Camping Alone on the Summit of South Sister in Spring Snow - Silent Hiking

I tried to camp on the summit of South Sister in August 2019—within 10 minutes of reaching the summit, a thunderstorm rolled in and being the lone biological conductor on the highest point for miles (a pretty isolated, completely bare 10,361’ volcano) during an electrical storm struck me (so to speak) as a bad idea, so I powered back to the trailhead instead. This past winter was a really bad one for snow, which had the one good effect that the highway to access the best trailhead for this route was open much earlier than usual, so I decided to try this trip again pre-season (meaning no permitting and fewer people). I couldn’t have asked for better weather—clear skies, comfortable temperature and variable wind but nothing crazy during the day. This route is pretty short (about 6 miles each way) but it’s pretty brutal because it gains 4,800’ of elevation in that distance—and one of the miles in the middle is pretty flat. So except for that brief reprieve, it’s either an unrelenting climb or an unrelenting descent that each thrashes your legs in a different way. The snow was also getting pretty soft, which makes every step more work and a lot less secure. I didn’t get any tripod footage during the ascent/descent of the last 500 hundred feet or so because it’s steep and a bit hairy and not only was I unwilling to risk my camera tumbling down 1,000’ or more to never be seen again trying to set up a tripod from and in a precarious position, there’s only so many things I’m willing to do twice just for a shot… and sections like that with poor snow & ice conditions are not among them. I did my best instead to try to get shots along the way that at least give a sense of the slope and conditions, although it’s never well-represented on camera in my experience. I knew from being on the summit in summer that there are some rock wind breaks on the eastern rim, which is the only place with much relatively flat ground. At this time, only the top 1-2 course of rocks on the tallest couple breaks were visible above the snow, so I set up camp in the slight break of the most exposed one, which at the very least gave me some break from the wind to keep my stove lit. The wind picked up after dark as expected and was pretty rowdy most of the night, but tent stayed solidly anchored—it was just loud. Not terribly cold—I read 25*F when I got up a bit before sunrise. But I was very happy I brought a 0* sleeping bag because I was definitely not too hot. The morning was calm again and I took my time shooting video, taking photos, drinking a couple cups of coffee and eating while breaking camp and was heading back down by 6:30. Snow on the upper section was much better because of the refreeze overnight, and it stayed more solid for the rest of the way out than the day before, which I was very grateful for. So it took me just under 7 years to finally complete my intention to camp on the summit (although fortunately only 2 attempts). Definitely very much worth the effort. (And yes… I’m aware those microspikes are on backward. They hang up on part of those boot soles and I found they go on and off a bit easier in reverse and it seems to make no difference in function because the front and back spikes are in almost identical positions. Just looks goofy.) CHAPTERS Ascent through the Forest - 0:09 Into the Snow - 1:25 Starting to Climb - 2:10 Final Climb - 4:05 Summit - 5:27 Setting up Camp - 6:36 Sunset & Stars - 8:28 Morning - 8:50 Breaking Camp - 9:36 Starting to Descend - 10:34 Back to the Forest - 13:13 GEAR Pack – Osprey Aether 70 - https://amzn.to/4bgUwfq Tent – Zpacks Plex Solo - https://zpacks.com/products/plex-solo... Sleeping Bag – Mountain Hardware Bishop Pass - https://www.rei.com/product/235365/mo... Sleeping Pad – https://amzn.to/4poFPdI Stove – MSR Pocket Rocket - https://amzn.to/3KJ88pd Shoes – Salomon 4D (discontinued) Spikes - Kahtoola Ghost - https://amzn.to/4b50lMA Snowshoes - MSR Lightning Ascent - https://amzn.to/4qCgLkA Trekking Poles – Trailbuddy - https://amzn.to/4sgnTov #backpacking #outdoors #silenthiking #hiking #cascades #oregon #wilderness #backcountry #threesisters