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| Sledding on Butte with South Sister & Broken Top in back |
We needed an overnight and the mild winter weather provided. Lows were set this weekend for about 30 overnight. We figured that might be about 20 where we planned to be camping just shy of 6,800 feet. No snow remaining in town so in order to get some decent sledding it's up to the Cascades.
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| full of stoke at the TH at Dutchman Flat |
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| Broken Top on the left, Ball Butte on the right-hiking along Dutchman Flat |
The hike is along a snowmobile trail. We anticipated that there wouldn't be much traffic due to the thin snow pack and there were only a few machines. Once we broke away from the trail and started gaining elevation we followed a creek bed.
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| Sunrise over Tumalo Mountain |
We set up camp a few hundred feet below the unnamed butte (we are calling it caldera butte) and hiked up. Check out the map above and you can see the depth of the butte bowl. We hiked up the steep side to do some sled runs, but the other prize was the view!
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| Sunset over Mt. Bachelor from Butte |
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| The crew en route back to the TH |
The short film:
Hike Length: 4 miles Hike Duration: 2 days
Hike Configuration: out and back Blaze: mostly on Flagline Trail, some x-country
Start Elevation: 6,348 feet Highest Point: 7,145 feet Elevation Gain: 797 feet
Hike Rating: easy to moderate, some postholing in the snow, slick areas.
Trail Condition: On the trail, packed down by snowmobiles
Starting Point: Dutchman Flat
Trail Traffic: a few snowmobiles around Dutchman Flat, no one else on Butte.
Access: Oregon Snow Park pass required for TH parking.
How to Get There:
From Bend, County Road 46 (Cascade Lakes Highway) about 20 miles to Dutchman Flat TH.
