Green Lakes, Broken Top, and Soda Creek Loop

For what I was hoping would not be my last hike of the season into the Three Sisters Wilderness–but which proved to be the last–I decided to go up to Green Lakes on the west side of Broken Top and follow Broken Top south past Ball Butte and Cayuse Crater. Ultimately, walking straight for Tumalo Mountain, I would pick up the Soda Creek Trail and circle back west to my truck at the Green Lakes Trailhead.

This loop is nominally 12.5 miles; I walked closer to 14 with all my exploring and heading off trail to take photographs. AllTrails claims this is a hard trail; I found it easy to moderate in the clockwise direction. I believe that hiking it counterclockwise by heading up Soda Creek first would increase the difficulty; that climb seems steeper than the climb alongside Fall Creek.

I have done out and back hikes to Green Lakes before, about 9 miles, but this is the first time that I have come back via the Broken Top and Soda Creek trails. I highly recommend it; the scenery from Green Lakes along the Broken Top and Soda Creek trails to the junction with the Todd Lake Trail is stunning.

At Green Lakes

This fall after October 15, when Three Sisters Wilderness entrance permits are no longer required, I wanted to hike Todd Lake to No Name Lake as well, but decided to put that off a few days to go first to Green Lakes and assess the snow cover there before climbing the extra 1900 feet of elevation to No Name Lake. This decision would prove a deal killer for getting back to No Name Lake in 2024. Within a day of my going up to Green Lakes, the snow set in for good.

View from Green Lakes Trailhead

Chilly Morning: Frost on a Subalpine Fir, Abies lasiocarpa

As I left the house for the 25-minute drive to the trailhead, the trailhead temperature was a reported 27 degrees. The thermometer in my truck would bounce all around from 26 to 29 degrees as I drove out Century Drive with no other traffic, a benefit of hiking on a weekday and after the primary hiking season.

When I arrived at the Green Lakes Trailhead just opposite Sparks Lake, the temperature at 09:20 was 29 degrees. In the summer, I would have already been on the trail for an hour by this time of day, but in the shoulder season, that extra hour for it to warm up is a good thing. Coming down the backside of Mt. Bachelor, there was widespread frost on the road and the trees, with little bits of snow here and there.

As I headed north on the trail beside Fall Creek, the bridge across the creek at the start of the hike was terribly slippery from ice (as was the other bridge further upstream). My new-in-March trail runners have nearly 1000 miles on them this season and they are no longer as grippy as they once were. It is pretty much time to retire these shoes. I certainly will start the 2025 season in a new pair.

Fall Color: Red Osier Dogwood, Cornus sericea

A Sign of Things to Come

Bridges and Trail Slippery in Places

The day started cloudy and gray despite the forecast for a sunny day. However by quarter after 10, the sun started to break through after roughly an hour on the chilly trail. I started off with a top base layer, a top mid layer, and an ultralightweight down vest. By 10:45, the vest was off. Fortunately, it was never cold enough to require gloves, which always makes photography a chore.

As an aside, my 6.2-ounce Mont-bell down vest and my 4.2-ounce Patagonia Houdini wind jacket are two pieces of gear that I love and do not leave home without in the shoulder seasons.

Wonderful Textures: Moss, Ice, Water, and Twisted Shrub
This was a Slippery Creek Ford

Obsidian Gleaming on Edge of Lava Field on West Side of Fall Creek

In spots, the trail was icy, making for a little slippery going. But by and large, the trail was clear and fortunately, most of the ice was in the shade so it was cold enough to get some traction. Ice is the worst when it is sunny and it gets a film of water on top. I did not bring my microspikes this early in the season nor did need them. Along this trail, there are several creek fords which required caution because of slippery moss and ice. Fortunately the widest ford was only about eight or nine steps across and I was able to rock hop without incident.

