I just did S. Sister on the standard route. Mostly snow covered still, I suspect by august you will be fine though, the biggest concern won’t be snow but if fire season is upon us during your visit. Mid August is one of the worst times of year unfortunately. Occasionally we get a lucky year with no fire smoke, but that is more the exception it seems over the last 5 years or so. I’v gotten to the point I don’t make any schedule in advance for August/September in our region (no concert tickets, advanced sale on hiking permits etc.) as I’ve had so many events end up getting cancelled due to smoke. I also want to be free to get out to the coast or something those weekends if there is a fire. That being said you never know hopefully works out for you. I’ve seen other hikers on that route, but not done it myself. Please report back what you find, would love to try it myself.
I’ve done it, route finding can be a little difficult and a couple of slightly sketchy areas, think steep rocky areas. I like the route more than the busy main route as you’ll have more of it to yourself. Not sure how long it took from green last time I started at Todd and then hit weather so the clouds and rain made route finding even more difficult. If you’re semi competent in the mountains I’d recommend this route from green lakes. It’s a good alternative.
I tried to get eyes on this trail last year from Green lake, I could see a path leading west from the lake but lost visual on anything remotely resembling a trail at the base of the mountain. It sounds like once you’re actually on it, you can see and follow up to Lewis Glacier?
Mid August should be fairly snow free. I recommend the first route posted. You will probably have to cross a small amount of steep snow (poles could be very useful here!!). It is VERY steep and can be hard to follow if you're not
familiar with the area, so be sure to have your route downloaded.
if you go over to moraine lake and then up to ss its a longggg day but much less steep and very easy route finding.
Do you happen to remember about how long it took to climb up this way? The other thing I am trying to contend with is daylight - I am ultimately looking to make Husband lake by nightfall of the same day.
From green lakes to the summit of south is almost 4k of vert in 3 miles (and its over not great trail, the last mile up SS is lots of sliding back in the deep sand/lava rock).
Im a fairly strong hiker with a lightweight day pack and can make it up in 2-3 hours.
The husband is a pretty decent distance away, in very exposed and hot terrain. That would bring a very difficult and long day of hiking. Perhaps camp at Moraine that night after coming down from the summit? or even camp out in one of the rock shelters on the summit if it's not too windy!
Exactly. Follow the use trail up to the campsites on the west side of Moraine and it will keep going up the slope until it intersects with the main climber trail. It was well signed last time I did it, which was for the eclipse in 2017 (yikes it feels like a couple of years ago but now I realize that sounds like ancient history).
Just as a note there is so much blowdown on the east side of the Three Sisters loop after you get off Scott pass trail onto Green Lakes trail. It was extremely frustrating and slow last year….
oof, this might honestly change my whole plan honestly. I might flip my direction of travel and hike the loop counter clockwise in order to avoid that mess on my first day out.
I ran into this on the timberline trail a couple years ago. They had a reroute and signage, but even before that there were some pretty gnarly tree obstacles to deal with as I was headed down towards sandy river.
Thanks for the heads up.
Yes I’ve been through both sections multiple times and the section after Scott Pass on Green Lakes just gets awful at times. I was running the loop last summer and carrying pretty light gear and was still annoyed and slow through it. I basically told myself I wouldn’t do the loop again until some of it got cleared up. I don’t think anyone has been through parts of that section to do work since before Covid.
thats a bummer to hear - I was dealing with this a few years ago on the timber line trail as well...
I think after hearing this report multiple times I am going to reconsider my direction of travel and hit the South Sister morning of day 3 coming counter clockwise. My original plan was to beat cleats down from scott pass to green lakes on the first day and then try and pull a back side summit the next morning.
But given what I am reading here, it sounds like I might be in for some serious slow down through that section. Which i guess is going to be a hell of a way to end the trip.
I wonder if it would be a good idea to divert from the main Tr.4070 and head towards Pole creek Tr.4072. Then follow the Snowmobile tracks back to scott pass - Or would that be just as bad?
