Pacific Crest Trail at McKenzie and Santiam Passes

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Geo: 44.2911, -121.548

Since we had already done Smith Rock State Park
and had no desire to visit it again, we moved up our
plans to hike another section of the Pacific Crest
Trail. This trailhead was about 20 miles west of the
town of Sisters at the summit of McKenzie Pass on
Hwy 242. The highway, also called the McKenzie
Highway, passes through a large lava field that flowed
from two volcanoes, Belknap Crater which erupted
1,700 years ago and Little Belknap which erupted
only 1,600 years ago. The Dee Wright Observatory
is in the middle of this lava field about a quarter of a
mile before McKenzie Pass. It is a structure built
using the lava rocks that consists of a small room
atop a mound of the lava. The room has view ports
through which one can view the various mountain
peaks in the distance which are identified by a plaque
mounted by each view port. There is also a paved
trail through a portion of the lava field surrounding
the observatory with informative displays along the
trail. Very interesting place to visit, particularly if
you aren't into hiking. We stopped for a short visit
here before proceeding on to the pass where we
would begin our hike.


The hike was to the two volcanic
craters I mentioned earlier, Belknap Crater and Little Belknap
Crater. An in and out hike of about 7.5 miles with an elevation gain
of around 1,700 feet, most of the hike follows a portion of the PCT
north from the pass. With the exception of a couple of “land
islands” (non lava field areas with trees and grasses surrounded by
the lava field) and the last mile of the hike, the trail is fairly
level but travels over very rugged lava rocks with uneven and
unstable footing. About half way through the lava field, we passed a
side trail to the Little Belknap Crater which we took on the way back
to the trailhead after climbing to the larger Belknap Crater. Once
you exit the lava field, you leave the PCT and sort of bushwhack your
way to the top of the crater. This is where most of the elevation
gain occurs as you climb up the side of Belknap crater on an
extremely steep, sandy trail to the top. The footing up to the top
of that crater was worse than the lava rocks, causing one to slide
back a step for every two taken forward. The crater itself is not
visible from the base of the volcano but once at the top the view
down into the crater itself leaves little doubt that this really is
the crater of a volcano. The descent from the summit was a lot
easier than the climb up since we were sliding down the sand instead
of fighting it on the way up. Once back on the PCT, we retraced our
steps to that side trail where we explored a neat lava tube in the
Little Belknap Crater before returning to the trailhead.

At the trailhead, we talked with an
older gentleman who we had noticed when we began our hike. He was a
“trail angel” who had set up camp at this pass to provide water
and a variety of snacks free to thru hikers. His real last name was
Hanson but his trail name was “Coppertone.” We looked him up on
some of the PCT related facebook pages and and found that he was
apparently pretty well known among the thru-hiker community. He
said that he would follow the trail from California all the way to
Washington as the season progressed, setting up camp at various
places where the trail crossed at convenient highway access points.
He would provide whatever help to the thru hikers that he was able to
give as they passed through. We have heard of similar “trail
angels” who help thru hikers on the Appalachian Trail. I asked how
he funded his efforts, and he indicated that it was from his own
money as well as donations. We really appreciated the service he was
providing so we gave him a donation. He said sometimes the hikers
would make a donation and though he used to put out a donation box,
he no longer did that. He said he really didn't need to since “the
Lord always seemed to provide” whatever he needed without him
having to ask. “Just like you did,” he said. Our hike
completed, we drove back to our motel in Redmond, tired but happy
with another good hike under our belts.

