall asleep in the wake of an amazing second day the third day of our backpacking loop started way to early. I woke up just after 5am needing to empty my bladder. Looking out our tent to the East I could see an orange glow through the trees indicating that the Sun was coming, but not for awhile. I threw my headlamp on, grabbed my camera hoping to get a shot of the horizon, and started to walk toward the edge of the plateau that Demaris Lake sits on. I was scanning the forest with my light when I noticed a pair of glowing eyes about 50yds to the left of our tent. They were fairly low to the ground and I couldn’t tell what it was. Since I didn’t know what kind of animal was staring at me I wasn’t sure if I should get big or slowly back away. Not being fully awake my solution was to take a picture using the flash to see if I could figure out what it was. That may not have been the best idea, but when the flash went off I could see that it was a deer that was bedded down.

She got up after I took the picture and began walking along the ridge in front of me so I stopped heading that way and thought I would loop around behind to get my horizon picture. Apparently she didn’t like that because when I looked back in the direction she had been headed she had turned around and was now walking toward me with her head down.

She stopped when she realized I’d spotted her and I backtracked down to the lake shore and tried taking a wider loop around a rocky outcropping to get my picture. I got to good viewpoint and after scanning for the deer I set about trying to get a decent picture.

After taking a few pictures I suddenly had a strange feeling. Glancing to my right there was that crazy deer again staring at me with those glowing eyes. I headed back down to the lake and hurried back to the tent site to grab my poles and wake Heather up thinking that maybe the presence of a second person would deter the stalker deer. It must have because we didn’t see her again and were able to watch the sunrise light up the mountains and trees above the lake.

After a deer free breakfast we returned to the Camp Lake Trail at the North Fork Wychus Creek. A nice little waterfall lay just downstream from the creek crossing.

Soon we entered the area burned during the 2012 Pole Creek Fire.

The forest is only starting to recover from the fire so there wasn’t much to see as we made our way to the Green Lakes Trail and Soda Creek.

We turned right on the Green Lakes Trail and headed south toward Park Meadow. The first section of trail remained in the burn area but we were now headed back toward the mountains so we at least had a view.

After recrossing the North Fork Wychus Creek and then crossing the South Fork Wychus Creek the trail passed between a pair of ponds at the edge of the burn. The large pond on the left was empty while the much smaller pond on the right was filled with ducks.

After leaving the burn area our next marker was the West Fork Park Creek in Red Meadow.

There weren’t many flowers in the meadow but a hawk provided some entertainment as it watched us from a nearby tree.

From there it was just under a mile to our next trail junction located in Park Meadow.

After taking a quick look at Park Creek we continued on the Green Lakes Trail passing through Park Meadow. The meadow was quite large with a good view of both Broken Top and the South Sister. Although it was fairly dry many gentian flowers dotted the ground along with the occasional aster.

We were looking for a side trail about a mile from Park Meadow that would take us to Golden Lake. There was no sign marking the .7 mile trail to the lake but as we made our way toward the lake we did see signs announcing the areas restrictions.

It was easy to see why this was a popular spot.

We hiked around to the far end of the lake and decided to follow the inlet creek up looking for a place to set up our tent far enough from the lake to fit the 250′ restriction. We knew that there were a pair of tarns about a mile up from Golden Lake which we had originally planned on visiting after we had found our camp site and dropped off our gear. We weren’t having much luck finding a site, but the scenery was once again spectacular. Wildflowers lined the creek and the water was as clear as glass. We were headed straight at Broken Top and the South Sister loomed across the creek to our right.

We eventually reached the beginning of the creek as it flowed out from the bottom of a rocky hillside.

We began climbing the hill expecting to find the first tarn at the top.

We were not disappointed.

The water in the tarn was crystal clear and the views extended to Mt. Jefferson to the North.

A path led up another hill to the second tarn. It was quite a bit smaller and there was a hiker with a dog splashing around in it so we headed back down to the first tarn and went about setting up camp. We had found our spot for the night.
Second tarn

South Sister over the first tarn

Our campsite back in the trees on the far side of the tarn.

We had views all around from the site.

The nice part was we had arrived just after 1pm so we had plenty of time to soak our feet (the water was way too cold for anything else) and watch the wildlife that would occasionally stop by the tarn.

We decided to try and turn in early (or at least take a nap) since we didn’t get much sleep the night before so we laid down in the tent around 6pm. Heather fell asleep but I wasn’t having any luck so I got back up shortly after 7pm and took a few more pictures. It had been hazy to north all weekend but I could now make out Mt. Hood in that direction, and rays of sunlight shot through the gap between the South and Middle Sister.
The Three Sisters, Three Fingered Jack, Mt. Jefferson, and Mt. Hood at 7:04pm

Broken Top at 7:07pm

I went back to the tent and laid back down after taking the picture of Broken Top hoping to finally get some sleep. About 20 minutes later I smelled smoke. Thinking it was a campfire I lay there for a minute wondering if someone wasn’t able to follow the restriction on campfires. The smell kept getting strong so I sat up and looked around. Smoke was filling the basin below Broken Top and when I turned around I could see a line of smoke passing between the Sisters. The whole valley below us was full of smoke and it looked like it was rising up from somewhere on the other side of the South Sister.

I woke Heather up and we began discussing what to do. Another hiker came up to the tarn and she was wondering what was going on as well. She had a satellite phone and had managed to talk to a friend in Bend but they didn’t have any knowledge of a fire near the Sisters. There were some fires near Oakridge, OR 40 miles to the South but it didn’t seem possible that this smoke was coming from there. Looking at the smoke column we weren’t sure if we would be able to hike out via Green Lakes since it appeared to be rising from somewhere in that direction so we considered our Plan B evacuation route back through Park Meadow to the Three Creeks Campground. We were also debating on if we should try and stick it out through the night of if we should just pack up and try and get out before it got any worse. We quickly agreed that neither of us would be able to get any sleep under these conditions and if the smoke got any worse it would certainly be unhealthy even if we did manage to fall asleep.

We loaded everything up grabbed our headlamps and started back down toward Golden Lake just after 8:15pm. We were watching the smoke column still unable to decide exactly where it was emanating from when arrived back at Golden Lake. No one had any new news at the lake so we decided to attempt to hike out as originally planned past the Green Lakes as it looked like the smoke was coming from the far side of the South Sister.

This was our first experience with night hiking so we didn’t know exactly what to expect. Our adrenaline was pumping as we began climbing the Green Lakes Trail to its high point above the Green Lakes. To our surprise and relief the smoke lessened as we went. By the time we arrived at the Green Lakes area the sky was full of stars and the smell of smoke had all but vanished.

I managed one picture of the elusive Green Lakes having once again missed seeing them in the light of day.

We were now committed to leaving though so we kept hiking. It turned out to be quite a bit of fun. We missed out on seeing a lot but the sky was beautiful and we spotted some things we would not have seen during the day like toads and the glowing eyes of many deer.

We were fortunate that the Green Lakes Trail is well used and easy to follow. By 11:40pm we had reached the trailhead and our waiting car. There was no sign of fire anywhere around and as it turned out the smoke had come from the Deception Creek Complex of fires near Oakridge. The wind had apparently shifted just right flooding the area with smoke. Although it would have been nice to have spent the night by the tarn and been able to wake up to that view we felt like we made the right choice. Experiencing our first night hike was something to remember and it brought our day 3 total to a nice round 21 miles. It truly was a trip to remember.

Happy (and smoke free) Trails!

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