Aug 2006 found Steve and Chris once more at this favorite vacation spot in the "high desert" of central Oregon, near Bend. (See photos from our Aug 2005 trip here.) Ken was also present for the first couple of days, and Alice & Larry for the first week.

This map shows the locations (very approximate!) of places of interest, referred to in the following descriptions (hiking areas in green, mountains in red, Sunriver and Cascade Lakes Highway in blue).

In our leisure time we often biked along Sunriver's many paths (see last year's photos) and took our little yellow raft on the Deschutes River.

More interestingly, we went on a series of grueling (?) hikes, mostly along the Cascade Lakes Highway, in the Three Sisters Wilderness area, so named for the three volcanic mountains: South Sister, Middle Sister, and North Sister.

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Moraine Lake/ South Sister hike

For the first of our many expeditions, Chris and I walked past beautiful Moraine Lake

and about 2/3 of the way up South Sister. We turned back when the footing became too problematic (steep slope; loose dirt and scree) for our tennis shoes.

Meanwhile, Ken and Larry, wearing stout hiking boots, forged ahead and eventually reached the summit, where the view is spectacular but the temperature is around freezing.

Horse Lake hike

This fairly easy trail winds ~3.5 miles through some nice woods. The lake is mostly hidden by trees. It's difficult to walk around it because of marshy conditions and an indistinct path. We were the only people there.

The return (south) part of the loop goes by Sunset Lake and a series of smaller lakes. The last mile is through a desolate-looking area destroyed by a recent forest fire. Some new growth can be seen here and there.

After this hike, we took our raft out on Elk Lake, a large and popular resort area on the other side of the Cascade Lakes Hwy from the Horse Lake trailhead.

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