The next morning, after another good
breakfast among the golfers, we checked out and drove back through
the town of Sisters to a second PCT trail head at another pass just
to the north of our hike the previous day. This one started at the
PCT access point at Santium Pass, about 20 miles west of Sisters off
of highways 20 and 126. We hiked north on the PCT for a total of
about 10 miles (RT) and an elevation gain of 1,500 feet or so. The
trail here was a relatively easy but steady climb through a forest of
dead treas killed in a huge fire, called the B&B Complex fire,
back in August of 2003 with other low growth brush and grasses. The
scenery was not particularly attractive due to the desolate
appearance of the dead trees though views in the distance were
occasionally pretty nice. We finally exited the dead tree forest at
around the 3 mile mark when we entered a nice forest of live pine and
spruce trees. The trail then alternated between an easy walk in the
woods and occasional open areas with really nice views, some of Three Fingered Jack Mountain. At about the
5 mile mark, we found an overlook just off the trail where we had
lunch before retracing our steps to the trailhead.

After completing the hike from Santiam Pass, we returned to Sisters
where we checked into our next motel, the Sisters Inn and Suites.
Dinner at another brew pub there, Three Creeks Brewing. I ordered
a Summit Run Northwest Pale Ale that was very good and Anne had
a glass of hard cider, her new go-to drink.

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Photos

The Dee Wright Observatory
The observatory is that little round building on top of the rocks.

Dee Wright Observatory.
A closer view. There are several small viewports that you can look through from inside. They point you to specific mountains or other formations that are identified by a plaque mounted beneath each viewport.

Belknap Crater
Taken from the trail through the lava field. The sides of the crater are not nearly as rough as the actual lava field. Rather, the slope is very sandy making it very difficult to climb.

Belknap Crater
Another of the crater showing the easier approach to the summit, from right to left in the picture.

Two of the sisters.
This part of the PCT is north of the Three Sisters Wilderness area. In the distance are two of the sisters (mountains), North Sister and Middle Sister.

Another of the two sisters
Think that small summit to the right is called "The Husband". There is another called "Little Brother". Not sure is there is a "Mother" or not.

Mt Washington
Mt. Washington could be seen from this trail, which was south of the mountain, as well as from the trail we did the next day from Santiam Pass, which was north of the mountain. Mt. Washington was easy to identify by that little nubbin on top (not so little close up).

Tree
Saw several small trees like this growing in among the lava rocks. Must find some nourishment in there somewhere.

Lava Field trail
There were about three miles of this kind of trail. Not the easiest surface to hike across.

Bushwhacking up the north slope.
We left the PCT after it entered a spruce forest and made our own trail up the slightly less steep side of the lower north ridge before turning south and the steeper climb in the sand.

Going up
This was the trail up the steeper section in the sand.

The lava field from the trail to the summit.
Not sure what that mountain in the distance is but the small peak in the middle of the picture is Little Belknap Crater.

Summit in Sight
Think this is about as close to Anne as I got while hiking on this trail. She's usually a lot further in front of me, especially on climbs.

On the summit
Looking north with Mt. Washington in the distance. The actual crater is to the right.

The crater
You really can't see the crater until you get on the summit.

Going down.
The descent was much easier than the ascent. That's Mt. Washington again to the north. From this angle, the nubbin isn't as apparent. The lava field and the trail back is to the right of the picture.

The slope to the summit
This is the slope of the crater from the steeper side.

Little Belknap Crater
The reddish rocks near the top are on the rim of this small crater. To the left of this area is an opening to a fairly large lava tube.

Trail from Santium Pass
These trees were all along the trail for about the first three miles of the way before we finally entered a forest of live spruce and other evergreens.

Black Butte
That flat mountain in the distance is Black Butte. Nearby is a dude ranch resort called Black Butte Ranch. Not being dudes, we didn't stay there.

Another of the trail throug the trees
This section of the PCT was sort of depressing. The dead trees are the result of a huge fire started by lightning back in 2003.

Three Fingered Jack
Finally reached this forest of live trees after about three miles through the fire damaged area. The mountain seen through the trees is Three Fingered Jack. We didn't get very close to it but it is another rock climbing area.

View from our lunch spot.
Looking east from the ridge just off the trail.

The PCT
A nice section of the PCT, looking south you can still see two of the sisters in the distance.