Adam Schneider's
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2005-08 Black Crater, OR

August 13, 2005: Linus invited everyone to his family's cabin near Sisters, Oregon, and so six of us (plus one well-behaved and happy dog) went on this hike up to the summit of Black Crater (map), the closest mountain to North Sister. The trail starts at Highway 242 -- just east of the massive Belknap lava flows -- and goes from about 4900' to 7250' in about 3.5 miles.

Black Crater is indeed an extinct volcano, but the crater on the north side of the summit is really a cirque -- a bowl scooped out by a glacier long after the volcanism died down. (The eastern side of the mountain has been gouged out even further and now contains a small lake, but we didn't get to see that part.) At the summit, there's a rough side trail that traverses the rocky lip of the "crater" for a quarter-mile or so -- it's a worthwhile detour.






Spider web Aster some kind of buckwheat Linus, Teresa, & Solveig Scarlet columbine





Mt. Washington & yellowish cinders Mt. Washington & reddish cinders Belknap Crater & lava flows The southwestern "summit" The Three Sisters





Crater-like cirque Mt. Washington & Belknap lava flows View toward the town of Sisters Broken Top, Three Sisters, & The Husband Steep cliffs, lava flows, & Three-Fingered Jack





Lunch Linus the photographer Talus collomia & cinders An unusual hill The summit





Lichen Lichen Mt. Washington & rugged basalt North Sister & whitebark pines Three-Fingered Jack & Mt. Jefferson





Lupine leaves Aster Groundsel (a.k.a. butterweed, ragwort) Mossy trees Elderberries in a rockpile


All content is ©2008 Adam Schneider. If you'd like to use any of these images in an on-line or published work, contact me at schneider pobox com. Larger, un-watermarked versions of most photos are available.