Appeal tribune., October 10, 2018, Page 4A, Image 4

4A ܂ WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2018 ܂ APPEAL TRIBUNE
Life in the Valley
Black Crater Trail, torched
by Milli Fire, reopens its views
Views of Mount Washington from burned forest on Black Crater Trail on McKenzie Pass west of Three Sisters Wilderness. PHOTOS BY ZACH URNESS/STATESMAN JOURNAL
Zach Urness
Salem Statesman Journal
USA TODAY NETWORK
One of Oregon’s most beautiful
mountain hikes was on death’s doorstep
last fall.
Black Crater Trail, which takes hikers
to rarefied heights above McKenzie
Pass, was torched badly by the Milli Fire
in 2017.
The damage was so intense officials
considered closing the trail for good,
which would have been a major loss.
The route features spectacular panora-
mas of the Central Cascades.
But then something wonderful hap-
pened.
A new district ranger for the U.S. For-
est Service — in partnership with the
Sisters Trail Alliance and Sawyers with
Attitude — made reopening the trail a
priority. They logged out dead trees, re-
moved hazard trees, repaired tread and
cleaned out a massive landslide from
the parking area during the summer of
2018.
Remarkably, the trail reopened in late
August.
“I’ve seen a lot of trails go away after
wildfires, and we didn’t want that to
happen here,” said Ian Reid, Sisters dis-
trict ranger for Deschutes National For-
est. “It was a really cool moment be-
cause we had volunteers coming out of
the woodwork to help. We’re really
blessed in Central Oregon to have so
many people that want to give back.”
On a trip to McKenzie Pass this fall, I
hiked the reopened trail up the cinder
cone into the Three Sisters Wilderness.
The hike is a challenge at 8 miles round-
trip and 2,500 feet of climb to a summit
at 7,257 feet — almost as tall as Mount
Washington and Three Fingered Jack.
While the first 2.8 miles of the trail
were severely burned, there are already
signs of regrowth — wildflowers and
grasses — amid a sea of blackened
snags.
Even better, the burn opened up the
hike’s views, allowing views of Mount
Washington, Three Fingered Jack,
Mount Jefferson and Mount Hood even
in the first few miles.
Right around the 3-mile mark, as the
trail crosses a saddle, the route enters
forest apparently burned at low sever-
ity. There are plenty of green trees as
you near the top, and eventually, you
reach forest that wasn’t burned at all.
The Milli Fire, which reached 24,079
acres and threatened Sisters, was fueled
by high winds but burned erratically. It
seems to have wrapped itself around
this giant cone, leaving a few large is-
lands of green amid the black.
The top of Black Crater is the real
highlight.
Top of Black Crater Trail with views of High Desert west of Three Sisters Wilderness.
Black Crater Trail enters the Three Sisters Wilderness where it was burned by the
2017 Milli Fire.
The trail cuts out across a layer of
pumice stone on a tabletop with views
in every direction. On one side the string
of Cascade peaks — Wash, Jack, Jeff,
Hood — while on the other, the sky fills
with the bulk of North and Middle Sis-
ter. To the east, the long sweep of the
high desert rolls across the horizon.
The most interesting part, though,
might be the sea of lava — a big black
tongue out into the forest — spewed out
by Belknap, Little Belknap and Yapoah
craters just 2,700 to 3,000 years old.
This high viewpoint is a natural place
for a fire lookout, but it’s hard to believe
where the Forest Service ultimately
placed the cabin.
From the pumice on the top of Black
Crater, follow the trail to a block of stone
jetting out above steep cliffs and a gla-
cier-carved valley below. If you’re OK
with heights, climb up the stone to the
true summit, and you’ll find bolts drilled
into the rock from the lookout that ap-
parently stood on this narrow precipice.
It’s difficult to imagine living atop
this tiny, wind-swept peak, surrounded
by steep cliffs. But the view, of course, is
unmatched.
And just in case you forgot about the
Milli Fire — fear not. Just behind the
summit, you can spot a line of black
where the fire rose and stopped, starved
of fuel by the pumice desert.
Black Crater is a fascinating place,
home to evidence of a recent wildfire, a
less recent fire lookout tower, and some
of the best views in Oregon.
Zach Urness has been an outdoors
writer, photographer and videographer
in Oregon for 11 years. He is the author of
the book “Best Hikes with Kids: Oregon”
and “Hiking Southern Oregon.” He can
be reached at zurness@StatesmanJour-
nal.com or (503) 399-6801. Find him on
Twitter at @ZachsORoutdoors.