Black Butte-Big Butte Challenge #4

Last Saturday we decided to do a day trip and get another Big Butte Challenge hike done. 

The plan was to leave really early so that we could get started before it got hot and then have lunch in Sisters.  

I just got new Brooks Cascadia hiking shoes so this would be my first hike in them.  They were so pretty and clean!  

We left around 4:45 am and started heading towards Central Oregon.  

View of Mt. Jefferson from Hwy 22

It was a beautiful morning and we enjoyed the drive...

Until we got to the road going up to the trailhead.  Five miles of rutted, pothole filled, big gravel driving.  It was so bad that we were only going about 10 miles an hour.  There was no good part of the road to get out of the bumps.  It felt like the longest part of the whole drive was that five miles to the trailhead.  

We finally got to the trailhead and got organized with our gear, camelbacks, trekking poles, nutrition, and headed to the trail.  

This trail officially 1.9 miles long to the top.  I have done this hike a couple of times before and it always comes up as just over two miles.  

It has been awhile since we have done this hike so I forgot how hard it is!

While it may only be two miles to the top you are going up the entire time. But the views are great whenever you need to stop and take a break.  

Which I had to do often.

Legs felt really good but the breathing sucked.  I did have my inhaler so that helped.  But I got some amazing pictures while I caught my breath!

The Three Sisters

There were WAY more wildflowers than I was expecting since it was so late in the year and already full summer.  They were beautiful!

Fire Lookout

It started to get warm when we were heading up the last climb to the top but not terrible and there was a nice breeze which helped.  The last climb moves us to the east side of Black Butte and we could see Mt. Jefferson, Mt. Hood and Mt. Adams in the distance.  My phone camera could not do it justice!

And then we were at the top.  What a view!

Original Fire Lookout

Top of the Butte Selfie #4

We rested on the steps of the old Fire Lookout.  While we were sitting there we had a visitor who was just sure we had snacks we would want to share. 

After a short break we started down the trail.  More people were coming up which made me glad we had started early!  Going down was almost as difficult as going up.  Breathing is easier but you are working different muscles in your legs.  And your toes get crammed to the front of your shoes a lot of the time. 

When we got to the truck, Joe gave me his trekking poles and started running down the road.  I was going to clean up and then make my way down the road and pick him up.  It took awhile to clean up because my legs were covered with Central Oregon dust and dirt. lol 

That's not a tan line!

This is why we keep packages of wet wipes in the truck!

After I got cleaned up and got some food and water I headed down the road to find Joe.  Slow going down, just like up.  I caught up to Joe around mile three but he wanted to go a bit longer so I went farther down the road and found a good spot to pull over and hang out.  He ended up with an additional four miles after we did our hike.  

Our original plan was to go into Sisters and have lunch before heading home.  My mom had warned me that the big quilters weekend was going on in Sisters that weekend.  We were prepared for there being larger than normal crowds on a Saturday.  It was absolute mayham!  People everywhere and most of them not paying attention to cars as they crossed the street.  We were going down the side streets and thought it would be better off the main drag but it was still people everywhere.  We stopped at the park near the firestation to use the bathrooms and get a little more cleaned up and decided to change the plan for lunch.  One lady I chatted with said most of the restaurants had a minimum hour wait just to be seated.  

Plan B was to drive to Suttle Lake and eat at the Boathouse Cafe there by the lodge.  It was also crowded with people there to enjoy the lake but we were able to find parking and got some lunch.  

Black Butte

On the drive out of Sisters heading to Suttle Lake we got a great view of Black Butte.  We hike to the top of that!!!

We had 1,683 feet of elevation so this had the most elevation of all the Buttes we have done so far.  

Four done, five to go!

Big Butte Challenge 2025

Big Butte #1-Barnes Butte

Part of getting ready for our South Sisters Hike, Joe and I decided to sign up for the Big Butte Challenge that is put on by Cascade Lakes Relay.

We have nine Buttes to hike between Memorial Day weekend and October 1st.  

We take a selfie at the top, submit the photo on the website and then go enjoy a free beer at the brewery associated with the Butte we just climbed.  