South Sister Nearing Green Lakes

First View of Broken Top, Just Before Green Lakes

By 11:15, after taking several minutes out to take photographs, I reached Green Lakes where in the shadier spots, the snow was about two inches deep. Further around the lakes in the direction of Broken Top, the snow would be up to four inches in places, nothing to worry about even wearing trail runners. But thank goodness for sunglasses or I would have gone snow blind.

I spent a few minutes kicking around Green Lakes, walking down to the point on the biggest lake and then walking the lakeshore back south before cutting across to the smaller lake. I skirted the smaller lake and then intercepted the Broken Top trail which I took south and east, back in the direction of Mt. Bachelor.

South Sister at Green Lakes

Broken Top Across the Big Lake

South Sister Summit from the Point

Same Shot, Zoomed Out

Creek Between the Two Lakes

Love the Reflections

Broken Top Reflected in the Smaller Lake

From the smaller, more southern, of the two lakes, I pushed south and east curling towards Broken Top on the Broken Top Trail. A lot of the trail is open but some does go through the woods. I had a wonderful walk through the trees which are primarily Mountain Hemlocks at this altitude, although there are a few White Bark Pines and lower down the hill, some large Lodgepole Pines. Randomly, I would see a Subalpine Fir, but they are not common on this hike.

Great Shot of South Sister with the Smaller Lake in Foreground

Moving South Past Broken Top

Creek Coming off of Broken Top

Now South of Broken Top, Heading for Ball Butte

Partridge Foot in the Snow, Luetkea pectinata

As I moved south and east, on my left appeared the big red cinder cone that is Ball Butte. Also on my left was a smaller cone that I believe is called Cayuse Crater, while dead ahead of me, when the trees permitted, I could get glimpses of Mt. Bachelor and Tumalo Mountain. On the right, sometimes I had great views of Sparks Lake, which looked extremely dry from my high vantage point.

First View of North Side of Mt. Bachelor

Love the Smoky Ridgelines Behind Sparks Lake

I Believe this is Cayuse Crater; Tumalo Mountain Right

Cayuse Crater?

Golden-Mantled Ground Squirrel, Only Mammal I Saw
Lots of Deer, Rabbit, Squirrel, and Other Tracks in the Snow

Grand View of Broken Top from the South

Tolkein's Ent Inspiration?

That's a Large and Quite Brave Ponderosa up on Ball Butte

Pinemat Manzanita,  Arctostaphylos nevadensis, in Foreground
Tumalo and Bachelor Behind

South of the south end of the Broken Top complex, I turned from southeast to due south on the Soda Creek Trail in scenic and mostly open terrain. I could barely see the creek off to my left in a rocky tumble. The trail roughly follows the creek, but at times it strays a bit away. The open terrain gave a final look at South Sister and Broken Top and my only view of Broken Hand, the butte I traversed recently on my hike from Tam McArthur to No Name Lake.

South Sister, Start of Broken Top

The Rest of Broken Top, Broken Hand to Far Right

Ice Rim Around Pond, Surface is Entirely Frozen

A New to Me Willow, Maybe Gray Willow, Salix bebbiana
However, No Records of This Willow in Deschutes Country

Canada Jay on a Plant Stalk
Most Commonly Sighted Bird of my Hike

Ultimately, the Soda Creek Trail intersects the Todd Lake Trail and branches south and west at this intersection. Here the trail starts to go back into the trees along the much larger (at this point) Soda Creek. After a long descent, the trails flattens out in a broad valley and heads back to the trailhead where I parked my truck.

Soda Creek in the Flats Headed Toward Sparks Lake

I really enjoyed this hike on a stunningly beautiful and uncrowded day. I highly recommend taking the Soda Creek loop back from Green Lakes if you have time for the extra mileage. Heading up to the Green Lakes on the Green Lakes trail is a classic creek walk in the forest, which reminds me so much of hiking back east in the green tunnel.

Coming back the Broken Top and Soda Creek trails is to me what hiking out west is all about with the trail moving in and out of the trees from meadow to meadow with long and expansive vistas. There is something truly humbling about how small you feel when surrounded by huge mountains that dwarf you, a feeling you do not get on a closed-in forest hike.