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About The nugget. (Sisters, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 11, 2019)
Wednesday, September 11, 2019 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon 21 Rough road to No Name Lake By Craig Eisenbeis Correspondent I always thought No Name Lake was not very well known. In fact, it didn9t even come to my attention until about 12 years ago, when I spotted it from the slopes of Broken Hand. I noticed a picturesque little lake at the snout of a small glacier on the east side of Broken Top. I decided that it merited a visit and resolved to investigate. As it turned out, the trail to the lake is a pretty easy hike; but getting to the trailhead is another issue altogether. The trail can be accessed from either the north or south on the 370 road, which runs from the vicinity of Three Creek Lake all the way to Century Drive. Although the lake itself is not in the Sisters Ranger District, we started from the Three Creek end, which is. Sisters District Ranger, Ian Reid, said <That is a maintenance-level 2 road for high-clearance vehicles only.= At about the six-mile point, a roadside sign belat- edly announced, <Not main- tained for passenger cars.= No kidding. After another 5.5 miles of punishing 4x4-only road and turning onto the 380 road, we arrived at the Broken Top Trailhead and discov- ered a nice, and surprisingly crowded, parking lot. We learned that all the other cars had come in from Century Drive, and I began to wonder if the 50-mile route through Bend might have been a bet- ter choice. I was told, how- ever, that the road in from the south was <really awful,= too. The Broken Top Trailhead is an alternate route to enter the Green Lakes Basin from the east. The trail takes off over the open alpine coun- try, with spectacular views of Broken Top and the surround- ing countryside. The trail is well worn and easy to follow. It9s only a couple of miles; and, as the trail approaches the lake, there is more than one track. Generally, it is better to stick to the higher ground to avoid damaging fragile habitat that is only exposed to the sun for a few short weeks in the summer. Therein lies another problem with the current hiker assault on the area. According to Jean Nelson- Dean, public affairs officer for the Deschutes National Forest, a sensitive plant spe- cies grows in the area. <Newberry knotweed is a perennial plant that only grows at higher elevations, and we9re seeing some dam- age to the plants,= she said. Despite the suspicious sound of its name, Nelson- Dean says it9s a <good= plant and an important feature of this high mountain habi- tat. It is a low-growing herb with oval, pointy leaves that are yellowish, pale green. Its small flowers can be yellow, green or purple tinted. Stems have a reddish appearance. The lake itself is not vis- ible from any point along the trail; so, it is necessary to fol- low the gash in the moraine up a rocky path to reach the lake. The eye-popping view from the lake9s outlet up to Broken Top is totally unex- pected and is reminiscent of the view from Moraine Lake in Canada9s Banff National Park. Yes, there are fewer peaks here and the scale is smaller, but you9re also a lot closer. This is a top-notch Oregon viewpoint, right here in our own backyard. The fragment of Bend Glacier terminates right in the glacial silt-colored lake, and ice breaks off into the water, creating a continually chang- ing variety of floes. Typically, fresh glacier ice can be seen floating on the lake through- out the summer, which it will continue to do until the lake freezes up again in a few weeks. A trail around the east side of the lake ascends a ridge to the north. Once atop the 8,300 foot- high ridge above the lake, views unfold endlessly. With Park Meadow and the east- ern headwaters of Whychus Creek far below in the near foreground, Cascade views stretch out for hundreds of miles. We took a slightly dif- ferent route back by skirt- ing the outer edge of the moraine rather than retracing our route through the lake9s outlet. Round trip, including the ridgetop, this hike is only about six miles. The Forest Service, how- ever, has plans to make BOOK YOUR FREE INTRO SESSION TODAY! Memberships CrossFit starting at Weightlifting $39/month! Cardio • Bodybuilding g Strongman Powerlifting Sauna • Yoga Call 541-699-7800 or email coach@level5fi t.com www.level5fi t.com | Located in Ray’s Shopping Center 24 HR. ACCESS! access to the area a little more difficult by closing the 380 road and moving the trailhead back to the 370 road. This would add about three miles to this round-trip hike. Nelson- Dean said, however, that PHOTO BY CRAIG EISENBEIS a timetable for this change has not been established. This road warning sign on the way to No Name Lake should be taken seriously.