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Wednesday, September 16, 2020 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Little Three Creek Lake is a nice family hike
By Craig F. Eisenbeis
Columnist
Last week, we had
planned to hike on the west
side of McKenzie Pass,
but since all the roads were
closed due to the fires, we
had to come up with a differ-
ent plan. My hiking buddy,
who was already sheltering
at our place due to Camp
Sherman9s uncertain fire
evacuation status, suggested
we keep it simple with a
short hike to Little Three
Creek Lake. Off we went.
This is a great little hike
for a spur-of-the-moment
outing. Also, this trail might
be a good choice for your
visiting out-of-town rela-
tives whose idea of an out-
door experience has previ-
ously been limited to a back-
yard barbecue. It9s definitely
more challenging than a city
sidewalk but still suitable
for toddlers. My three-year-
old daughter didn9t have
any problem with this trail,
although that particular hike
took place 44 years ago.
The trail begins at a dead-
end loop at the far end of the
Driftwood Campground at
Three Creek Lake (the larger
one). The trail is definitely
easy, but there are a couple
of short, steep pitches, with
some rough, rocky stretches.
The trail itself is well-worn
but not particularly well-
marked or maintained.
In many spots, the trail is
braided by informal shortcuts
that (usually) re-converge.
Since the fires were
apparently discouraging or
preventing much recreational
travel, there was plenty of
parking at the trailhead. On
some other occasions we
have had to park as far away
as the lot at the beginning
of the campground access
road; so additional walking
could be required on a more
crowded day. As it happened
we did not encounter a sin-
gle soul on the trail or at the
lake; we had the whole place
to ourselves.
The hike to Little Three
Creek Lake is billed as being
about a mile one way, but it9s
hardly that if you don9t do
some additional exploration.
In other words, this is a very
short hike; but it still offers
a sense of genuinely being
in the mountains. Not every
hike needs to be an endur-
ance contest.
One of the features of this
hike that always strikes me
is that, at 6,700 feet, this is
genuinely an alpine experi-
ence. Even in summer, there
is always the feel that winter-
like mountain snows may
lurk just around the corner.
The trail from the camp-
ground turnaround loop
winds through a mixed coni-
fer forest that bears witness
to the stress of surviving at
such a high elevation. Alpine
fir, mountain hemlock, and
whitebark pine are the pre-
dominant tree species. Many
of the trees are twisted and
stunted. Some of the trees
look like bonsais; some hem-
locks grow flat like ground
cover; still others manage to
grow straight and tall. One
wonders what determines the
fate of an individual tree.
About the time you9re
starting to feel warmed up,
you9re almost there. You9ll
see a little lake ahead on
your left. Stop to enjoy its
beauty, but don9t stop there.
That9s not your destination.
This little water feature is
even littler than Little Three
Creek Lake, which is just a
little bit farther.
The expansive rock wall
rising above these lakes is
Tam McArthur Rim, which
rises to more than 7,700
feet. It is the same high rock
ridge, which, from Sisters,
can be seen leading up to the
east side of Broken Top. This
distinctive geographic fea-
ture is named for Lewis A.
<Tam= McArthur.
In 1914, Gov. Oswald
West appointed McArthur
to the Oregon Geographic
Names Board. Two years
later, McArthur became the
board9s secretary, a position
in which he served for the
next 33 years. During that
time, he literally wrote the
book on <Oregon Geographic
Names.= Ironically, the rim
that bears his name is prob-
ably one of the few promi-
nent geographic features in
Oregon that he never visited!
Little Three Creek Lake
offers spectacular views
and photo opportunities and
also presents a great little
crash course in the natural
world, including plenty of
wildflowers earlier in the
season. From August into
October, it9s common to see
thousands of tiny toads and
frogs testing their new land
legs. When these little crea-
tures emerge from the water,
they9re not much bigger than
a pinkie fingernail.
On previous visits, we
have often seen dark masses
that look like fresh cow
pies, but they turned out
to be swarming, seething
globs of tiny toads. When
approached, these swarm-
ing amphibians madly dash
away through the grass in
a toadlet stampede. On this
occasion, there were only
<mere= hundreds of (mostly)
frogs.
When our second son
visited the lake at age five,
he was fascinated with the
swarm of little amphibians.
Due to an earlier incident
that involved a cape, climb-
ing a tree, and an unexpected
inability to fly, his arm was
in a cast; and several of the
PHOTO BY CRAIG F. EISENBEIS
Tam McArthur Rim rises above Little Three Creek Lake.
tiny creatures slipped inside
the cast, causing yet another
unexpected problem.
This lake is very shallow
in spots, and it9s a great place
to take a swim in the shadow
of the mountains. It9s also a
perfect site for a woodsy pic-
nic lunch and family outing
in the great outdoors. Plus,
the <real= wilderness is liter-
ally only a few yards beyond
the lake. In 2012, the Pole
Creek Fire reached nearly
to the lake but stopped just
short of it. Vestiges of the
fire are quite apparent on the
drive to the trailhead, but are
hardly noticeable during the
hike or at the lake itself.
To visit Little Three
Creek Lake, take Elm Street
south from Sisters. After
crossing Whychus Creek, the
road becomes Three Creek
Lake Road (Forest Road
16). Follow it for a total of
about 16 miles, the first 14 of
which are paved. Those two
miles of gravel road are in
poor shape this year but still
passable in a regular pas-
senger car. Turn right onto
Forest Road 900 just before
reaching Three Creek Lake.
The trail begins at the end of
this short road. This has been
a fee use area, but I did not
see any signs to that effect.
I9ve seen several sites where
pass requirements have been
suspended this year.
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