Easy Peasy!

For our first butte we got a last minute site at the Redmond Expo RV Park for Memorial Day weekend.  Nice place overall.  Right by the Redmond Airport so that got a little loud a few times but not all day and night so it was fine.  Joe had to work Monday so the plan was to leave after I got off work Friday, hike one Butte on Saturday and then head home on Sunday. 

We decided our first Butte would be Barnes Butte outside of Prineville.  

We got a later start that we had intended.  Joe had worked an extra shift and was running on fumes.  So we took a lazy morning.  

The weather was beautiful!  The sky is so blue in Central Oregon!

This hike was one of the shorter ones, 1.36 miles to the top.  

Easy Peasy. 

We did some dumb things. 

We know better!  

Ugh.

We didn't take any water.  What the hell were we thinking?  

Because I didn't take my camelback with water, I also did not have my inhaler.  Hiking at the higher evelation, especially when I'm heavier is difficult.  

Also, I didn't have any snacks to keep my blood sugar up.  

The first mile wasn't bad but it was definitely warm.  When we started up the steeper part we knew we had made a mistake not bringing the water.  Finn (our sweet puppy) was who we were the most worried about.  Joe would stop in the shade to wait for me and Finn would sit and look at him, waiting patiently for his drink.  We felt awful. 

The trail kept getting steeper.  My legs felt good overall but breathing was hard so I was slow. 

Then we got to the steeper part and I just bonked.  I didn't have enough calories in my system and I felt like crap.  But I was not going to give up this close to the top.  

Then we got to the almost top.  

The description of the hike says there is a short "scramble" to the top.  

Actually there was a short mountain climbing adventure.  lol 

We had to tie Finn to a tree because our old man puppy wasn't going to make this part of the climb.  

Joe went first and I followed.  There was lots of sitting on my butt and scooting around to find the hand and footholds that I felt comfortable with.   

Joe was, as always, encouraging and supportive.  And patient!  It's always a slow process for me to work through my fear of heights (and falling) and get these things done.  

Joe gets to the top and I hear him yell, "There's a bench!"  

Great!  I'll have somewhere to collapse when I finally make it up to the top.  

I made it!

What a beautiful view!

The Sisters

Mt. Jefferson

We got our first selfie for the Big Butte Challenge.

It took a bit to crawl down the rocks mostly because I was doing a lot of scooting on my butt.  But once we got back onto the trail Joe took off to get a run in and Finn and I headed back to the truck.  

We were very happy to finish and get some shade and some water.  Joe finished his run not long after we got to the truck so that was good timing.  

We pulled a couple of big time rookie moves by not carrying water and starting out so late.  Glad it was one of the shorter hikes on the list or it could have been a lot worse!

Big Butte #2-Smith Rock

We snagged a campsite back at the Redmond Expo RV park for the beginning of July.  Finding camping spots for the trailer last minute in the summer isn't easy but this place does the trick!  

We decided to go hike Smith Rock for our first hike of this trip.  We have done this hike before and it's longer and steeper so we decided to leave Finn at the trailer in the AC. 

We left really early and were hiking by 6:00 am.  It was a gorgeous morning!

Sunrise at the RV Park.  Perk of getting up early!

This time we carried our camelbacks with plenty of water and snacks.  My camelback was totally full of water and I worked very intentionally at being consistent drinking water and having snacks periodically, even at the start when it was cooler and the trail was flat.  

We walked along the river and ended up on the back side of Smith Rock.  The plan was to hike up Misery Ridge, get our pictures at the top and come down the front side on the Misery Ridge trail back down to the river.  

This hike is beautiful all along the way.  The river was lovely and peaceful.  We didn't see many people as we hiked along the river which was nice.  

It wasn't long before we were at the spot to start heading up.  

It was a lot of up! 

I was slow but steady.  Having the trekking poles helped a lot.  

There were a lot of rest breaks.  But more for my breathing than the legs.  I will take that as a win.  

Rest breaks = Photo opportunities

Monkey Face

The view at the top was amazing as always.  

