Sparks Lake Hike

Late this fall I took a last hike up into the Cascade Mountains. I went with my friend Grace Miller, who told me about an easy hike I had never been on. It skirts Sparks Lake (one of many mountain lakes in the Cascades) and features the lava common to our volcanic area. For most of the hike I didn't even see the lake, just piles and piles of broken lava...

in hills and valleys, with large deep crevices.

This photo shows some of the height of the hills and also our pine trees that grow all around the lava. The trail does a great job of skirting the lava, so there isn't much climbing in it.

As we came around one corner the beginning of the lake came into view. At this time of year, with the snow gone, the water level was extremely low, and there was algae in the water giving it a green appearance. You can see how the water has filled in between the lava flows.

There were two Kayakers out that morning on the peaceful lake. There are no motorized boats allowed on this lake. We saw a doe and her twin fawns, and I tried to get their picture...but no such luck.

This is a fairly famous view of South Sister from Sparks Lake, and is the reward towards the end of the hike. There was a lot of smoke in the air that Thursday, and South Sister is shrouded with it. I think it was from a forest fire around Oak Ridge.

This is another of our Central Oregon peaks, this one called Broken Top. This was at the end of our hike, as we were coming back into the parking area. It was so great to get out, stretch our legs, breathe some fresh air, and visit as we hiked on this beautiful fall morning. This area is only about 25 minutes from our house, and we are so fortunate.

We were anxious to get this in before the snow, and come to find out it did snow that very week-end and this would have been closed off to us. Thanks Grace for a great fall hike!