Being new to Oregon I had never climbed a mountain before, and trying to plan a trip with someone to hike with was making a trip harder to plan. So I decided to hike South Sister’s by myself this past October.
I was told by a friend that the South Sisters/ Devils Lake Trailhead was one of the easiest summits in Oregon so I decided to give it a shot. The trail to the summit was all together about 6.5 miles to the top. I decided to camp at Lake Moreena about 3 miles in and summit in the morning at sunrise. I had to acquire a camping permit at https://www.recreation.gov/
The first thing I noticed was many hikers opted to get there early and summit and come down the same day. Coming from Eugene it was about a 3 hour drive so this would mean a pretty early alarm if you choose this option. However, hauling the 40 pound pack up the side of the mountain was no easy task either.
I arrived around 4pm and would say I arrived at the lake around 5:45pm. The views were amazing, and the lake casts a perfect mirror of the mountains.
I woke up around 4am to summit, and reached the top before sunrise. The stars were absolutely stunning, by far the highlight of my trip as the constellation Orion was life sized in the sky. On my way down the sun was coming up an absolute gorgeous sight! I took down my tent and hiked down. I was back at my car by 10:30am and I headed into town to grab some coffee.