The Sisters never disappoint!

Selfie at the top looking west

Selfie at the top looking east.

We got our selfies at the top for the Big Butte challenge.  Took a bit to have a snack and drink some water and then headed down Misery Ridge.  

This side of Smith Rock has more steps and more people coming up because they tend to go up this way and then come back down the same way or do the opposite of what we did by going down the other side. 

About half way down Joe took off to get his run done.  I continued on my own.  It was getting hotter and I started struggling as I was getting close to the bottom.  

Once I got to the river I took a break.  Because the thing about Smith Rock is that the parking lot is above the river.  So you have to walk down to get to the river and then hike Smith Rock and then hike up to get to the parking lot.  

I really struggled on the walk up to the parking lot.  I had to stop a lot and felt all wobbly.  Super frustrating when I had a pretty good day up until that point.  It had gotten a lot hotter pretty quickly so that didn't help. 

But I made it....eventually.  😉

My watch said the total time for the hike was 3 hours and 29 minutes.  Moving time was one hour and 33 minutes.  So I did a lot of stopping and resting, taking pictures or talking to people.  

1,135 feet of elevation on this hike!

That was a tough one and even though I have done it before, I am glad it is checked off the list.  

Big Butte #3-Tam a-lau

We decided that getting up early was the way to go and did the same thing for our pick for Big Butte #3.  

Tam a-lau is located by Lake Billy Chinook.  The trailhead is by the Cave Palisades campground.  We parked in the day use area and followed the trail from the parking lot to the campground where the climb begins.  

We came out to this trail once before during a Spring Break with our friends.  The trail was wet and slippery then so Wendie and I passed on climbing to the top and instead walked around the lake.  That was a good call!

Joe was going to run to the top and then do a loop up at the top and I was going to go to the top and come back down.  I was pretty sure I wouldn't finish before him but I was going to give it a go.  😉

I was feeling pretty good considering the hike the day before.  But after climbing for awhile the trail dropped me back down to the bottom of the hillside.  

Dang it, now I had to do all that up again plus the rest to the top.  lol 

It was a pretty hike and I was doing really well. 

Handy rock bench for a little break in the shade.

I knew that the trail to the top was just over a mile so that helped me stay focused on how little I had left to get to the top.  

The top did not disappoint!

Some lovely hikers took this picture for me! 😍

Mt. Jefferson

Summit Selfie with the mountains.

Summit Selfie with the lake.

Joe was doing his run around the top of the platau and did his own Summit Selfies.

Funny how we both did one with the mountain and one with the lake.  😉

I headed back down and was feeling really solid which made me so stoked after doing the long hike with a big struggle at the end.  

There was one long section of the trail that isn't steep but is a narrow single track with a long drop off next to the trail.  I was pretty slow both ways on that stretch because my fear of heights made that drop off a wee bit scary.  But I did it so that's a win.  😃  We had decided to leave Finn beching again.  For part of the hike I felt bad because he would have done great.  But on the narrow single track I was glad I didn't have Finn pulling me on the leash while I navigated my footing and fear of falling. 

This hike took me 2 hours and 34 minutes total.  Moving time was one hour and 48 minutes.  So less stopping and resting, picture taking and talking to people.  

Total elevation: 915 feet.  

I was about a quater mile from the trailhead at the campground when Joe caught up with me.  So I didn't make it to the truck before him but I got close.  😁

When we got done we decided to grab breakfast at a cafe at the lake.   Good food, a great view and a well deserved adult beverage.  

Who cares that it was only 9:30 am!  We earned it!!

We had planned to go back to the trailer, clean up and take a nap then go do the Pilot Butte hike in Bend.  Unfortunately they close the summit a few days before the 4th of July because it's where they set off.  Since we have to take a selfie at the summit that wasn't going to work really well.  

We were hoping to have four Big Buttes off the list before we headed home but it was not to be. 

Already looking forward to our next jaunt over the mountains to get more Big Buttes done.  

Three down, six to go! 

Oh yeah, and a hike up a mountain coming in there too!  South Sister, here we come.