Our family climbed the South Sister on August 15th. A Central Cascades Wilderness permit is required for this trailhead. 80 permits per day are released a week in advance at 7 AM, and they were all gone within 5 minutes. Luckily, we were able to get them, but nobody checked our permits at the trailhead in the morning. We started off from Devils Lake/South Sister Trailhead at 7 AM and came back at 7:30 PM. The actual hiking time was about 10 hours; the remaining time we spent doing breaks along the way and at the summit. It is a challenging hike, so we were super proud of our boys (12 and 16yo) who pushed it through and completed this adventure. Unfortunately for us, we picked the worst day for this hike during our week in Bend – the haze from wildfires was terrible on August 15-16 and by the time we reached the summit, we didn’t see any mountain views. The haze got worse on our way back, so we tried to get back faster, but it was still a 4-hour hike downhill. Hiking poles are an absolute must for this hike and very helpful on the way up and down. The scree was annoying (even when wearing gaiters), particularly between the Lewis glacier and the summit (The Red Mile).
The first part of the trail before Moraine Lake is going through woods, so mosquitos can be a nuisance for some. As the trail climbs up, it branches out during some parts. We tried to follow the trail which was most visible and overall didn’t have any issues with finding our way. The ascent before Lewis Lake was a little bit tricky, as there were several paths that you can use to navigate up, and some rocks were loose and unstable. Watch which way people use on the way down, as it was easier to see the best path from above and use your best judgment.
Lewis Lake is a very nice spot to have a lunch break and relax before the final push. There is a path to get to the water and have a break without wind.
The permit system definitely decreased the crowdedness of this trail. We met only about 25 hikers who hiked all the way up.