Today the weather improved and we wanted to do a nice long hike. We drove south to Bend and took the Cascades Lakes HWY 26 miles past Mt Bachelor to the trailhead for the Green Lakes Trail, an 8.4 mile round trip hike. We started up the trail around 11:30 am, it was a gradual climb, a 1,100 feet elevation gain, through beautiful large firs, cedars and hemlocks alongside a rushing waterfall-laden creek. After two miles on the path up Fall Creek we crossed over two single-log bridges with no railing to hold onto for support. No fear, we both made it across safely. Then we came to a strangely idyllic canyon walled by an enormous lava flow, and the higher up the trail we went we found snow, not too deep that we couldn’t get through it or around it. We finally reached the snow covered alpine basin of the Green Lakes, still mostly frozen, with spectacular views of the South Sister and Broken Top Mountains at opposite ends of the lake. Continue reading →