South Sister

Finally got around to checking an activity off of my to-do list.

No, not shampooing the carpet. That is still left unchecked.

And might remain that way forever..

What I did is I finally summited the third highest peak in Oregon, a once active volcano known as South Sister.

I did this with two other women, two other POWERFUL women.



We took the "screw the view" approach and attacked the very steep climb at full speed. This allowed us to reach the summit in about 3 hours - a nearly 5,000 foot climb covered in almost 6 miles.

The majority of the climb did not feel as bad as I and my knees had feared - all except for the last red lava field to the top which is grueling. It's about a mile in loose cinder with a 1,500 foot gain in elevation and thinning oxygen. Ouch!

But the views were worth the effort. Middle Sister and North Sister are pictured here:



For the descent, we didn't slow down a bit. In fact, we sped up with a few spurts of jogging. Remember what I said about those two power chicks. I wasn't kidding.

All in all, the entire climb took us a total of about 5 hours and 20 minutes, an exhilarating 5 hours and 20 minutes! The guide books all told us to allow about 7 hours total.

Who cares that I could barely walk the following week and had to stifle little screams when I descended the smallest of stairs? It was a fantastic adventure, one that I'd even embrace again!