Camp Lake and Chambers Lakes make a monster hike

Hiking to Camp Lake isn't exactly a casual outing. If the Chambers Lakes are added in, it's a monster day hike. The first objective, Camp Lake, sits 7.1 miles up a trail that takes off from Pole Creek Trailhead, about a dozen miles southwest of Sisters. That makes a 14.2-mile round trip if you stop there.

Hiking literature lists the trail to Camp Lake as difficult, but that's really only because it's so darn long. The trail itself is good, and the 1,800-foot elevation gain is spread out over the entire distance. However, if the hiker chooses to tour all the Chambers Lakes, "difficult" becomes something of an understatement.

The Camp Lake trail is roughly divided into three segments, averaging something around two miles each. The first, through bug-infested lodgepole pine, is the shortest and least interesting. By the time the trail reaches Soap Creek, however, the visual aesthetics have improved considerably. An easy log crossing at this clear, gentle-flowing creek brings a trail junction. Bear right to Camp Lake. The other trail heads south to the Green Lakes.

About half of the elevation gain occurs during the second segment between Soap Creek and the north fork of Whychus Creek. Midway along this stretch is a "scenic turnout." Watch for an opening in the trees to the left. I marked the spot with a little pile of rocks at the base of a tree. Sweeping valley vistas and a superb view of the South Sister are your reward for a detour of only a couple hundred feet.

The crossing at the roaring and heavily silted north fork of Whychus Creek has a precarious log crossing. Take care here. Once across, another trail fork presents itself. Here again, go right. The left fork ends at Demaris Lake, a worthy destination; but that's not our goal today.

The last leg into Camp Lake gains another 350 feet of elevation. As the trees thin out, great views of the Three Sisters and surrounding country open up. Camp Lake itself isn't visible until after the trail flattens out and crosses an open area. In spite of its name, the 7,000-foot elevation can make Camp Lake an inhospitable place to camp.

Still, it's a great destination. But, if you're feeling adventurous, there is more to explore. Hikers should be aware, however, that venturing onto the barren, rocky, loose moraines can be dangerous. If you continue, be cautious and well rested.

The Chambers Basin lies in the saddle between the South and Middle Sisters, and there are four other major lakes in the group. The two lakes on the west side of the Cascade Crest can be reached by a fairly well established, but unsigned, trail that leads up a steep cinder ridge west of Camp Lake.

After a brief rest at Camp Lake, we marched off up that ridge to the western Chambers Lakes. At this time of year, these two lakes appear quite shallow. After achieving that objective, we headed toward the eastern lakes. Surprisingly, we saw elk tracks at these high elevations.

The entire saddle is crisscrossed by lateral and terminal glacial moraines that look like they've been pushed up by gigantic bulldozers, but - in reality - by long-gone glaciers. The area requires caution and considerable up and down scrambling. We decided to ascend one lateral moraine and traverse to another on a snow ridge that looked like a knife-edge from below but was actually wide enough to drive a truck across.

We stuck to the high ground, keeping to the ridges at around the 7,600-foot level. Any route to the eastern Chambers Lakes involves scrambling over loose, sliding rock and debris. There is no clearly defined trail.

Finally, we traversed the moraine at the snout of Carver Glacier to come in above the eastern lakes.

Instead of returning over the tortuous high route, we opted for the shortest way down. Descending from this area was the most dangerous part of our trip. The steep rock-strewn slopes seem to release a small avalanche of sometimes very large rocks with each step. A snowfield descent can also be tempting; but one wrong step can send the hiker into an uncontrolled slide to the rocks below.

As you can probably tell, I'm not recommending this portion of the hike; since countless people do it anyway, I urge extreme caution if you choose to venture into the unstable network of glacial moraines.

The return from Camp Lake took just under three hours, for a total of about 10.5 hours on the trail, including breaks and exploration. In all, we covered nearly 18 miles. This is not a hike for beginners.

Access is easy. Just beyond Sisters High School, turn left off McKenzie Pass Highway at the Pole Creek Springs sign, and follow Forest Road 15 about 11 miles to its end. This is a fee area, and daily passes are $5 at the trailhead. Free wilderness permits are also required.

The Chambers Lakes lie in a network of glacial moraines in the saddle between the South and Middle Sisters.