The itinerary:

Friday: Start at Pole Creek Trailhead 5000' and make base camp at 7000'
Saturday:  Middle Sister, skiing Hayden Glacier and whatever else seemed the rigth thing to do, including climbing to the summit
Sunday:  ski again, and back out

The Trip:
We drove over to Sisters on Thursday night and stayed at the Ponderosa, Best Western (nice place with a herd, a flock, a gaggle?) of Llamas nearby.  We were pretty much packed and ready to go Friday after Dan got some work done in the morning.  A couple of soy cappucinos and we were on our way. The Sisters were in view in no time. 

We discovered that one of Dan's skin clips had disappeared and we didn't have any backups (note to self to put extra in safety/gear kit) we decided that our ample supply of duct tape would have to do the trick (it did).  

We soon arrived at the Pole Creek Trail Head after a short, 1/2 hour or so drive.  There were some cars at the TH and a nice couple pulled up right behind us - heading in to Camp Creek with their three dogs.  The weather was nice - perfect really - sunny and about 54 degrees.  It was 'bone dry' at the trailhead - even dusty, so we thought it could be quite a ways until we had enough consistent snow to be able to put our skis/skins on.  Hoisting my pack up proved difficult, but I managed with the help of a conveniently placed boulder.  A few photos and at the trailhead and a short distance later, we were at the Three Sisters Wilderness sign.  Oh what a great feeling to be back on the trail, in the wilderness no less.  We plodded on.  I could have sworn that my pack was gaining weight with every step. 



Finally a patch of snow...looking promising.  Then dirty white patches of snow were beginning to dapple the forest.  Keeping and eager eye out for continual snow fields, we kept moving.  Finally, the white was beginning to flow together and then those magical words every wife wants to hear her husband say:  "I think it's time to put our skis on!".  I happily plopped my backpack down and got geared up. We had a snack (we've learned that consistent fueling and hydrating is the trick to keeping the energy up - even when you don't feel like it).
 


The backpack, now sans ski boots, skis, skins felt oodles lighter compared to leaden state a few minutes prior. We tackled our newly whitened terrain with vigor, hoping that the snow path was here to stay.

It was.  While there were small patches, say 10 feet or so of bare ground we were able to skin the rest of the way.  We made great time to Soap Creek which is 1.9 miles in, of our 4.8 mile journey.  We crossed the creek on a nicely formed snow bridge (this answered that question that I had forgotten to ask Meji during trip planning). 

The weather proved to be delightful, especially after the dreary gray-mist-rain-fog-laden pall that had followed over me like my own personal thurdercloud for the entire spring.  Sunshine and shirt sleeves and warmth, oh my! We natigated (well Ok, Dan did) by existing tracks until shortly after Soap Creek when Dan, who had been on this terrain many times in his younger days, said it would be better to stay right to avoid going downhill just to go back uphill.  That worked for me!. At that point, even my 'oodles lightened' backpack was beginning to feel like its former deadweight fully-laden self. 

The forest was beautifully gladed, like it was a planned park-like landscape - the perfectly spaced kind that Meji and I like to ski.  The meant no views yet and we were getting anxious to see the sisters again.  Continuing cross county on our own track, we finally crested a small hill and got our first glimpse of North Sister.  


 
Re-engergized, we seemed to pick up pace a bit - without saying anything.  We were soon upon a great view of roken Top and South Sister.  Finally, it openend up to an amazing playground surrounded by the Sisters and Broken Top. 



Anxious to get our packs off, we quickly found spot for the tent - the main requirement was an unobstructed view of the mountains - which wasn't hard to do.  In no time, we had camp. With the sun beating down on the tent, the warmth was perfect for a quick nap. 

When we woke from our short nap, the evening air arrived and had cooled things down.  We went for a short hike/ski above our tent.  Despite the icy conditions, it made for a nice pre-dinner jaunt. 

The sunset on the mountains, provided a different view, perfect for dinnertime viewing. 


It quickly cooled down after sunset.  So, I donned layers and was thankful that I had remembered to pack my down booties.  Bundled with too may layers to count and feeling the day's journey in my fatigued muscles, I found sleep quickly (but still had a fleeting thought of my heater blanket back at home.)