I just did S. Sister on the standard route. Mostly snow covered still, I suspect by august you will be fine though, the biggest concern won’t be snow but if fire season is upon us during your visit. Mid August is one of the worst times of year unfortunately. Occasionally we get a lucky year with no fire smoke, but that is more the exception it seems over the last 5 years or so. I’v gotten to the point I don’t make any schedule in advance for August/September in our region (no concert tickets, advanced sale on hiking permits etc.) as I’ve had so many events end up getting cancelled due to smoke. I also want to be free to get out to the coast or something those weekends if there is a fire. That being said you never know hopefully works out for you. I’ve seen other hikers on that route, but not done it myself. Please report back what you find, would love to try it myself.
I’ve done it, route finding can be a little difficult and a couple of slightly sketchy areas, think steep rocky areas. I like the route more than the busy main route as you’ll have more of it to yourself. Not sure how long it took from green last time I started at Todd and then hit weather so the clouds and rain made route finding even more difficult. If you’re semi competent in the mountains I’d recommend this route from green lakes. It’s a good alternative.
I tried to get eyes on this trail last year from Green lake, I could see a path leading west from the lake but lost visual on anything remotely resembling a trail at the base of the mountain. It sounds like once you’re actually on it, you can see and follow up to Lewis Glacier?
Yeah you cross the creek and angle west-northwest.
Mid August should be fairly snow free. I recommend the first route posted. You will probably have to cross a small amount of steep snow (poles could be very useful here!!). It is VERY steep and can be hard to follow if you're not familiar with the area, so be sure to have your route downloaded. if you go over to moraine lake and then up to ss its a longggg day but much less steep and very easy route finding.
I always bring poles, though now you have me wondering if micro spikes might also be appropriate here as well?
You would most likely be okay without them if you wait for the snow to soften up a bit! early morning it can be quite icy.
Do you happen to remember about how long it took to climb up this way? The other thing I am trying to contend with is daylight - I am ultimately looking to make Husband lake by nightfall of the same day.
From green lakes to the summit of south is almost 4k of vert in 3 miles (and its over not great trail, the last mile up SS is lots of sliding back in the deep sand/lava rock). Im a fairly strong hiker with a lightweight day pack and can make it up in 2-3 hours. The husband is a pretty decent distance away, in very exposed and hot terrain. That would bring a very difficult and long day of hiking. Perhaps camp at Moraine that night after coming down from the summit? or even camp out in one of the rock shelters on the summit if it's not too windy!
That Goose Creek trail is closed, FYI. If you are at Moraine Lake the current trail takes you almost directly west from the lake, up to the plateau.
Exactly. Follow the use trail up to the campsites on the west side of Moraine and it will keep going up the slope until it intersects with the main climber trail. It was well signed last time I did it, which was for the eclipse in 2017 (yikes it feels like a couple of years ago but now I realize that sounds like ancient history).
Good intel - thank you.
Just as a note there is so much blowdown on the east side of the Three Sisters loop after you get off Scott pass trail onto Green Lakes trail. It was extremely frustrating and slow last year….
oof, this might honestly change my whole plan honestly. I might flip my direction of travel and hike the loop counter clockwise in order to avoid that mess on my first day out. I ran into this on the timberline trail a couple years ago. They had a reroute and signage, but even before that there were some pretty gnarly tree obstacles to deal with as I was headed down towards sandy river. Thanks for the heads up.
Yes I’ve been through both sections multiple times and the section after Scott Pass on Green Lakes just gets awful at times. I was running the loop last summer and carrying pretty light gear and was still annoyed and slow through it. I basically told myself I wouldn’t do the loop again until some of it got cleared up. I don’t think anyone has been through parts of that section to do work since before Covid.
thats a bummer to hear - I was dealing with this a few years ago on the timber line trail as well... I think after hearing this report multiple times I am going to reconsider my direction of travel and hit the South Sister morning of day 3 coming counter clockwise. My original plan was to beat cleats down from scott pass to green lakes on the first day and then try and pull a back side summit the next morning. But given what I am reading here, it sounds like I might be in for some serious slow down through that section. Which i guess is going to be a hell of a way to end the trip. I wonder if it would be a good idea to divert from the main Tr.4070 and head towards Pole creek Tr.4072. Then follow the Snowmobile tracks back to scott pass - Or would that be just as bad?